Do you care what people think, or is your emotional health more instilled in how much money you earn? According to a new article published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, overall happiness in life comes down to how much you are respected and admired by your peers, rather than your financial wellness.
Psychological scientist Cameron Anderson of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley explored the relationship between different types of status and wellbeing in the article with his co-authors. Anderson explained, ‘We got interested in this idea because there is abundant evidence that higher socioeconomic status – higher income or wealth, higher education – does not boost subjective wellbeing (or happiness) much at all. Yet at the same time, many theories suggest that higher status should boost happiness.’
Ok, so money and status doesn’t make you happy – but what does? Instead of happiness coming down to socioeconomic status, Anderson and his colleagues theorised that it was more of a question of higher sociometric status. That is, respect and admiration in your face-to-face groups, such as your friendship network, your neighbourhood, or your athletic team. Anderson commented, ‘Having high standing in your local ladder leads to receiving more respect, having more influence, and being more integrated into the group’s social fabric.’
In the first of four studies, the research team polled 80 students who participated in 12 different campus groups, such as sororities and ROTC. After accounting for gender and ethnicity, the researchers discovered that sociometric status predicted students’ social wellbeing scores. In the next study, the researchers surveyed a larger and more diverse sample of participants. They were able to at least partly explain the relationship between sociometric status and wellbeing; students felt a sense of power and social acceptance in their personal relationships.
Over the next two studies, the team looked at how this might be manipulated when sociometric status changed. Anderson noted, ‘I was surprised at how fluid these effects were – if someone’s standing in their local ladder went up or down, so did their happiness, even over the course of 9 months.’ He added, ‘One of the reasons why money doesn’t buy happiness is that people quickly adapt to the new level of income or wealth. Lottery winners, for example, are initially happy but then return to their original level of happiness quickly. It’s possible that being respected, having influence, and being socially integrated just never gets old.’
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