金钱对幸福感的影响及其心理机制

传统经济学家认为,更多的收入会导致更高的幸福水平。心理学家在这个问题上则显得谨慎一些,他们从多个方面考察了金钱与幸福感之间的关系,并从中得出了一些引人深思的结论。研究表明,金钱能够通过人格、目标、动机、社会比较、适应与压力等中介变量对幸福感产生影响。未来研究应该在研究对象和方法上加以改进,在心理机制方面进行更深入的探讨。此外,本土化研究在我国有着重要的现实意义,有待于加强     

美德是幸福的前提吗？

幸福研究方兴未艾,但当今研究着重于幸福的心理描述性层面,而通常忽视了幸福概念中的规范性或者评价性层面。在孔子和亚里士多德等哲学家眼中,美德是幸福的前提。心理学实证研究发现,实践美德行为,如志愿、捐助等活动能够使人获得幸福。同时,研究也发现,人们倾向于认为具有美德的人会更加幸福。虽然实证研究能够说明美德与幸福具有关系,但是在美德与幸福的因果联系确定上,以及美德对于幸福来说是否是工具性的问题上,还需要更多的研究。     

中国当代幸福论检视

中国当代幸福论的形成和完善是改革开放取得的最重要成果之一。中国当代幸福论有四种基本形态,即集体幸福论、和谐幸福论、德性幸福论和人民幸福论,其中人民幸福论已经成为中国当代幸福论的主流形态,并正在从理论转变为实践,其追求实现全体人民幸福的理想亦正在变为现实。源自时代精神和实践需要的中国当代幸福论,还需要通过不断深化的理论创新,在世界面前展现出更强大、更有说服力的真理力量。全体人民幸福中的幸福差异、市场经济与共同富裕的关系、法律最高权威的确立、增强社会成员个人的幸福感、共产主义理想的图景、世界大同的制度安排与实现路径等问题,是中国当代幸福论需要着力研究解决的重大问题。     

老年幸福实现的伦理基础及制度保障

我国已进入老龄化社会。老年幸福是老年这一特定人生阶段的幸福,它以老年个体的存在为形式,关涉到老年群体与社会整体的关系,是老年人的主观体验感受和整体生活实践。老年幸福实现的伦理基础就在于幸福权的确立、社会正义的实现和老年需求的满足。老年幸福的实现离不开制度保障,需要进一步完善落实养老政策、完善老年权益实体法律制度和完善老年权益程序法律制度。     

谈无产阶级的幸福观

究竟什么叫幸福?应该树立什么样的幸福观?这是人生观教育中需要解决的一个重要问题。马克思主义伦理学认为,幸福是人们在一定的社会关系中,在一定的社会实践条件下,对生活产生的种种感受,以及对生活意义的认识和评价。因此,在一般的意义上来说,幸福就是在为实现崇高的理想的奋斗过程中,人们意识到智力和体力发挥的程度而产生的一种道德满足感,并包含有积极的道德评价因素。“幸福”虽然表现为人们的意识和感情,但它又具有十分现实的社会内容。它受一定社会的经济、政治、文化、民族传统等制约,其中社会的经济关系起决定作用。因此,不仅幸福实现的程度与社会的发展水平相一致,而且人们所处的时代不同,从属的阶级不同,对幸福的理解也不尽相同。就是说不同的时代,不同的阶级,有着不同的幸福观。     

幸福悖论及其最新解释

横断研究认为收入和幸福感正相关; 长时时间序列(通常指10年及以上)研究认为二者无关, 这种矛盾的结论即构成了幸福悖论。传统上解释幸福悖论主要从理论着手, 如定点理论、适应理论、相对效用理论等。近年来, 学者们开始从“忽略变量”的角度解释, 文章分别介绍了收入不平等、受教育水平、社会资本、个人主义–集体主义、婚姻状态五种忽略变量。忽略变量对幸福感的消极效应抵消了收入对幸福感的积极效应, 导致了幸福悖论现象的发生。     

幸福离我们有多远?

幸福(happiness)是一个我们熟悉得不能再熟悉的词,任何时代、任何地方,所有人都在不断地追求幸福.幸福是每个人与生俱来的权利.社会精英需要幸福,普通大众需要幸福;劳动者需要幸福,孤寡老人与留守儿童同样需要幸福;正常人需要幸福,残疾人同样需要幸福.多少时候我们拥有幸福,又有多少时候,我们迷失在寻找幸福的路上.2011年广东省委书记汪洋在广东省委十届八次全会上提出"加快转型升级,建设幸福广东"的社会发展目标,并指出"幸福广东是共建共享的过程".     

