Lauren Rodgers

Instructor D. Jizi
UWRT 1102
3 February 2016
Double Entry Journal
Citation:
Diener, Ed and Robert Biswas-Diener. "Can Money Buy Happiness? 2015. Pursuing
Happiness: A Bedford Spotlight Reader. Place of Publication Not Identified: Bedford Bks
St Martin's, 2015. 160-173. Print.
Source: Quote (Page# or Paragraph #)

Responses

Does money buy happiness (160)

I do not think that money buys happiness; I

think that is causes more problems among
people because when people get money they
want to spend it to show that they have
money, which is pointless because you are
running out of and wasting money by doing
that. If anything money buys opportunities to
create happiness.

Yes, money buys happiness, but there are

important exceptions. (160)

The way people spend their money is almost

just as important. If you are wasting money,
in the long run it wont make you happy.
Spending money the right way is more
important. Through smart investments and
money spent mostly on necessities over
luxuries, one can be happier with money.

It seems natural to assume that rich people

will be happier than others (160)

Rich and famous people do seem to be

happier, but it also seems that many of them
are abusers of money, alcohol, or other drugs
and destructive behaviors.

Today, however, riches are more accessible

to common people.

I agree completely with this statement. With

money earning systems such as the lottery
and high earning career fields, it is easier to
make money in todays society. The middle
class has grown significantly to todays
largest social class.

Another way to analyze the effect of money

on happiness is to examine the emotional
well-being of those lucky souls who have
won a large lottery (164)

If a person wins the lottery after extreme

poverty I feel as if they are more than likely to
buy huge luxuries after buying necessities.
This is detrimental to success, ultimately
leaving them bankrupt and depressed. Also
their relationships with friends and family
might become strained, no support.

Winners of moderate-size lotteries were

happier than folks in a control group, but not
statistically significant (165)

Moderate sized lottery winners have less to

work with. If they decide to spend it right,
they would pay off loans and invest or save
their money in saving accounts, only buying
occasional luxuries.

Two years after winning the lottery, people

reported less unhappiness than they had
before winning. (166)

People who spend their lotteries right will be

less unhappy because they will not have the
stress in their lives of barely making ends
meet because their desires will not outreach
their abilities.

Materialism can be toxic to happiness (166)

The more that one has the more they expect

to have. More money leads to a bigger house
with a bigger mortgage and fancier more
expensive vacations with the latest model
cars and etc. Are these people really happy
when they are left with little money left over in
the end? Feeling as if they are just making
ends meet.

Mother Teresasuggested that there is

something worthwhile in every corner of life,
no matter how humble (167)

For myself, I was raised to be very humble.

We had enough money to get by and then
some but I never took advantage of our good
situation. I still worked for everything that I
attained. This still holds true today, I know
that I must work for something to truly earn it.
I find that I am actually happier in college
where I dont have many extravagant things
than I was at home.

It is easy to imagine that these people were

miserable. The data showed, that they were
slightly negative to slightly positive on scales
of life satisfaction. (167)

As Americans with more opportunities than

others its easy for us to make conclusions
that everyone less off than us are miserable,
as human beings we automatically jump to
conclusions that the less possessions one
has the more unhappy they are. This is not
true, I find that being happy comes from
having everything I absolutely need or
working to make or get things that I need
before achieve some things that I want.

What matters more is that your income is

sufficient for your desires (170)

Obviously it is important to desire what you

can afford but some people desire more and
end up in debt. People need to understand
their financial limitations and make it work for
them, figuring out the necessities and taking
their desires from there:
compartmentalization.

The well-off couple has enough money to

The more you make the more societal

meet only half of their desires, and therefore

they feel poorer (171)

pressure it is for you to have nicer things

because you can afford it. I understand that
this is a thing but I dont understand why
people who make more money dont feel the
same way that the people who make less
money do. Why cant they be happy with the
necessities that they need to live on and have
extra left over to donate or spend later?

Although incomes have increased

dramatically since World War II, people are
not a lot happier. (172)

This kind of proves the fact that money does

not buy happiness. Luxury things back then
are now considered necessities. I feel that it
is still possible to live life now like they did fifty
years ago. People need to make sacrifices
and then they will realize what they do and do
not actually need from societies necessities.

The happiness of materialists can suffer

because their pursuit of money distracts
them from other important aspects of life,
such as relationships. (173)

I feel as if people who pursue money over

aspects in life would feel like something is
missing in their lives eventually, if not
immediately. It is human nature to want
friendships and relationships along with
money, but one is not more important than
the other. A well-rounded life is more
important than focusing on one aspect or
another for human health.