Can money buy happiness？ Yes, exclaim the authors of a new 【M1】______
study—but only up to a point.
Psychology has shown that rich people generally rank the
overall quality of their lives more favourable than poor people do. At 【M2】______
the same time, their actual happy seems to be motivated less by their 【M3】______
ability to buy more than by being able to keep up with those with
comparable resources in their own age group.
"Our findings point to the possibility that, rather than
promoting overall happiness, continued income growing could 【M4】______
promote an ongoing consumption race where individuals have to
consume more and more, just to maintain a constant level of
happiness," writes Glenn Firebaugh of Pennsylvania State
University.
The study was presented at the American Sociological
Association's 100th Annual Meeting.
What the rich are happier as a whole than their less well-to-do 【M5】______
counterparts is becoming an increasingly hot topic for debate. In
recent years, many has been written regarding the "science of 【M6】______
happiness".
Richer people are happier because money can purchase goods
and services and it is the consumption of these materials increases 【M7】______
one's enjoyment of life and one' s sense of well-being.
As incomes in the U.S. tend to be rise over the course of our 【M8】______
lifetimes, individuals may find themselves on a sort of treadmill,
consuming more and more just to maintain a constant level of
happiness, they write.
Firebaugh and his colleagues measured the age, total family
income, and general happiness of individuals aged 20 to 64,
generally considered the working life span for most Americans.
Regardless of such criteria as physical health, education, and
marital status, people's happiness was effected by what others 【M9】______
earned. The higher is the income of others in one's age group, the 【M10】______
lower one's happiness.
【M1】