中国不同发展水平城市间幸福指数差异及收入对其的影响作用

对全国四种发展水平城市5471名被试的幸福感进行调查,探讨不同发展水平城市居民幸福指数差异及收入对其的影响作用。结果发现:从一线到四线城市,居民的总体和领域幸福指数都显著上升,二、三线城市显著高于一线,但又显著低于四线城市;个人收入对一线城市总体幸福指数无显著影响,但对二、三、四线影响显著;家庭人均收入对不同发展水平城市总体幸福指数的影响与个人收入的影响作用完全相反,即对一线城市总体幸福指数影响不显著,但对其它三线城市影响显著。以上结果表明不同发展水平城市间在总体和领域幸福指数上均存在差异,且不同收入对其总体幸福指数的影响作用有所不同。该结论对于中国的城市化建设具有一定启示意义。     

为人父母者更幸福?

生育-幸福的关系是一个影响个人、家庭和整个社会的重要话题。目前,它已成为心理学研究的一个热点,涉及到人性需要、心理发展以及现实的社会环境等诸多影响因素。对此,全世界大众中存在一些广泛的素人理论与信念,心理学家则基于不同理论阐述了生育的心理功能以及生育-幸福的关系。已有的实证研究仍以人口学调查为主,结论却不尽一致。复杂调节变量的影响,研究者对幸福的不同界定与测量以及社会的变迁都可能导致生育-幸福关系的复杂性。未来研究者应在人性哲学的探讨、充分考虑群体异质性的深入调查、基于心理学视角的实证研究以及相关问题上心理健康服务的研究与实践方面作出更多工作,并为国家有关政策的改革提供建议。     

羞怯与互联网使用的关系

羞怯是在面对新的社会环境和/或意识到社会评价的情境中个体的紧张和不适的一种性格特征。羞怯会阻碍人际交往,互联网的出现可以弥补羞怯的个体在面对面交往时的紧张或不适。互联网的使用对羞怯个体会有双重影响,积极方面的影响可以降低羞怯水平,消极方面的影响会使羞怯个体网络成瘾。未来研究中,需要进一步研究羞怯与互联网使用之间的中介或调节变量,考察羞怯与互联网使用的关系,深入了解二者的关系。     

The Relationship Between Happiness and Consumption Expenditure: Evidence from Rural China

We use data from the 2016 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) to examine the relationship between happiness and consumption expenditure of rural farmers in China. A two-stage residual inclusion approach is applied to tackle the potential endogeneity issue of happiness. The empirical results show that a higher level of happiness is associated with an increase in consumption expenditure in general. Further analysis reveals that higher levels of happiness are positively and significantly associated with higher expenditures on basic living goods, education and gifts. We also find that both household income and access to the Internet boost happiness and increase consumption expenditure. Happiness plays a larger role in improving the consumption expenditure of rural households compared with their urban counterparts. Our findings may suggest that improving rural income via income diversification strategies and investing in rural information and communication technology infrastructures would encourage rural farmers’ happiness, promote the upgrading of rural consumption and boost sustainable economic growth.

     

Does Money Buy Immigrant Happiness?

The relationship between income and happiness for international immigrants has been relatively unexplored. A handful of cross-sectional studies has shown that income and happiness are positively correlated after migration, and that wealthier immigrants are more satisfied with their post-migration lives than are their less privileged peers. What is unclear is if the link between income and happiness remains positive as immigrants assimilate to life in a new country. This question is the focus of our study. Using longitudinal data from over 10,000 immigrants tracked up to 30 years in the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey, we set out to provide some insight into the long-term relationship between immigrants’ self-reported life satisfaction and the level of their income in its absolute form. Longitudinal analyses revealed that immigrants who experienced increases in income over time reported greater satisfaction with life and that the income-happiness link remained relatively stable over time. The effect of absolute income on immigrants’ happiness was, nevertheless, small. We also observed that country of origin played an important role in the post-migration association between income and happiness. Income was a stronger predictor of the life satisfaction of immigrants from poorer origins than it was for their wealthier counterparts.     

Economy, Values and Happiness in Norway

Why has the level of happiness in the Norwegian population not risen in parallel with the substantial increases in income and possessions in the period 1985–2001? An answer is sought by analysing data from a series of large representative surveys of the Norwegian population. Individual level correlations between indicators of health or family situation and happiness indicate that the measure of happiness is valid, and that happiness is not fully determined by personality traits, but affected also by changes in the circumstances of an individual. Several aspects of a person's economic situation turn out to have significant effects on happiness, in particular how the situation is subjectively experienced. Even if the development for some of these subjective indicators does not reflect the improvement in objective economic conditions, there is sufficient positive change to expect an increase in the level of happiness. The stability in aggregate happiness means that counteracting influences must have been present. One such factor is value orientation. An increasing tendency for Norwegians to give priority to income and material possessions appears to have had an adverse effect on happiness towards the end of the last millennium.     

Does More Money Make You Happier? Why so much Debate?

