Money And Joy Research Paper

Guess the riddle. “It is colorless and tasteless, without a trace, follow you everywhere but you always neglect it.” What is it? Joy.

Joy is the simplest thing in the world. It might come from health, friendship, safety or even the tiniest things surrounding you. No one can provide a clear definition to joy. However, there is one thing to be sure, that joy is something to wait for, not to ask for. Joyce Brothers stated: “Happiness hides in life’s small details. If you’re not looking, it becomes invisible.” Money is generally accepted as payment for goods and services. So is money a pre-requisite for joy? Are rich people more joyful than their poor counterparts? Although money is important, it cannot buy everything you want. For instance,

However, we cannot use money to purchase joy. It is priceless and yet moneyless. In the psychological and personality science aspects, Kushlev (2015) and Mulwitz (2012) explained that the relationship of money and joy exists in the condition when there is a shortage of wealth, as people are unhappy is mainly due to poverty. The fallacy will start growing in their mind; they will think money is the pre-requisite of joy. Hence, the poor work harder and harder to chase the tail of joy. However, when the poor finally become rich, they will discover that joy does not accompany with their asset increment. Furthermore, Diener (2008) reported that over 95% of the ultra-rich satisfied with their lives, however, the joy of ultra-rich is generated from neither materials nor money, which on the other hand, materials are not the major contributor to their emotional well-being. Nonetheless, back into the ancient ages, when money had not yet existed, people used items for equivalent exchange. Money meant nothing to them, and yet they could still be joyful because of being content in their

On the basis of Hierarchy of needs from Maslow (1954), joy is about self-actualization which is on the top of all needs, whilst money is the basic and physiological needs. As a result, people mostly acquiesce in this statement to be a servant of money. However, special cases occurred. Money is not everything for them; some people can abandon money or even what they have to chase transcendent happiness, for instance, Mother Teresa selflessly sacrificed what she had to pursue religion, Van Gogh lost his mind and immolated his life to art, Beethoven suffered from poverty to contribute to the music industry. To these people, their own happiness is more vital than money which is called the necessaries of life. From this case, people can obtain happiness without having money. They can also be pleased via spending time with their beloved ones or even lending a helping hand to strangers

Moreover, if money can provide people joy, then will the sudden windfall from lottery makes people be totally drunk in happiness? The story of lottery winner Viv Nicholson illustrates that the bonanza might cause more negatively influence on quality of life of individuals, which makes people focus more on how to spend the money, rather than using them wisely. It takes us to the lesson learnt by Nicholson, “you don’t need money to be joyful.” (Diener,