can money buy you happiness persuasive essay

Essay on Can Money Buy Happiness

Students are often asked to write an essay on Can Money Buy Happiness in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Can Money Buy Happiness

Introduction.

Money is essential in life, but can it buy happiness? This question has sparked debates worldwide.

Money and Materialistic Joy

Money can buy materialistic things that bring joy. For example, your favorite video game or a bicycle can make you happy, and you need money for them.

Money and Freedom

Money can provide freedom to explore hobbies, travel, and experience new things, which can lead to happiness.

Limitations of Money

However, money can’t buy love, friendship, health, or peace of mind, which are essential for true happiness.

In conclusion, while money can buy temporary joy, it can’t buy lasting happiness.

250 Words Essay on Can Money Buy Happiness

The age-old question, “Can money buy happiness?” has sparked countless debates among philosophers, economists, and psychologists. While some argue that wealth is a key contributor to happiness, others believe that happiness lies in intangible aspects of life.

The Power of Wealth

Money, undeniably, holds power. It provides the ability to afford basic necessities, luxuries, and experiences. It can help in eliminating stressors like debt and financial instability, which are often associated with unhappiness. From a utilitarian perspective, money can indeed buy happiness as it facilitates access to goods and services that can improve quality of life.

The Limitations of Money

However, the relationship between money and happiness is not linear. Beyond a certain income level, additional wealth does not equate to increased happiness. This is known as the ‘Easterlin Paradox’. Also, an overemphasis on wealth can lead to materialism, which has been linked to decreased well-being and increased mental health issues.

The Role of Intangible Aspects

While money can provide comfort and security, it cannot buy intangible aspects such as love, friendship, health, or peace of mind. These aspects, according to many psychologists, are the true essence of happiness. They provide a sense of belonging, purpose, and contentment that money cannot procure.

In conclusion, money can buy temporary happiness by providing comfort, security, and experiences. However, it falls short in procuring lasting happiness that is often found in intangible aspects of life. Thus, the pursuit of wealth should be balanced with the pursuit of intangible aspects to achieve holistic happiness.

500 Words Essay on Can Money Buy Happiness

The question, “Can money buy happiness?” is a popular one. Many people think that having more money means being happier. But is that really true? Let’s explore this idea in a simple way.

Money and Basic Needs

Firstly, money is important because it helps us meet our basic needs. It allows us to buy food, clothes, and a place to live. Without money, we would struggle to survive. In this way, money can bring a certain level of happiness. It provides comfort and security, which are key to feeling satisfied in life.

Money and Material Possessions

Secondly, money can buy material things. This includes toys, gadgets, cars, or even vacations. These things can make us feel happy for a while. But after some time, the excitement fades. We start to want newer, better things. This is called the “hedonic treadmill.” It means that buying stuff only brings short-term happiness. Over time, we get used to what we have and want more.

Money and Relationships

Thirdly, let’s consider money and relationships. Money can help us do nice things for others. We can buy gifts for friends or donate to those in need. This can make us feel good about ourselves. But, money can’t buy true friendship or love. These are based on trust, understanding, and shared experiences. They can’t be bought with money.

Money and Happiness: The Real Picture

So, can money buy happiness? The answer is not straightforward. Money can buy things that make life more comfortable and enjoyable. But it can’t buy everything. It can’t buy love, good health, time, or peace of mind. These things are often the most important for true happiness.

Research shows that after a certain income level, more money doesn’t equal more happiness. This level is enough to meet basic needs and some wants. Beyond that, more money might not make a big difference in how happy you are.

In conclusion, money can buy some forms of happiness, but not all. It’s important to remember that the best things in life aren’t things. They are experiences, relationships, and good health. These can’t be bought with money. So, while money is important, it’s not the only path to happiness. It’s just one piece of the puzzle.

Remember, happiness comes from within. It’s about being content with what you have, not what you don’t have. It’s about enjoying the simple things in life. And most importantly, it’s about being true to yourself and your values.

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Can Money Buy You Happiness? Essay

I believe that money can buy a person happiness due to several reasons related to the costs of comfortable and healthy living. These costs include housing, medicine, and meaningful experience, which improve the quality of life. Despite the fact that luxury is often seen as an attractive point in favor of happiness via increased budget or spending, it is not necessary for well-being. Some researchers propose that happiness is dependent on the living standards and the perception of living circumstances, this is a theory of comparison (Muresan et al.). On the other hand, it is also possible to perceive happiness as the satisfaction of personal needs (Muresan et al.). Nevertheless, multiple factors are crucial to form a happy life which need to be reviewed in detail.

