What Money Can't Buy

One thing money can't buy is happiness.  Or so say the researchers.  Arthur Brooks is a professor of business and government policy at Syracuse University and his latest book, Gross National Happiness, looks at what makes people happy.  It turns out that money is not very high on the list.

In an interview in the current edition of World Magazine (subscription required for full review), Brooks offers some insights into his research.

First off, his definition of happiness is modest.  Christians accustomed to distinguishing between happiness and joy might want more, but the definition measured in the surveys was, "how we feel when we consider both the nice and not-so-nice things in our lives and decide overall we have a happy (or not happy) life."

The researchers discovered three things that make people happy:  "meaning in their lives, control over their environment, and success in creating value in the world."  Brooks says that people who are serious about healthy values in their lives, families, and communities are much happier than others.  "The data," he says, "(shows) that these values come from eight categories: faith, family, personal liberty, private morality, non-materialism, opportunity, work, and service to others."

Brooks says the researchers discovered, for instance:

  • That those who attend a house of worship at least once a week are nearly twice as likely to be happy as those who don't.
  • That those who give generously and regularly to others are happier than those who do not.
  • That 63% of Mexican adults describe themselves as happy while only 35% of adults in France describe themselves as happy.  The per capita income in France is five times higher than in Mexico. 

(If you're interested in more data, here's an interesting site that I came across (click on "nation ranks" under finding report and then "level" under rank of nations).  You'll notice that on this scale, our friends in Guatemala are a bit happier than those of us in the U.S. despite the fact that our per capita income is 20 times greater. You'll also notice that Zimbabwe is the second most unhappy place on the planet - please pray continually!)

Brooks concludes his interview with World by saying, "…happiness comes from an exercise of our good values, including a focus on service to others.  Proper values are what bring a happy, well ordered life.  These things also bring prosperity.  But to try to get personal happiness from material affluence is like trying to build a tall skyscraper starting with the top floor." 

Of course, we know that there is a happiness that comes from something deeper than deciding that, overall, the nice things in our lives outweigh the not-so-nice things in our lives.  We Presbyterians have long confessed that our "chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." Jesus himself talked about happiness in the Sermon on the Mount.  There's not a word about money in what he said, though he would have something to say about money a little later in the day. 

So, all things considered, are you happy?  If not, Jesus has some advice for you (and me).