Easterlin’s famous paradox questioned standard economic assumptions about a fundamental relationship in economics: that between happiness and income. In recent years there has been renewed debate about the paradox. In this essay, I highlight some of the methodological issues and challenges underlying that debate. I focus on the sensitivity of the results to the method selected, the choice of micro or macro data, and the way that happiness questions are defined and framed, all of which result in divergent conclusions. I also note the mediating role of the pace and nature of economic growth, institutional frameworks, and inequality. What is most notable is the remarkable consistency in the determinants of individual happiness – including income – within countries of diverse income levels and, at the same time, how happiness is affected by cross-country differences that are related to average per-capita income levels, such as political freedom and public goods. Income clearly plays a role in determining both individual and country level happiness. Still, assessing its role relative to other more difficult to measure factors as countries develop in new ways and at different rates will remain a challenge for the foreseeable future.     

Family support, family income, and happiness: a 10-year perspective.

This study examined the role of 2 central aspects of family life--income and social support--in predicting concurrent happiness and change in happiness among 274 married adults across a 10-year period. The authors used hierarchical linear modeling to investigate the relationship between family income and happiness. Income had a small, positive impact on happiness, which diminished as income increased. In contrast, family social support, measured by 3 subscales, Cohesion, Expressiveness, and Conflict, showed a substantial, positive association with concurrent happiness, even after controlling for income. Furthermore, family income moderated the association between family social support and concurrent happiness; family social support was more strongly associated with happiness when family income was low than when family income was high. In addition, change in family social support was positively related to change in happiness, whereas change in family income was unrelated to change in happiness. These findings suggest that happiness can change and underscore the importance of exploring more deeply the role that family relationships play in facilitating such change.     

Cross-National Pattern of Happiness: Do Higher Education and Less Urbanization Degrade Happiness?

Traditionally, happiness has been recognized as the result of a positive relationship with one's income level. However, income level may not be the only factor that affects one’s happiness. In this paper, the effects of education and urbanization factors among 67 countries were analyzed by using World Value Survey data and World Bank Indicator. Generally, the urbanization positively affects happiness in the cross-country analysis, but happiness has a negative correlation with education level. More specifically, four geographical trends have been found in this paper. First, if two variables have very low values, the nation's happiness will drop. Second, according to the moderated education ratio (10 < E < 35), East Asia (non-OECD) is found to be happier than Middle East/North Africa. Third, according to the high education ratio (E > 50), East Asia (OECD) has a lower level of happiness than other countries. Lastly, in Europe, urbanization and education are not significant factors in terms of happiness, but the economic level is the most important factor. Those results provide evidence that there are different effects of education/urbanization on happiness in terms of 1) general implication and 2) sub-divided regions (geographic or norm difference).     

Buying well‐being: Spending behavior and happiness

The relationship between money and happiness is complex. While a large literature demonstrates a small but significant positive association between overall income and well‐being, a relatively new area of research explores the emotional consequences of everyday spending choices. Here we review this recent but rapidly growing area of investigation. We begin by briefly summarizing the link between money and happiness. Then, through the lens of 2 dominant models of human happiness, we suggest that seemingly inconsequential spending choices may provide an underappreciated and underutilized route to greater well‐being. Finally, we review new empirical evidence demonstrating that individuals can use their disposable income to increase their happiness by investing in experiential (rather than material) purchases, more free time, routine, self‐expression, and generosity.     

Understanding money's limits: People's beliefs about the income – Happiness correlation

It is claimed that the correlation between income and happiness is considerably weaker than people expect and recent research supports that contention. However, an important lesson from judgment and decision-making research is that judgments are constructed in response to the prevailing context, leaving open the possibility that some elicitation procedures may reveal accurate intuitions about income and happiness. We examined whether this is so. Study 1 participants ranked a set of empirical relationships according to the strength of correlation and we examined whether they ranked the income–happiness link where it actually falls in the set. In Studies 2 and 3, participants estimated the probability that someone with a higher income than another is also the happier of the two. The estimates of the participants were then compared to the actual probability based on the documented income–happiness relationship. Results indicate that, using these elicitation procedures, people have an accurate understanding of the relationship between income and happiness.     

From wealth to well-being? Money matters,but less than people think

While numerous studies have documented the modest (though reliable) link between household income and well-being, we examined the accuracy of laypeople's intuitions about this relationship by asking people from across the income spectrum to report their own happiness and to predict the happiness of others (Study 1) and themselves (Study 2) at different income levels. Data from two national surveys revealed that while laypeople's predictions were relatively accurate at higher levels of income, they greatly overestimated the impact of income on life satisfaction at lower income levels, expecting low household income to be coupled with very low life satisfaction. Thus, people may work hard to maintain or increase their income in part because they overestimate the hedonic costs of earning low levels of income.