Get happy—it's good for you

Given the choice between winning the lottery and being left permanently disabled by injury, everyone would take the money. Yet a year after either of these events, people apparently return to their previous levels of happiness.1 Such are the complexities of the state described by Aristotle as “the best, the finest, the most pleasurable thing of all.” 2

As everyone since Midas knows, acquiring riches is a poor long term bet in the happiness stakes. A recent review concluded that “money can buy you happiness, but not much, and above a modest threshold, more money does not mean more happiness.”3 Individuals usually get richer during their lifetimes—but not happier.

As for individuals, so for countries. Ghana, Mexico, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States all share similar life satisfaction scores despite per capita income varying 10-fold between the richest and poorest country.2 Per capita incomes have quadrupled in most advanced economies over the past 50 years, but levels of subjective wellbeing have hardly budged.3

Researchers believe that it's relative income, rather than absolute income, that matters to people. However well we're doing, there's always someone else doing better. The pleasure …