First of all, given that happiness is related to the satisfaction of personal needs, there is also a need to consider the essential need of human life such as housing, medicine, and food. These expenditures are continuous throughout human life. In order to be healthy, one needs medication and medical expertise to ensure long life without illnesses. Electricity and water bills need to be paid to ensure comfortable life at home, which includes cleanness, cooking, and entertainment in the form of TV programs or the Internet. Moreover, technological development led to the digitalization of numerous jobs and created the opportunity to interact with anyone despite the distance. This is essential because, without a job, there’s no source of income to pay the described bills, and connection with family and friends is known to improve life satisfaction and address humans’ social needs.

Other personal needs are often related to the purchase of things and meaningful or memorable experiences. It is well-known that a good experience may improve a person’s mood, resulting in satisfaction with life (Mogilner et al.). These experiences vary due to human individuality but are often connected to romance, socialization, personal development. Romance refers to the maintenance of a romantic relationship with a loved person. This indirectly incurs additional costs such as future marriage organization, dates, and small gifts, which contribute to the improvement of the mood. It is widely accepted that personal development leads to satisfaction with one-self. Personal development is related to the acquisition of new skills and broadening of one’s horizon or accumulation of knowledge. The services of trainers and teachers coupled with the purchase of books are not free and considered as spending outside of basic living needs. Furthermore, buying time or expenditures to free oneself from daily chores or unmeaningful but necessary tasks contribute to personal well-being (Mogilner et al.). Numerous researchers found that money spent on buying time alleviates time stress, and people who utilize these services feel happier (Mogilner et al.).

Living standards vary from country to country due to the differences in economic conditions. Consequently, higher living standards refer to higher costs for basic needs. The theory of comparison suggests that an increase in a personal income would not lead to a significant increase in happiness, given that the income of others would similarly increase. Nevertheless, studies identified that a certain threshold exists after which the effect of income on happiness is significantly reduced. For example, in the US, it is equal to 75 000$ (Mogilner et al.), while in Europe, it is close to 35 000$ (Muresan et al.). This demonstrates that an excessive increase in income is not necessary for well-being. Simultaneously, it points to the fact that below this threshold, people are not as satisfied with life and happy as they could have been.

In conclusion, money can buy happiness but only if spent correctly. The correct spending of money involves improvement and maintenance of life via memorable experiences, meaningful things, and satisfaction of basic needs. Moreover, it is not necessary to have an excessive amount of money certain threshold exists, which demonstrates that money cannot amount to complete happiness but attributes to its significant portion.

Works Cited

Mogilner, C., Whillans, A., & Norton, M. I. “Time, money, and subjective well-being.” Handbook of well-being. Edited by E. Diener, S. Oishi, & L. Tay, DEF Publishers, 2018.

Muresan, Gabriela Mihaela, et al. “Can Money Buy Happiness? Evidence for European Countries.” Applied Research in Quality of Life , vol. 15, no. 4, 2019, pp. 953–970. Web.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Happiness — Riches And Eternal Joy: Possibility of Buy Happiness

Riches and Eternal Joy: Possibility of Buy Happiness

• Categories: Happiness Money

About this sample

Words: 802 |

Published: Apr 4, 2022

Words: 802 | Page: 1 | 5 min read

Works Cited

• Aknin, L. B., Dunn, E. W., & Norton, M. I. (2009). Money doesn't buy happiness: A reexamination with new evidence. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1(3), 90-95.
• Diener, E., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2002). Will money increase subjective well-being? A literature review and guide to needed research. Social Indicators Research, 57(2), 119-169.
• Diener, E., Ng, W., Harter, J., & Arora, R. (2010). Wealth and happiness across the world: Material prosperity predicts life evaluation, whereas psychosocial prosperity predicts positive feeling. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(1), 52-61.
• Dunn, E. W., Gilbert, D. T., & Wilson, T. D. (2011). If money doesn't make you happy, then you probably aren't spending it right. Journal of Consumer Psychology , 21(2), 115-125.
• Graham, C. (2011). Adaptation amidst prosperity and adversity: Insights from happiness studies from around the world. In J. Helliwell, R. Layard, & J. Sachs (Eds.), World happiness report (pp. 36-60). Earth Institute, Columbia University.
• Layard, R. (2005). Happiness: Lessons from a new science. Penguin UK.
• Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 111-131.
• Ng, W., Diener, E., Aurora, R., Harter, J., & Arora, R. (2009). Affluence and subjective well-being: Evidence from 54 countries. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(4), 447-463.
• Vohs, K. D., Mead, N. L., & Goode, M. R. (2006). The psychological consequences of money. Science, 314(5802), 1154-1156.
• Xu, J., Wei, L., & Liu, Q. (2018). Can money buy happiness? Evidence from a meta-analysis of studies using the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Economic Psychology, 68, 1-9.

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