Chapter 9: Money and Happiness: Implications for Investor Behavior
Investor Behavior: The Psychology of Financial Planning and Investing. H. Kent Baker and Victor Ricciardi, editors, 153-169, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. , 2014.
Posted: 30 May 2014
Date Written: February 10, 2014
Abstract
This chapter provides a synthesis of the research literature on the relationship between money and happiness. Money refers to income and income-related factors. Happiness is typically measured by life satisfaction, but also by daily happiness and living a meaningful life. Based on research evidence, personal income increases happiness to a certain degree in a nonlinear fashion. In the range from low to middle income, income has a strong positive relationship with happiness. From middle to high income levels, the positive association between income and happiness diminishes. People living in richer countries are happier. Unhappiness results from seeking materialist goals. Most research studies examine whether income increases happiness. The emerging academic literature examines the reverse causality and explores whether happier people make more money, which is gaining empirical support. The chapter provides a discussion of the implications of these research findings for investor behavior.
Keywords: Financial well-being, income, subjective well-being, happiness, behavioral finance, financial psychology, behavioural finance, behavioral economics, behavioural economics
JEL Classification: A12, D81, G00, G30, G10, M00, M10, M41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
