It's fair to say that Thurston Howell III doesn't savor the little things in life. One of seven castaways on an uncharted Pacific island, the WASPy billionaire never stops scheming to get back to his money. While the others often seem content in their tropical paradise, Howell mostly likes to talk and dream about his assets, which include a coconut plantation, a railroad, an oil well, a diamond mine and all of Denver, Colorado. He never seems to understand that his wealth won't buy him happiness on Gilligan's Island.
Okay, so Gilligan's Island isn't real. I get that. But is it possible this old TV fantasy contained a grain of psychological truth? Can "having it all" undermine the ability to savor common, everyday joys? And if so, does wealth diminish pleasure enough that it trumps the pluses of having plenty of money?
An international team of scientists has been exploring these questions. Psychologist Jordi Quoidbach of the University of Liege, Belgium, and his colleagues wondered if wealth, because it promises abundant pleasure, might actually weaken the internal sense of scarcity that makes small pleasures possible. They decided to test this idea in the lab.
They recruited a large group of university employees, ranging from deans to janitors. The idea was to get a range of incomes and financial comfort, which they did: Some of the volunteers had socked away 75,000 euros or more, while others had a mere 1,000 euros in savings. They gave all of these volunteers a test that uses vignettes to gauge positive emotions like pride and awe and contentment. For example, the volunteers might be asked to imagine going on a hike and discovering an amazing waterfall. Would they be visibly emotional? Reminisce about the waterfall later? Tell others about the experience? And so on.
The scientists also measured the volunteers' overall happiness, using a standardized scale, and also their desire for wealth. They measured desire for wealth with this kind of question: "How much money would you have to win in a lottery to live the life of your dreams?"
Then they crunched all the data together to sort out the links between money and happiness and savoring the little things in life. Here's what they found: The more money people have, the less likely they are to appreciate things like waterfalls or blooming azaleas or quiet weekends. What's more, cause-and-effect was clear from the data. That is, the ability to savor life's small pleasures was not diminishing the need or desire for money; it was clearly the other way around.
And overall happiness? That's the really interesting part. There is a modest relationship between wealth and happiness; that's not all that surprising. But the inability to appreciate waterfalls undercuts money's blessings. That is, any positive effects of wealth on happiness were offset by wealth's deleterious effects on ability to savor life's pleasures.
These findings reported in the journal Psychological Science, were provocative enough that the researchers wanted to double-check them in a different way. So in a second experiment, they used photographs of cash to prime thoughts of money in some of the volunteers. And just in case the volunteers were unintentionally distorting their feelings about waterfalls and honeysuckle and other small things in life, the scientists decided to actually observe them. So instead of using hypothetical vignettes, they gave all the volunteers a piece of chocolate to eat, and they had dispassionate observers rate the chocolate savoring experience: How slowly did they eat the chocolate? Did they close their eyes, or makes sounds of pleasure? And so forth.
Mmmm. The pleasure was unmistakable -- but only for those without money in mind. The moneyed volunteers rushed through the chocolate like it was celery, and showed about that much pleasure in the experience.
All of this suggests that being rich -- and having access to the best things in life -- may actually queer our ability to enjoy the small, sweet things in life. What's more -- as the priming study indicates -- just knowing we have access to the trappings of wealth is enough to make us take small pleasures for granted -- and not appreciate them. And as Thurston Howell III can testify, being filthy rich can even take the joy out of an island paradise.
Barbara Hannah Grufferman: The Best Things in Life Are... Free?
Happiness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Happiness Quotes | Happiness Quotations | Happiness Sayings ...
And of course, it would be nice to lessen the struggles of life today as we know it for ourselves and those around us, near and far. But how to fix the Gulf Coast. How, indeed.
I wonder if I could change my screen name from DrFrann to Pollyanna.
Is a decision really necessary? What will happen if you do nothing?
Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous. - David Hume
justonequestionaday.com
Unhappyness and dispair comes from the hopelessness of absolutely knowing a dream cannot be fullfilled and oftener than not simply because it involves a few dollars which the person does not have the ability to aquire. Though money can always be aquired in one way or another. It all depends upon which borders of your own value system you would need to cross over to aquire the monies and still be able to live with oneself.
Maslow was right.
I have it all, because for me "all" equates to a good meal, a roof over my head, and occasional sexual experiences.
My needs are simple.
I appreciate every meal I eat because I know people who are going without. I revel in my garden because I know people with no home. My husband was laid off a year ago so we've moved from middle class to living month to month until that stable job arrives. If I didn't appreciate the little things, I wouldn't have much to appreciate at the moment but I'm somehow happier than my wealthy friends and family members. I find it odd.
"I appreciate every meal I eat because I know people who are going without."
...and you CARE about it. Wealthy people KNOW there are people going without too. But some of them just don't CARE.
he taught us the value of what was around us, and what was free.
he also used to say "all the money in the world doesnt buy a person an ounce of class..class is how kind you are to other people"
good dad I had. yep.
Sounds like he was a terrific role model.
My dad was a master wagon builder (making railway cars) in the 50s and he did the same for us and said almost the exact same things... especially about class (and I have the same first name as you, spelled differently *lol*) I've tried to instill the same values in my own children and I'll be making sure they pass it on to my grandchildren when they arrive.
I believe having parents who value the beauty around us is so instrumental in teaching us how to see the world and, at 50, I still know where to find monarchs on the milkweeds and exactly where the tadpoles will be hiding at a pond. I can tell you which bird is calling from the tree and the name of the tree they're calling from. I used to send my kids back out to play because they weren't dirty enough and we had more picnics than anyone I know. They used to complain because they wanted to be inside playing their video games but now, as an adult, my oldest had told me how much he loved his childhood. (my 17yr old isn't quite at that place yet *lol*)
Fanned.
I know you could. Go for it!