Ever thought you would be happier at work if you earned more money? How about a little less? Hmmm, probably not likely. But according to a Nobel Prize winning economist, there is an amount you can earn that is 'just right' for optimum happiness.
Princeton economist Angus Deaton, who conducts research into poverty and development, investigates how our quality of life has surged in the past 100 years - as well as how Westerners respond to money. And in a paper with fellow Nobel-prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, they found that there is a "happiness plateau" above an annual salary of $75,000, which is roughly £49,000, according to Business Insider.
Deaton and Kahneman analysed 450,000 people, and discovered that there are two kinds of happiness - everyday contentment - so feeling joy on a day-to-day basis, and life assessment - so the happiness you experience when you think about your life. 'Everyday contentment' apparently starts to level off after the study particpants earned more than £49,000, but the 'life assessment' happiness grows the more you earn.
Or, as Deaton said in an interview: "Giving people more income beyond 75K is not going to do much for their daily mood … but it is going to make them feel they have a better life".
Some of the study results are not surprising - with a highly paid job comes more responsibility and stress, which is sure to affect your everyday happiness. But the amount you earn does not always equate to contentment so easily - high earners might be in a job they hate, and therefore not feel happy about their position in life, if you're earning less than £49,000, you are likely have everyday stress about trying to make ends meet, and even if you are earning that 'magical' amount, deeming there is an amount that could make people the happiest is tricky when you factor in the other variables in someone's life, like the family they have to support.