Happiness is being richer than your peers

YOU don’t have to have a lot of money to be happy – as long as you’ve got more than the people around you.

A study of 160,000 adults found being rich is no guarantee of contentment but being richer than your peers gives you a good crack at it.

Scientists analysed the income, status and wellbeing of participants across the world, including the UK.

People whose income was higher than their peers were more likely to say they were happy or excited and less likely to feel stressed, sad or angry.

Nick Powdthavee, professor of behavioural science at Warwick Business School, Coventry, said: “People care very little about the actual figure they earn.

“They are more concerned with how their income compares with those around them. For example, their sense of wellbeing is more likely to be influenced by whether they are fifth or 40th highest-paid person in their workplace, rather than their salary.”

But he warned the focus on money works both ways – a move down the wealth league table can badly hit our mood.

He added: “Earning more than others may improve an individual’s sense of well-being more in places where inequality is rife. But it also means that they are likely to suffer more psychologically if they move down the income rankings.

“There is evidence that policies which lower income inequality by redistributing wealth improve the aggregate wellbeing of the population in a country.

“This could be because there is less anxiety about social status in more equal societies, which means those who fall down the income rank would suffer a less severe drop in wellbeing.” His team analysed data from the Gallup World Poll relating to income, status and wellbeing of adults over a six-year period in 24 countries including the US, France, Germany, Australia and China.

Their measurements of wellbeing included happiness, stress, sadness and anger.

The research appears in specialist journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.