ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 19, 1996 TAG: 9604190084
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
ANY COCKEYED optimist who, in the face of financial crisis, has dismissed worry by cheerily pointing out that "money can't buy happiness" surely has heard the cynical rejoinder: "I've been rich and I've been poor - and rich is better."
Now the optimists have the data to back them up.
Numerous studies over the past two decades, of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, show little correlation between material wealth and personal well-being
Three of 10 Americans describe themselves as very happy, Scientific American magazine reports, while only one in 10 is "not too happy." All the studies rely on self-assessment, so answers are subjective. But researchers found that those who say they're happy also seem happy to close friends and family, and remain that way pretty consistently over the years, despite changes in life circumstances.
As for money and happiness, one study showed that while Americans' earnings in today's dollars are double what they were in 1957, only 29 percent say they are "very happy," compared to 35 percent 40 years ago. Worldwide, the correlation between affluence and happiness is slight, except in the most impoverished nations.
So if you can't buy happiness, how do you get it? Studies repeatedly show four characteristics of happy people:
* They like themselves, and regard themselves as more ethical, intelligent, broad-minded and healthier than average.
* They feel they have control over their lives.
* They usually are optimistic.
* They are, mostly, extroverted.
Happy people tend to have close personal relationships. Good marriages are for many a source of support. Often they are active religiously.
That's as wholesome a prescription for life as you'd get from Mom. Some advice for those who've been ignoring hers all these years: If you don't have a particularly good opinion of yourself, fake it. Experiments show those who feign high self-esteem end up feeling better about themselves. It can't hurt.
LENGTH: Short : 46 linesby CNB