TIME.com: Which comes first, happiness or money? Much scholarly head tapping has been devoted to examining whether richer people are happier and if so, how much richer? Nobel prize-winners have even looked into it. But a new study suggests that the question could perhaps be looked at the other way around. Happier teenagers, this study suggests, grow up to be richer adults.
16 comments:
On the topic of happy teens... I have heard that CMU can be one of the most depressing schools to attend. This, although I have not seen that yet, could be dangerous for students. The students here are all very smart and dedicated to what they do. To be in an environment that is not upbeat and promotes positive energy could be detrimental. I believe that is why CMU implemented things like "Carnival" and "Playground". With these events that let students off of classes for a weekend and a full week, CMU is promoting positive energy. I'm very happy to attend a college that promotes positive energy in an environment that is so stressful.
I can't say that I am totally shocked by this article. If you are happier you are more likely to have better self esteem which will make you try harder because you believe you can do it. Also I think that there is something else at play, I think that if you are happy you probably have more of a chance to have the resources to do well in school and get a better paying job. Or if you don't believe that then I suggest the hypothesis that, people who are doing better in school are probably more likely to say that they are happy. I don't really know but I don't think that we can just draw the automatic conclusion that happier people are just automatically richer.
I think I could agree with the studies in this article. Like Zoe said, if students are happier they probably do have the self-esteem necessary to move them through the world. They have more confidence in talking to people, which is a big of networking, and they believe they can reach their goal, which would result in happiness. As for Nate's comment I can see why the students here are maybe not always the most chipper, but that doesn't mean they can't be. They had the confidence and believed enough in what they wanted to get in so I have a feeling that at some point in the near future this stress will balance out and they could potentially be very happy adults.
This shows something that I have argued ever since I started junior high school: if you just take things as they come, the better off you'll be. I used to just think that was a feeling I used to console myself regarding a bad grade or whatever. But I think that this finding follows what I have innately felt all along: happiness is more important than a 100 on a math test. I hope parents, especially parents who fall in the "tiger mother" category, read this and see what they are doing.
By all means this isn't a hard and fast rule, but there is also something to be said for how teens grow up that definitely effects their level of happiness and their financial status. Many teens that are from wealthier families to begin with tend to have a happier facade, be it real or just for show. Teens who have had to go without and have had more struggle in their lives tend to be less happy, and also often times fall into the trap of their family's financial status. It is a hard rut to dig yourself out of, so right off the bat they seem to be at a disadvantage.
Hmm. Happier teens grow up to be wealthier - but the article doesn't necessarily discuss if the now wealthy adults are happier in comparison to their then gloomy counterparts. Also the debate of: should we make our children do their homework because it will make them less happy and therefore less wealthy; seems ridiculous to me. I would rather my children be more intelligent than wealthy in the future.
The measurement of happiness was on a scale of 1-8, but how was the level of happiness truly measured. Was it self determined? I need some more information about this article and study before drawing conclusions.
happiness equals wealth? Who'd have thought that. It's a shame for all the gloomy teenagers in the world who just want to make it big. That aside. It's a shame the happy teenage years equate to wealth later on in life because so many teenagers are exceptionally stress. High school years are some of the most stressful years in a persons life. Extracurricular activities, standardized testing, college applications, AP testing, and trying to have a life at the same time. Will all the stress, how are we supposed to expect our teenagers to be happy? That aside, the fact that actually research is being put into the science of happiness is a good thing.
Happiness = wealth. This kind of makes sense. Happier people are less likely to struggle with depression which can be a huge problem when it comes to work ethic, health, friends and therefore networking, and many other things. how ever the argument about homework is rediculous. homework makes you miserable for the amount of time it takes to do it. its not a never ending thing. and i believe this article is talking a much deeper definition of the word happiness. so yeah homework sucks. but it doesnt actually make you miserable in the long run.
Like Ariel, I wish this article had gone into a little more detail about what the study actually entailed and what the criteria were for "happiness." Was it just a 1-5 scale and each person, when asked "How happy were you as a teenager?", gave a number? Were the people followed from their teens until their 30s to track their happiness and wealth? Each of those two different options could lead to vastly different results. Happier people in their 30s might remember their teenage years through rose-colored glasses, or maybe the opposite would be true. I'm just not sure how to think about the results of this without a little more detail about what the actual study was.
Besides that, I agree with the article's idea that being happy means that you might be seen by others as more enthusiastic, more dedicated, more interested, etc. This would help in job interviews, networking, and success in the workplace, which might all affect salary, raises, and promotions.
I know that as teenagers we always seem to want something and when we get it, it makes us happy...........for the time being. I think what really makes us happy is having a positive lifestyle that promotes your personal goals. There are many different kinds of personalities. We are probably born with a certain amount of personality characteristics but others we learn from our environment. We can choose to be a certain way to some extent. Our extenuating circumstances definitely play a part in our happiness but ultimately it is us deciding what we will make of our life that makes us happy. I think the premise of a happier teen will be wealthier is probably true because when we are happy, we have a higher self esteem and that allows up to promote ourselves well. When we look good to a prospective employer they are willing to pay more for us.
This is an interesting article, and I will most definitely take note of it. I am skeptical though, because correlation is not causation. Perhaps those who are most happy eat seven portions of fruit, but is that fruit what is causing their happiness? I am glad to see this article stress personal happiness and healthy living, since it seems that I am frequently having to choose between happiness and professional success. I will keep these tips in mind and hopefully this will help with the stressful school environment!
I truthfully think this article is a little wrong. Wealth is not based on happiness and happiness is not based on wealth. I think in some cases happiness can be gained by working hard for your own money in a sense of satisfaction. Through things that are positive for you or boost your mood you can be more efficient and try harder thus meaning you could make more money.
My teenage years were awesome. This means I am going to be loaded when I grow up, right?
For some reason this really doesn't surprise me at all. In general, happy teenagers, or just people in general, have a certain confidence and self assurance that unhappy people do not. As we've all been told at one point or another, confidence is very important when going after what you want. Maybe happier teenagers have the same dreams as unhappy teenagers but because they have confidence, the happier teenagers have the courage to actually chase them. Being able to stay positive when everything about a situation is awful, even if the only positive thought is, "It won't be like this forever because everything changes" it really important when looking for a new job or dealing with finals.
makes sense to me. It seems that happier teens are probably more into their work. So it would have bigger impact than being just smart because it doesn't matter how smart you are if you don't want to do the work. I came to CMU as a math major and I hated it, classes I started out doing well in I ended up doing pretty poorly because I didn't find it interesting or relevant and just wanted to do something else. As a Drama student I love my classes and am much more willing to dedicate hours and hours to something because I find working in theater to be thrilling and fulfilling.
The correlation between happiness and successfulness seems to be an obvious thing. The happier people are the more driven they are to do things and pursue the things that will make them happy, and seeing as how money makes a lot of people happy i can very easily see a cycle of happiness and money being together just as there are many depressed poor people, however i think this is a very rare thing, i know more wealthily depressed people that i do depressed poorer people, i think its all and not really meaningful of anything.
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