研究:比朋友賺錢多可提升幸福感

According to the Daily Mail on December 14, a study of life satisfaction- made by the University of Southern California in 37 countries -shows that economic growth doesn't bring with it a corresponding long-term rise in happiness。

It found that while people may feel more positive in the short-term, the shine quickly wears off. Many people in most countries think that money doesn't buy happiness, unless you earn more of it than your friends. And, within an individual country, the Rich are happier than the poor。

The theory was first coined in the 1970s by US researcher Richard Easterlin and became known as the Easterlin Paradox。

With several recent studies challenging his conclusions, Professor Easterlin set out to see if the pattern still exists。

據英國《每日郵報》12月14日報道，南加利福尼亞大學針對全球37個國家進行一項"生活滿意度"調查，結果顯示，經濟增長並不能給人們帶去相應長時間的幸福感。

調查發現，(隨着經濟增長，)人們在短時間內會感到幸福，但是，這種感覺很快就會消減。大多數國家的人們認爲金錢並不能給他們帶來幸福感，除非你賺的比朋友多。只有一個國家的人們認爲，富人比窮人更幸福。

該理論是在上個世紀70年代被美國研究人家理查德•伊斯特林所創立，就是著名的"伊斯特林幸福悖論"。

最近有幾項研究正在挑戰他的結論，所以伊斯特林教授進行此次調查來證明這一理論在當前社會的適用性。