雙語財經新聞 第49期:年薪多少最感到幸福?
In July, I blogged about a study that revealed subtle links between money and happiness.
The study, which analyzed Gallup surveys of 450,000 Americans in 2008 and 2009, suggested that there were two forms of happiness: day-to-day contentment (emotional well-being) and overall “life assessment,” which means broader satisfaction with one’s place in the world. While a higher income didn’t have much impact on day-to-day contentment, it did boost people’s “life assessment.”
該研究分析了蓋洛普在2008年至2009年對45萬美國人的調査，將幸福分爲兩類：日常生活滿意度(情感上的幸福)和整體的“生活質量”，也就是一個人對自己在 世界上的位置的總體滿意度。較高的收入對日常生活滿意度沒有特別大的影響，但 提高了人們對“生活質量”的滿意度。Now we have more details from the study, conducted by the Princeton economist Angus Deaton and famed psychologist Daniel Kahneman. It turns out there is a specific dollar number, or income plateau, after which more money has no measurable effect on day-to-day contentment.
這項由普林斯頓大學經濟學家安格斯?迪頓及著名心理學家丹尼爾.卡尼曼所 作的研究現在公佈了更多細節。結果顯示，有一個明確的金錢數字或者收入水平影 響着日常生活滿意度，超過這個水平後，收人的增長對日常生活滿意度就沒有太大 影響了。
The magic income: $75,000 a year. As people earn more money, their day-to-day happiness rises. Until you hit $75,000. After that, it is just more stuff, with no gain in happiness.
這個神奇的收人數字就是:年收人7.5萬美元。人們賺的錢越多，日常生活幸福 感就會越強，直至收入達到7.5萬美元。在達到這個數字之後,就只是物質上的增 加，而幸福感不會增加。That doesn’t mean wealthy and ultrawealthy are equally happy. More money does boost people’s life assessment, all the way up the income ladder. People who earned $160,000 a year, for instance, reported more overall satisfaction than people earning $120,000, and so on.
這並不是說富豪和超級富豪擁有相同程度的幸福感。更多的金錢確實會提高 人們對自己生活質量的滿意度，收人越多滿意度越高。例如，年收人16萬美元的人 比年收人12萬美元的人有更高的整體滿意度,以此類推。“Giving people more income beyond 75K is not going to do much for their daily mood, but it is going to make them feel they have a better life,” Mr. Deaton told the Associated Press.
迪頓接受美聯社採訪時說，“超過7.5萬美元后，更多的收人並不會對人們的日 常情緒產生太大影響，但會讓他們覺得自己的生活更美好。”He added that, “As an economist I tend to think money is good for you, and am pleased to find some evidence for that.”
他補充說,“作爲經濟學家，我傾向於認爲金錢是有好處的，而且我也很樂意爲 此尋找證據。”The results are fascinating, especially in this conflicted age of materialism. But I wonder how they would differ by region or city. Would $75,000 mark the ultimate day-to-day contentment in such high-cost cities as New York City, Los Angeles or San Francisco? I doubt it. Perhaps the salary number would be lower in South Dakota or Mississippi.
研究結果很有趣,尤其在現在這個物質主義的矛盾時代。但是我很好奇結果會 不會因地區或城市不同而有差別。在紐約、洛杉磯或舊金山這樣的高消費城市,7.5 萬美元也會是日常生活滿意度的分水嶺嗎?我懷疑不是。而在南達科他州或密西西 比州，或許這個數字會更低。What do you think the income threshold would be in your town for maximum day-to-day happiness?
你認爲在你生活的地方，日常生活滿意度的收人分水嶺數字會是多少？
