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Wealth and Discontent

　　If your sense of well-being fluctuates with stock market, you might be comforted to know that money can’t buy you happiness anyway. In one American study conducted in 1993, level of income was shown to have an inverse relation to happiness: the group whose income had declined was happier overall than the group whose income had increased. A soon-to-be published review of the hundreds of studies on this subject supports the 1993 findings.

　　In developed countries, the correlation between income and happiness is close to zero and sometimes negative. With a correlation between level of income and happiness somewhere between 0.12 and 0.18, the United States is near the bottom of the list; that, factors other than income are overwhelmingly more important in explaining happiness.

　　Also, as our material wealth increases, the gap between income and satisfaction with life seems to be widening. Predictably, money has its most positive effect on the poor, but once a person has achieved a minimal standard of living level of income has almost nothing to do with happiness.

　　Close relationship, rather than money, is the key to happiness. Indeed, the number of one’s personal friends is a much better indicator of overall satisfaction with life than personal wealth. One stands a better chance of achieving a satisfying life by spending time with friends and family than by striving for higher income. Incidentally, in the US, as people become richer, the probability of divorce increases. Our need for companionship is partly biological. All primates respond with pleasure to demonstrations of affection and with pain to loss of companionship. Isolated monkeys will sacrifice food just for the glimpses of another monkey. By ignoring our biologically programmed need for each other, we risk physical and mental distress.

　　A recent cross-national study of mental depression in the US found that in advanced countries, there is a rising tide of major depression. Teenage suicides have increased in recent decades in almost all advanced countries. Moreover, in the US since World War II, there has been an actual decline in the proportion of people who report themselves to be “very unhappy.” You can easily test the claim that companionship exceeds wealth as a source of happiness. Ask yourself which has a greater influence on your satisfaction with life: your income or the affection of your intimate companions and the well-being of your children? Conversely, which would make you more depressed: a reduction in salary or a divorce and isolation from your friends?

　　Capitalism succeeds in creating material riches, but it is less successful in building companionable societies and protecting family integrity. But developing countries still have much work to do in pursuing material wealth, where a rise in productivity still greatly increases happiness. For poorer countries, the time is not yet ripe for a shift in priorities from wealth accumulation to companionship. Can we afford to believe that the pursuit of material gain will lead to self-fulfillment? We should continue to enjoy our wealth in good company, or else we may find that it is not satisfying.

　　1. According to the 3rd paragraph, which of the following is true in developed countries?

　　A. the more money one has, the unhappier he becomes.

　　B. income and happiness are closely related

　　C. the richer one is, the happier he is

　　D. more money does not necessarily make one happy

　　2. Which of the following statements best describes the situation in the US, according to the 1993 study?

　　A. most people think personal wealth can make them happy

　　B. most people do not think wealth has much to do with happiness

　　C. money is an important factor in making one happy

　　D. happiness can only be explained in terms of income

　　3. In the author’s opinion, which of the following statements is not true?

　　A. wealth means differently to the poor and the rich

　　B. money makes the poor and the rich equally happy

　　C. money means less to a person as he achieves a higher standard of living

　　D. money means more to the poor than to the rich

　　4 According to the author, which of the following is most likely to share our biological need for companionship besides the monkey?

　　A. a swallow

　　B. a pig

　　C. an ape

　　D. a dog

　　5. Which of the following is the least likely cause of one’s unhappiness in advanced countries?

　　A. loss of friends

　　B. Reduction of income

　　C. Death of a family member

　　D. Divorce

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