Does money bring you happiness?  According to a recent study, it can. Evidently statistics show that well earning more money might not make you happier day to day, but if richer people look at their lives overall, they rate them more positively than those who make less money. Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia stated in her study of how money affects happiness, “If you make $250k rather than $90K, you’re likely to rate your life as a whole more positively.”

So why is this so? According to Dunn, “Many times, people associate money with success, so when they have more money, they feel more successful and therefore more happy.” While making more money does not necessarily mean someone is more successful, it being wealthy certainly is associated with it.

So what do Blake Students think? Conor McDonough ‘16 stated that “ It depends what your job is. If you feel that your salary is what determines how well you are doing then yes, you are successful. However, if you define success in a different way then success and wealth might not be related.” However, Roscoe Ide ‘16 said that, “Yes, wealth and success are directly related, along with happiness. People who have wealth also usually have success.”

It seems that what really determines many peoples’ view of happiness is their view of success, and whether or not they feel successful.  Most people feel that the more money someone makes, the more successful they are, and therefore the happier they feel. However, many other people feel that something else determines what makes them feel successful and happy. It might be teaching, drawing or sports, and when they do these tasks successfully, they feel accomplished and happy. It seems that while money can make people feel happier, what truly determines their happiness is how well they do acts that fulfill their idea of being successful.