I have been reflecting on Ray’s lecture yesterday about the link, or lack thereof, between money and happiness. As a psychology undergrad, yesterday wasn’t the first time I’ve heard about the magic number beyond which money doesn’t matter. It’s a widely cited body of research, complemented by the many, many studies about what actually does increase happiness (think gratitude, meaningful relationships, work-life balance, etc.). Yet, here we are, spending huge amounts of money on graduate degrees, hoping our newly acquired credentials will qualify us for careers that pay us well to do what we care about. I feel this tension particularly strongly as a dual degree student with the business school. My peers are working their butts off to get high-paying jobs, despite the scientific evidence that we will inevitably be unfulfilled if we follow the highest salary. So what gives? Why are we so stubbornly unwilling to acknowledge the evidence against a path to happiness paved with dollar bills? And more importantly, what will it take (or as Ray would say, what are the conditions under which) we will finally wake up and change our behavior? I have a few thoughts based on what we’ve learned in class about why we struggle to change right now:
- Norms: We live in a society where the norm very clearly establishes money as a proxy for success. In that regard, the normative belief is that others in our lives expect us to make decisions aligned with maximizing income. Suggesting that you are going to forego college to pursue your passion for music, for example, is viewed as risky, irresponsible, even immature behavior rather than brave, thoughtful or reflective of self-knowledge. It is no wonder that we continue to buy into (pun intended) the notion that money equals success.
- Attentional Fatigue: In the face of such overwhelming social norms, it would take a substantial amount of directed attention for a person to really reflect on their goals and how to get there, not to mention be open to take an “alternative” path. At the same time, we live in an era of infinite stimulus and too many demands on our attention to count. Our culture is one of constant connectedness, demanding that you not only know everything, but also be available at all hours. This does not exactly foster an environment conducive to restoration and reflection.
- Awareness of Consequences: While we know that the pursuit of wealth does not yield happiness based on research, individuals do not necessarily know this from personal experience. The adverse consequences of prioritizing wealth over happiness are not likely to be felt until much later in life, while we are making decisions about our careers and personal lives right now.
Now that I’ve painted a fairly bleak picture of why we’re doomed to forever fall into the trap of a mindless pursuit of profitability, my question for our class is what do we do next? If we were to design an intervention to encourage ourselves and our peers will reevaluate the paths we’re on, what would it look like? It seems to me that building a community of people willing to challenge the status quo has a lot to do with it. I also think frequent feedback and reinforcement would be an important component of any attempt to shift the norm. What else will it take?
I think an intervention focused around mental restoration would be great to help people think more about what's really important to them for their future. With the daily grind of work and school, it can be really easy to push away and ignore conversations you really need to be having with yourself, such as "Am I happy with my current path?", "Why exactly am I doing what I'm doing? Is it because I believe it will lead to future happiness? Or is it because of money, the desire to desire to fit societal norms, etc.?" I think an intervention could try to get more people to take restorative breaks. Like Ray mentioned in lecture yesterday, taking a break by doing an activity, such as going on a walk in the arboretum, can help restore your mental vitality and hugely boost your productivity. In a similar way, having people take more restorative walks can get them to think more about life decisions, and potentially make choices that will make them happier in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI think the answer is to create alternative communities, businesses, friend groups where individuals receive continuous, positive reinforcements to adopt behaviors that promote eudaimonic well-being. It's sadly very true that we are bombarded with prompts and other social cues to push ourselves into chronic DAF and laud a consumerist culture that treats human beings more like rationalized, external-incentive seeking robots. Hey, I just heard from the Associate Director of a large conservation organization that money rules the world, and that's why the vast majority of their interventions to reduce phosphorous are based on monetary incentives! This can all be extremely frustrating. However, you and I are here as students at SNRE to change the dialogue and establish businesses that value restorative opportunities for their employees, or join non-profits where you can introduce ideas of restoration and internal incentives for behavior intervention into strategic planning discussions. By creating these kinds of opportunities with like-minded individuals, we can offer greater agency to others to self-select into environments that value eudaimonic well-being. Maybe slowly, we can work to change the national dialogue.
ReplyDeleteThis was interesting to read as someone who has never felt motivated or pressured to seek a high-paying job as an ultimate life goal. After I read this, I wondered why I have never felt that was a personal measure of my personal or professional success. Because I agree that money and high salaries are still a dominant social norm in this country--heck I spent my three years working at Homestead National Monument telling the story of how the homesteaders (pioneers) paved the way for the "American dream" and the cultural ideals of individualism, material gain, and perpetual growth (among other things) that this country still strives for today. It's depressing to think about when you know that not only would this country and its environment be better off with a shift in norms and values, but people would indeed be happier as you said.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason I am lucky to not feel this personally is because these values and norms were overridden by different ones held by my family. My parents took a winding road through their careers and, though they have always made enough money to be pretty secure and comfortable, they prioritized doing what they enjoy over seeking promotions or higher salaries. My mom has turned down more prestigious, higher-paying jobs in order to keep working on the stuff she found fun and creative. My closest friends throughout life and even the overall culture of my undergrad community have all agreed that money is not their primary motivator in life or in a career. So I have been lucky to grow up free from all of that, and don't even have to fight a monetary motivation as an instinct (assuming that I can make enough money to not be totally struggling in the future, of course).
So I wonder, if we foster more of these alternate social norms like I had in undergrad or like we have at SNRE where you aren't in it for the money, if those new values of happiness and desire to make a difference can start to dominate on a more wide-spread scale. I watched a blurb on the news today about Bhutan and their gross national happiness norm/policy/value, and that's pretty cool. The problem I see is that seeking and continually growing individual prosperity is so ingrained in American culture and history. But we have to be optimistic, right? There are lots of cases where people, especially when they are part of a community, realize that there are things more important than money--such as healthcare, schools, or even nature! So let's keep going and spread that to more places and contexts. Go team SNRE!