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Can money buy happiness? Yes, claim the authors of a new study -- but only up to a point .
Psychology has shown that richer people generally rank the overall quality of their lives more favorably than poorer people do. At the same time, their actual happiness seems to be motivated less by their ability to buy more than by being able to keep up with those with comparable resources in their own age group.
"Our findings point to the possibility that, rather than promoting overall happiness, continued income growth could promote an ongoing consumption race where individuals have to consume more and more, just to maintain a constant level of happiness," writes Glenn Firebaugh of Pennsylvania State University.
The study was presented at the American Sociological Association's 100th Annual Meeting.
Whether the affluent are happier as a whole than their less well-to-do counterparts is becoming an increasingly hot topic for debate. In recent years, much has been written regarding the "science of happiness."
Richer people are happier because money can purchase goods and services and it is the consumption of these materials that increases one's enjoyment of life and one's sense of well-being.
As incomes in the U.S. tend to rise over the course of our lifetimes, individuals may find themselves on a sort of treadmill , consuming more and more just to maintain a constant level of happiness, they write.
Firebaugh and his colleagues measured the age, total family income, and general happiness of individuals aged 20 to 64, generally considered the working life span for most Americans.
Regardless of such criteria as physical health, education, and marital status, people's happiness was affected by what others earned. The higher the income of others in one's age group, the lower one's happiness.
(Agencies)
[NextPage]金钱能买来幸福吗？能，但只能在一定程度给人们带来幸福。最近，有研究者经过调查得出这样的结论。
心理学研究表明：有钱人对总体生活质量的满意度通常比穷人要高。然而，事实上，他们之所以感到幸福并不是因为自己有钱买更多东西，而是因为自己与同龄人财力相当。
“我们的发现表明不断增加的收入并没有使人们感到更幸福，而只是使人们投入到一场旷日持久的消费竞赛中，每个人都不得不花更多的钱去消费，仅仅为了维持现有的幸福感。”来自宾夕法尼亚州州立大学的格伦·菲尔鲍在报告中这样写道。
这个研究报告在美国社会学协会第100次年会上提出。
从总体上来看，有钱人是否真的比“穷哥们”更幸福已经成为一个讨论日益激烈的话题。最近几年，有关“幸福科学”的研究文章层出不穷。
有钱人通常会更幸福，因为他们有钱购物，享受各种服务，这些物质消费使他们的生活更有乐趣，让他们觉得自己更幸福、更快乐。
在美国，一生中，人们的收入会不断增加，他们会发现自己就像在跑步机上跑步一样，花得钱越来越多，只是为了保持现有的幸福感。
格伦·菲尔鲍和他的同事们对20岁到64岁的不同人群的年龄、家庭收入和幸福感进行了调查。这个年龄段通常被认为是大多数美国人一生中参加工作的时间。
尽管有很多衡量幸福的标准，诸如：身体健康、受教育状况和婚姻状况，幸福感会受到周围人的收入的影响。自己所在群体中其他人的收入越高，你就越不容易感到幸福。
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