In her article on the relationship between financial and psychological well-being, Sharon Begley explores the idea that material wealth does not necessarily lead to happiness and emotional well-being. Moreover, it often becomes the issue rather than the solution of the problem. The author provides her insights on the topic supported by scholarly literature and relevant research to develop her central claim: money does not bring happiness.
One of the explanations Begley provides for the inconsistency of the money-happiness correlation perspective is the problem of overwhelming choice. Though money grants freedom to choose from various products and services, the equal availability of many options blurs their value and generates the constant fear of missing out on something better (Begley, 2007). This leads to an uncontrollable desire to satisfy imaginable needs the capitalist system facilitates. She also notes the drastic difference in self-reported happiness index between slum dwellers and homeless people from Calcutta, suggesting that happiness is a relative value rather than an absolute one.
This claim is supported by an observation that, despite the significant gross domestic product per capita growth in the West in the previous seventy years, the life satisfaction levels among US, EU, and Japanese citizens remained the same. The author references European and American social psychologists to elaborate that, in fact, economic development corresponded with “a substantial increase in depression and distrust” (Begley, 2007, para. 7). Basically, having access to comfort and luxury diminishes their subjective value, leading to an eventual plateau of satisfaction where an increase in material status stops bringing psychological satisfaction – a manifestation of the Weber–Fechner law.
The author further develops this idea by reversing the argument. According to Begley, “social relationships and enjoyment at work,” broadly speaking, are the primary contributors to people’s sense of happiness and satisfaction (2007, para. 9). Moreover, striving for emotional well-being is more likely to bring financial success than vice versa thanks to its association with personality traits like initiative and productivity.
In conclusion, Begley criticizes the modern American economic system for encouraging uncontrollable expansion for the sake of expansion itself, depriving people of a sense of accomplishment. By turning citizens into consumers, the capitalist system facilitates the growth of psychological dissatisfaction, substituting it with artificial materialistic desires. The author concludes that maintaining the status quo will inevitably lead to further deterioration of society’s psychological well-being.
Reference
Begley, S. (2007). Why money doesn’t buy happiness. Newsweek. Web.