Science Affirms That Money Is A Drug And Does Not Bring Happiness
We like to think we control money because it seems easy to control, but in reality It is money that controls us
We just have to take a look around us to realize how the world works. Money is capable of making us rethink our own principles and everyone is vulnerable to the influence of corruption. You’re probably thinking that this isn’t true… Okay, everyone but you!
But it is not me who affirms this, but rather a whole set of studies halfway between psychology, economics and sociology, which investigate how we relate to money and what the psychological consequences of possessing large monetary sums are.
In this sense, a team of scientists from the Universitat Jaume I of Castellón concluded, after a study, that Rejecting a bribe produces more stress than accepting it Does it still seem strange to you that many politicians and businessmen are corrupt? Seen this way, money is like a drug and, as such, it is addictive.
People change their behavior because of money
People change their behavior if money is involved. A study from the University of North Carolina found that If a group of subjects were offered money, they were able to increase their scores on a verbal test
Not only that, but money is capable of making us behave like “fools”: for example, mortgaging us for life or making us buy things that are not useful. But as much as some insist on believing that money brings happiness, there are several studies that show that once we achieve our basic needs, earning more money does not make us happier
Stephen Lea, a psychology professor at the University of Exeter, thought the theory that money is just a tool to get what we want is incorrect. Well, he asked himself some questions about it: How can it be that in many cases money is the end in itself and not the process to achieve it? Why is money capable of blinding us even against our own well-being? Why are human beings capable of having a lot of excess money and not sharing it?
It seems, therefore, that We are not satisfied with having the money necessary to survive, but with money, just like with drugs, you have to continue increasing the dose. In fact, different research has found that the simple thought of earning money activates the same brain regions as these substances.
On the other hand, research from the University of Minnesota showed that money changes the way we think According to the results of his study, just by seeing a photograph in which money appears, our brain acts the same as if we were going to win a prize. That is, our brain areas related to mathematical memory and attention are activated considerably.
Money can make you a worse person
Surely the vast majority of people think that if one day we win the lottery our problems will end and we will be the happiest people in the world, even more so when the economy is the way it is. But in a report by Manfred Kents de Vries, professor of leadership at ISEAD Business School, he states that Having a full wallet doesn’t make you any happier
Furthermore, other studies contrary to those that claim that money increases self-confidence seem to confirm that it makes people less charitable, more unpleasant, and harms social relationships.
Now, if you have money or if one day you become rich, you better spend your money on others. A study carried out by Michael Norton, professor at Harvard Business School, showed that When money is spent on other people, it makes you happier than when you spend it on yourself
