Category Archives: ENG 1101

Can Money Buy Happiness

Posted on by
1

Last week in HUS 1101 we began our “Got Maslow?” list of basic needs. The first was physical needs to survive as a human being. One important component was nourishment for sustaining life. So I ask:  Does having food make one happy (?) Does one need money to obtain food (?) What if one does not have food, nor money (?) Ahhh….

While my thoughts may not exactly follow the article you read in ENG 1101, the concept of money and happiness made me think about the following: If we align money and happiness with basic needs (for well-being) how important is money in obtaining Maslow’s first step of needs (?) Yes, your future clients (aka consumers) can go to a soup kitchen, food pantry, be part of a program that provides meals….or have contact with HUS workers who actually distribute food in public. Alternately, what about those who have to decide whether to pay the rent, electric, medical, etc., versus groceries (?) (BTW, a question mark in parenthesis is a rhetorical question. A question to ponder that does not require an answer by the reader. So, if you are ever writing and use a question mark, be sure to put it in parenthesis-otherwise you are asking the reader/professor to answer your question).

Back to money and happiness. Can one be happy without the money to purchase food (?) If one does not have food, how happy can they be (?) We know infants cry when they are hungry. They usually don’t stop until they are fed. When humans are hungry their survival skills “kick in” and they are on the “hunt” to satisfy their urge. Ever stand in front of the refrigerator and eat to “your heart’s content (?)” This is definitely Maslow in action!

Our goal as HUS workers is to aid consumers to making sure they have the resources. Whether the money to purchase goods is from a paycheck; food stamps; or community based services-funded by the government, grants and donations. So, the moral of this blog is that money can buy food, and food can make one’s tummy happy. At least temporarily.

So what does my blog make you think about?

Prof. Justine Pawlukewicz (Pav-lou-kev-itch)

Money and happiness how it relates

Posted on by
1

In the article “How to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, the idea that money is not that important as people make it out to be is introduced. In paragraph 3, they mention studies that prove that material things fail to produce long lasting happiness. This is proven in the next paragraph with the study involving the American dream and buying a home. One would think that owning their own property , raises their levels of happiness extremely , but this is a common misconception and wrong. These peoples happiness are not that different from those who rent. Elizabeth and Michael stress the idea of experiences. They believe it is more important to experience certain events rather than buying certain materials. In the seventh paragraph Elizabeth and Michael explain that experiences are more important than having a lot of money because it brings us closer to others. It makes you feel good to be able to share or spend time with someone , you don’t experience this so much when you go shopping for yourself, and only buy things for yourself. And finally in the last paragraph , an experiment was mentioned, involving 3 options, one was giving away their gift card, another was spending the gift card on themselves, and the third was buying someone else something and spending time with that person. And the results were that the third option made more people happier. Proving that money is not important as people make it out to be, rather the experiences that are made with what you got are more important and cause you to be happier.
I personally believe that money doesn’t buy happiness. I agree with what Elizabeth and Michael stated in the article. When large sums of money are offered or given to us, most of us believe we should take it and run. Spend it on ourselves, we believe we’ll be happy. It’s our first thought be selfish. But I believe it’s better to have memories to later share, to remember. Experiences are everything. If I have something that can help someone else why wouldn’t I? This is to say if I have an extra 5 dollars and my friend needs it, or somebody on the train performs a song with their son and asks for a donation I’m going to give up that 5 dollars, this is because it makes me feel good about myself .Money can’t buy happiness, but sometimes what you do with what you do got gives more of a happiness feeling. You don’t need to have a big house, fancy cars, a whole bunch of money in your wallet to feel happy. Be satisfied with your economic status try not to put so much stress on it and you’ll see how you change. You’ll focus on what really makes you happy, making memories, getting experiences, your interactions with others, this is where true happiness lies.

Can money buy true happiness?

Posted on by
Reply

In the article, “How to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, it states how money relates to our happiness. I think we all can agree and say money can bring us happiness. I know every time I receive my check a big smile comes on my face. I also know that happiness does not last for long. It will last for that moment but later on it goes away. This article tells us managing our money is a good way to increase our happiness. In this article it states how people can get more happiness from buying experiences rather than buying material things. This means to get out there and experience things such as trips, concerts, or just having fun with friends can bring so much more happiness rather than going and buying yourself a new pair of shoes. Spending your money on others rather than yourself can bring one happiness. I do agree with this because when I buy someone something and to see how much they loved it makes me happy. You made someone else happy other than yourself. Basically this article is saying to manage your money better so you are able to go out and experience life not only for yourself, but also others and you will be a happier person.

How Happy Can You Really Become?

Posted on by
Reply

As stated in this article “How to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton they state how happy can you really be if you are a loner or a giver. They state that your happiness can’t be bought by material goods but for lasting happiness giving to others can make you a happier person. To give to others your experiencing new things and are also getting closer to people. Don’t always enjoy things on your own, to make yourself feel happier you spend on others. They stated “Decades of research point to the importance of social contact for improving mental and physical health.” They proved this by doing an experiment which they handed out Starbucks gift cards and that group who had to buy something for someone else was happier. They shared that experience with the person.

