More can mean less when it comes to being happier -- especially if you are neurotic

New research from the University of Warwick suggests getting more money may not make you happier, especially if you are neurotic.

In a working paper, Dr Eugenio Proto, from the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE) at the University of Warwick, looked at how can affect the way we feel about our in terms of levels of life satisfaction.

He found evidence suggesting that neurotic people can view a pay rise or an increase in income as a failure if it is not as much as they expected.

Neuroticism is a fundamental personality trait in psychology and refers to a tendency to experience . People with high levels of neuroticism have higher sensitivity to anger, hostility, or depression.

Dr Proto, who co-authored the paper with Aldo Rustichini from the University of Minnesota, said people who are on a high salary and have high levels of neuroticism are more likely to see a payrise as a failure.

He said: "Someone who has high levels of will see an income increase as a measure of success. When they are on a lower income, a pay increase does satisfy them because they see that as an achievement. However, if they are already on a higher income they may not think the pay increase is as much as they were expecting. So they see this as a partial failure and it lowers their ."

Dr Proto, who will be presenting the research at next month's ESRC Research Methods Festival, used data from the British Household Panel Survey and the German Socioeconomic Panel.

He added: "These results suggest that we see money more as a device to measure our successes or failures rather than as a means to achieve more comfort."

More information: The paper, Life Satisfaction, Household Income and Personality Traits, Eugenio Proto and Aldo Rustichini, is published as a CAGE working paper n.86

Citation: More can mean less when it comes to being happier -- especially if you are neurotic (2012, June 9) retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-happier-neurotic.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Frequent sex protects marital happiness for neurotic newlyweds

 shares

Feedback to editors