Podcast: How much money does it take to be happy?

Does money make you happy? And if so, how long can happiness be increased? These are just two of several questions about the two big Gs – money and happiness – that economics department head Dietmar Mascher spoke about in the OÖN podcast “Money & Life” with business psychologist Eduard Brandstätter from the Johannes Kepler University (JKU). Brandstätter also deals with the topic in his lectures.

“In any case, money makes you happier and happier. “That can be measured,” says Brandstätter. However, it is striking that the life satisfaction of the richer 20 percent and the poorer 20 percent do not differ dramatically. Also because life satisfaction is not only related to money.

This is regularly surveyed for each country in the World Happiness Report and is made up of material satisfaction (health, money), institutional satisfaction (democracy, freedom of the press, legal security) and ethos. The ethos is about morale and civic engagement and social cohesion.
The most satisfied people live in Scandinavia, where there is high institutional satisfaction, but less money and less performance orientation than in Austria. Austria is also considered a satisfied country, having recently come in eleventh place.

Self-worth through money?

According to Brandstätter, it makes a difference to personal satisfaction, which one perceives as luck, whether someone has won a fortune in the lottery, inherited it or earned it themselves. “Money essentially has three functions: independence, security and self-worth. While security and independence can also be given with an inheritance or a lottery win, self-worth is certainly greater if you have earned the fortune yourself,” says Brandstätter.

Whether a lot of money can make you unhappy at some point above a certain amount, what can happen if you suddenly have a lot of money, and why we play with the idea of ​​performance compared to the Scandinavians was also discussed in the podcast.