I agree with this article because sometimes you need to do things for others to make yourself feel happy that you did something for someone else. I myself know that if I want to go somewhere I ask my brother to tag along because I don’t want to be by myself. Having things to do with others can bring up your self-esteem and build a more positive attitude for yourself and towards other individuals.

Happiness Archive #2: summary/response to “How to buy Happiness”

Posted on by
Reply

The importance of how we use our money can contribute to our happiness opposed to how much of it we have. In the article the author starts by introducing the idea of discovering a $1 million under our mattress, and the contemplation on what would be done with the money. The mere fact that the first thing that would come to mind would be ” what that money can do for US?” is a sign that money can bring out the selfish side. Thinking about all the material things to purchase often fails to give us complete satisfaction, “HAPPINESS”. Wherein changing how we spend the money can leave a more lasting affect of happiness. Research shows that “homeowners were no happier than renters on average”. Before reading this article, this would have been something I’d disagree with, but the points shown has given me a new perspective.

We spend most of our time working so hard to live “comfortably” or “lavishly” that we in fact forget to actually “LIVE”. Saving up with no social life isn’t such a good idea because there is an importance of social contact for improving our well being. Studies also show that there is more happiness in the experience than in the material things. the value of experience tends to grow with our memories of them. Experiences come with more benefit because, more than likely we tend to do them with others. Connecting both the experience with the socializing wherein measuring to a more fulfillment of happiness.

Another way is in fact doing for others. Experiments show that doing for others can also result in your own happiness. Actually combining the experience and giving can increase happiness. The experiment with the gift cards showed that people were more happy with the idea of giving and partaking at the same time, which made it a shared experience. So switching spending to the experience can leave a longer lasting valued affect!!!

Can you buy happiness?

Posted on by
1

Many people ask the question can money give you happiness? Well, according to the article “How to Buy Happiness” written by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton studies show that money does not make u any happier. They actually realized that having a great amount of money actually makes you think a little bit more about yourself. They saw that what makes you happy are what you experience in life. For example people gain happiness from what they do more than from what they have. They also proved that spending money on others makes people happy. Elizabeth and Michael experimented this conclusion by handing out Starbucks gift cards. The people who treated someone else and shared it came out to be the happiest. By combining giving and experiences It creates “the perfect happiness intervention”.

I absolutely agree with this article. Both authors studies people who moved from a smaller space to a large space and only found one thing. They found that the only thing that changed was the difference in size. It did not make them any more happier. Personally I believe that happiness comes from you. Having valuables and a lot of money or even fame does nothing but give you more attention. Sometimes all it does is keep you stagnant and keeps u feeling the same as before. Things that you do, places that you go and the people that surrounds you is what creates your own happiness.

 

How Much Money Do You Actually Need To Be Happy?

Posted on by
Reply

In the article “How to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn & Michael Norton, It speaks about how people spend there money and how it can effect how happy they are on a daily basis. It also speaks how when people get a large amount of money they spend it on things that are used for temporary happiness. Then how you spend your money is also something that is rather vital to your happiness. It also shows that materialistic things according to science don’t have a everlasting eternal happiness feel to the person who brought the materials. Some people would rather spend there money in different types of ways and occasions in order for example put down payments on a new house rather than just hanging out with your friends and spending money on various things while you are out with your friends. They also suggest and believe that spending your money on people who are lest fortunate than you is a better way to feed somebody else’s happiness rather than yours. Also it states that spending money on experiences on trips rather than materials are better ways to spend money. Basically the people in this article have a belief and understanding that spending money on others is more of a better feeling towards both your happiness and the person your treating than spending it on yourself.

I firstly believe some of what is said in this article is very true but however false on the other hand. Having money is something that should be kept sincere to you. I say this because mostly a lot of people spend money on countless things that don’t matter to much now a days and won’t long term benefit them. For example, some people would think that putting $300 on sneakers for their style is more beneficial to them rather than putting $300 towards a phone or even school supplies or better yet a down payment on a house for the future or in their bank account. People think different and have different intentions so happiness may cover all different types of aspects of a person. When having money that may equal to greed for some people. Greed is something that destroys a person in my opinion because then money ruins their character. But yet it makes their happiness. I think when you buy materialistic things it is like paying for temporary happiness. Will that $400 phone you have or $300 clothing or sneakers be with you when your older ? Something’s don’t indeed last like people assume it to be. I also believe that some people are selfish and believe on spending money on themselves rather than just giving back to others. That brings me back to greed destroying a persons character. It may be their happiness but it also may destroy who they are even though money makes them happy. While some others would love to give back to the people less fortunate or people they love because it gives them a better feeling seeing and making others happy, makes them happy as well.

