Comments on: Why The Chinese Are Getting Richer But Not Happier

By: tug

tug — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:52:00 +0000

We have been pushed this simple equation : Money=Happy, for so many years through the media, that people seem genuinely surprised that this is not actually the case.

This applies as much to China as it does to us in the UK and the US.

We need a new paradigm. Happiness comes from your mind, not your paycheck.

By: Jeremy (PsyBlog author)

Jeremy (PsyBlog author) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:13:00 +0000

Meryn, thanks, I agree!

Shijiazhuang, glad it's useful for you. I think you're on to the same point as Meryn from a slightly different angle. I would certainly like to think that understanding something of human psychology can influence our behaviour, yes.

Madmanorslave, occupational information was available but Brockmann et al. don't specifically use it other than to classify people as 'urban' or 'rural'. Still it sounds like you're talking about something akin to 'anomie' which is addressed by this study.

By: Leo

Leo — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:52:00 +0000

what money's effects on people are marginal, as all the other articles acts, so it's actually no need to state that money has bigger effcts to the Chinese poor.
It's a rife principle!

By: madmanorslave

madmanorslave — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:51:00 +0000

Very interesting indeed. I hate to be the one who says, "Did they look at X, which just so happens to be related to my research?" but... do you know if they looked at the type of work that people were doing? This struck me as a very classic sort of study because China is more or less going through what the West was during industrialization - massive urbanization, large-scale shifts from agricultural to manufacturing employment, etc. I can't help but wonder if a part of the drop might also have to do with the severance of social networks as people urbanize, and the shift from backbreaking-but-independent farmwork to backbreaking assembly line work. Then again, I don't know that Chinese farmers had the same sort of independence that Western yeomen did back in the 1700s - plausible, I guess.

By: perfervid

perfervid — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:06:00 +0000

Hey, thanks. I teach at a university in China - this is good class discussion material.

I wonder: When you realise that you're only chasing relative income (not absolute income), doesn't this stop you chasing it? When you realise that a bigger house/wooden flooring/SUV is only satisfying because of comparisons to others, don't you stop wanting it?

A person thinks that a certain absolute level of income is necessary to happiness, and so becomes unhappy. But if this research is more widely publicised (as it is in a lot of books and media coverage), the person realises that that income isn't needed for happiness, and her life becomes happier.

By: Meryn Stol

Meryn Stol — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:36:00 +0000

Nice article. Although I do think your analysis is correct for people that have recently found material wealth, for the countries who have been rich for a long time, there's a new dynamic, happening in parallel to the one you describe.

If you've been rich for a very long time, you start to see that the only thing that matters is basic things like financial security, personal freedom, health, physical comfort, good friends and fulfilling work. You may even start to give negative value to more possessions because you feel you are taking more than your fair share of the world's resources.

"it never feels good to be reminded we've got less than others."
I personally don't believe in "more is better" anymore. I can't envy anyone with more possessions than me, because I simply don't see how it would make me happier. Lots depends on what you think "you've got" of course. In the end, ownership is an illusion... Things like health and friends are much more physically tied to a person.

You've already touched this subject in previous posts, but i just wanted to counter your generalization.

I really love your posts. :)