What is the 'expiration date' of happiness due to marriage and money?



Previous studies have shown that “

long-term marriages lead to long-lasting well-being ” and “ wealths can lead to healthy and long-lived lives ”. I think I can live happily for a long time. However, the results of an analysis of a study of the lives of about 14,000 Australians over the course of 16 years have shown that 'marriage and money-based happiness' does not last long.

Marriage and money help but don't lead to long-lasting happiness
https://theconversation.com/marriage-and-money-help-but-dont-lead-to-long-lasting-happiness-140431

A research team from Nathan Kettlewell, who studies health economics and behavioral economics at the University of Technology in Sydney, explores the relationship between life's events and happiness. Obtained and analyzed data from the large-scale social research project ' Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia Survey' targeting 39,693 people (HILDA Survey) ..

The result is the following figure, from the left, the graph shows the happiness (red) and life before and after the life event of 'marriage' 'childbirth' 'getting a lot of money suddenly such as lottery winning and inheritance inheritance' It shows how the satisfaction level (blue) has changed. In addition, the vertical axis shows the deterioration and improvement of the graph, and the horizontal axis is 24 months before the life event occurred to 48 months after the 6 years. Looking at this graph, happiness and satisfaction from ``marriage (left)'' peaked 3 months after marriage, but after 36 months (3 years) it was almost the same level as 2 years before marriage. You can see that 'Getting a lot of money (right)' is more gentle above and below marriage, but like marriage, happiness and satisfaction have fallen considerably a few years later. On the other hand, 'birth (center)' negatively affects happiness, but significantly increases satisfaction, a result not seen in the other two.



The next three are 'retirement,' 'pregnancy,' and 'promotion' from the left. In “Retirement (left)”, the level of happiness and satisfaction increased for the first year after retirement, but it has continued to calm down over time, with fluctuations. 'Pregnancy (center)' showed the same movement as 'childbirth.' The research team points out that the lack of sleep associated with child rearing is likely to be a major factor in the reason that pregnancy and childbirth significantly reduce happiness. In addition, the experience of 'promotion (right)' hardly changed happiness and satisfaction, and the effect on happiness and satisfaction was negligible.



'Job hunting (left)' and 'relocation (center)' did not significantly affect happiness and satisfaction as well as promotion. Contrary to marriage, 'remarriage (right)' shows a marked drop in happiness and satisfaction immediately after remarriage, but it returned to normal two years after the remarriage.



So far, it has been a rather positive life event, but the research team is also analyzing unhappy events. From the left, the following are 'bereaved family,' 'divorce with a partner or long separation,' 'a sudden loss of money, such as bankruptcy.' In both cases, happiness and satisfaction dropped significantly for the first year after the occurrence of the life event, but it can be seen that the situation is gradually picking up over the next two to three years.



'Health shock such as serious injury or illness (left)' 'Physical damage due to violence (center)' 'Dismissal (right)' and...



'Injuries or major illnesses of family members or relatives (left)' 'Death of a friend (center)' 'Damage from theft (right)', etc. have recovered within a few years after the occurrence of a life event, although to varying degrees I will.



Regarding the temporary consequences of positive events, such as marriage and high income, the research team said: 'Even with good events, most people return to their original well-being levels. Very bad events, such as the death of a spouse or family, will likewise restore happiness in a couple of years, this does not mean that the person is not in pain and is happy again in the face of misfortune. It means that you can feel.” In this way, it is said that the psychological term ' hedonic treadmill (pleasure adjustment) ' means that the happiness that has fluctuated due to a major event is restored.

In addition, based on the results of this analysis, the research team said, 'This research is a warning about pursuing happiness and sticking to positive events. The impact of good events on our happiness is temporary. Often, however, changing perspectives means that even if you are overwhelmed by a bad event, you can overcome it by caring for what heals us. The important thing is to maintain relationships and health and to minimize financial losses,' he said.

in Science, Posted by log1l_ks