Money Cant buy you Happiness

Posted on by
Reply

Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton explain how the quality of our lives matter more than the quantity of things we have. In an article from the Los Angeles Times, How to buy happiness. Dunn and Norton start of by asking a simple question that has a million answers, what would you do if you found $1 million ? Everyone , at some point in their life, has wished for that amount of money. But out of all of us who would actually do something selfless and spend it on someone else? The first few items on our lists are something for ourselves. Its possible that our fifth item is for someone else. But even if you were selfless would those purchases create memories for a life time or would they be used for a few hours of pleasure ? Dunn and Norton even use most peoples first thought, to buy a house, as a bad example of spending your newfound wealth. They say that although “…most Americans continue to see as a central part of the American dream”  buying a house isn’t “.. a sensible investment”. They’ve came to the conclusion, with the help of generations of research, that “how we use our money may matter as much or more than how much of it we’ve got”. Meaning that it doesn’t always matter how much money you have if you don’t have the proper way to spend it towards your happiness. Money can’t buy happiness.

in my opinion Dunn and Norton have the right idea about how money affects happiness. for example you could be the richest person in the world but if you don’t have anyone to share this lavish life with what’s the point of it all? Renting out Disney Land for the day sound like an ideal day but running around and riding all of the rides alone, is nowhere near as much fun as having your closest friends come along and enjoy the day that you can remember for the rest of your lives. As Dunn and Norton explain ” we tend to watch our new televisions alone on the couch, but we rarely head to a wonderful restaurant or jet off to Thailand solo.”

tv

In the experiment that was conducted at a university campus they proved that even with the simplest of gestures, buying someone a cup of coffee, you are defiantly happier than enjoying a cup on your own. On many occasions I’ve brought someone a cup of coffee and hung out in Starbucks for hours just talking. And I’m absolutely sure I’m not the only one who has done so. When it comes to the example they gave , about buying a home, I don’t completely agree. Yes, buying a home may take some a life time but in the long run you have something your family members can also enjoy or even have to fall back on. I don’t agree that you have to pass on that drink after a long day or that nice dinner once in a while. You should be able to have everything with moderation. Compromising on your spending shouldn’t have to interfere with your overall happiness.coffee

Although making changes to your list can be difficult, with the help of this article, the outcome can be even more pleasurable than your original list if you’re even just a little less selfish. Through research and experiments Dunn and Norton have made an appealing case that “.. you can make yourself happier today.” just by switching to buying experiences rather than material things that only benefit yourself.

Life experiences vs. Material things

Posted on by
Reply

According to the article “How to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, a person can be more happy depending on how they spend their money and not how much they have. The authors start by asking a question whether what would a person do with a million dollars. Followed by this, they state that research shows that the first response people think to this question are about satisfying their wants with material objects. Moreover, the authors continue to explain that it’s been proven scientifically that buying material things will not guarantee your happiness. According to the authors’ ongoing research, they guarantee that one can be happier by sharing experiences with their relatives or loved ones. Doing some activities such as trips, special meals and concerts can make an individual much happier than buying material things. This is proven by the authors’ experiment where they gave away Starbucks gift cards in a university campus. There were three experimental groups; people who bought something for themselves, people who gave away their gift cards, and people who used the gift card to buy something for someone else and shared the moment with them. The conclusion of this experiment was that the third group reported to be happier than the others. The authors conclude the article by restating that people can be happy spending their money wisely on experiences rather than the ultimate house of their dreams.

I completely agree with the authors’ opinion. It is better to spend money on experiences that we will remember the rest of our lives, rather than material things that might only last for a few years. I am actually glad there is research to prove this thesis. I think we should spread more awareness in our communities, about how we are defining the concept of happiness. Hence, now in these days we have become more dependent on material things for our happiness; such as having a cellphone, clothes of the season, and so on.

 

 

“How to buy happiness”

Posted on by
Reply

According to the Los Angeles Times article, “How to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn and Micheal Norton, our happiness can increase depending on how we spend our money. The article began by making us readers think on what would we do if we woke up the following day finding one million dollars under our mattress and asking us what would we do with it. Many people start thinking about buying a new home, cars and other material items that they believe will make them happy or bring them happiness, however in reality materialistic things in addition to thinking about yourself will make you happy temporarily. While spending your money on making memories and on others to make them happy makes you satisfied overall, and what does satisfaction bring you? Happiness of course! One example that supports this is an experiment that was done on a college campus. They gave the students Starbucks gift cards in which they were split among three groups: one group of students were told to use the gift card on themselves, another group was told to pass their gift card to someone else, and the last group was told to use the gift card to buy something for someone else while hanging out with that person at a Starbucks. Results were that those who treated someone else at Starbucks were happiest out of everyone. The authors had a good point with this article stating that spending even just a few dollars on someone else provides more happiness than using cash to treat yourself because I completely agree. I feel that buying memories has a bigger impact on your happiness and that the littlest thing can be the biggest in most cases.

So I asked myself, “What would I do if I found one million dollars under my mattress” and the first thing that popped in my mind was buying myself certain things, but then I looked at the bigger picture and how far would I get with that and how would it impact in my life and my mind automatically changed. I would much rather not have much, spend that on others around me so that I can see their joy cause in all reality there’s nothing better then making others happy.