Money Can Buy Happiness

Money Can Buy Happiness

Jamie Baybutt
James Madison University

Money Can Buy Happiness

Introduction
Most people may say that happiness is something that cant be bought. Many of my
sources argue that people do actually pay for happiness. I have found a few sources that support
each side of my argument to establish an unbiased argument, instead of only using sources that I
agree with. I believe that people do buy happiness, most people just dont think of it in that
sense. Shopping and buying things we like make us happy. In that case, we essentially are buying
happiness. Examples of how people buy happiness are used throughout each source. This topic is
relevant because everyone has money and spends it on things they want.

Money Can Buy Happiness

Corley, T. (2015, January 13). My 5-Year Study Of Rich And Poor People Shows That
Money Can Buy Happiness. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
Statistics about wealthy and poor people are included in this source. Overall, the main
claim of this article is that wealthier people are happier. The author provides facts and
percentages to support the claim. The author proves that accumulating wealth will increase
happiness. The main purpose is to inform people of the facts and prove a point but at the end of
the article there is advice for improving wealth and managing money.
Statistics and facts are used throughout the article and establish the authors credibility.
The article is a about a 5-year study that was done to prove these facts which makes the
information more reliable. The fact 82% of the wealthy were happy, while 98% of the poor
were unhappy proves that the wealthier a person is the happier they are (Corley 2015). The
intended audience would be any wealthy people and people that want to work on becoming
wealthier. The information is current because the article was done this year. This also very
relevant to my topic since it uses facts to prove that wealthier people have happier lives.
This source is similar to others in that it is a website that supports my belief on the issue.
It helps shape my argument because I can use the facts and statistics provided to establish my
point of view and make it more credible. My view hasnt been changed by this topic but instead
it has been enhanced because of the use of actual statistics to make my argument more
believable.
John, R. (Director). (2009). TEDTalks: Richard St. John--Success Is a Continuous
Journey

[Motion picture]. United States: TED.

Richard St. John gives a presentation about how success and money led him into
depression. He talks about how success isnt a one-way street like he thought. He said he worked

Money Can Buy Happiness

really hard for a long time and finally reached success and then stopped working as hard. He then
became depressed and thought that if he bought himself nicer things that he would be happier. In
his case, spending money on extravagant things didnt make his depression disappear. He learned
that he had to keep working hard and become successful and again and maintain his success to
be happy.
The speaker is credible because he experienced this first-hand and knows what hes
talking about. This ted talk is reliable because it provides a personal encounter with this issue and
how it affected his life. The video was made in 2009 and still relates to people today so it is
current. This is a relevant topic to people that have become successful and experienced failure.
Since this source is a video, it is much different than my other sources. It provides a
different perspective and a different situation dealing with the same issue. Even though this
source disagrees with my argument, I still provided it to show how money affects people
differently. He said he became depressed and money didnt help him with his depression. He also
said that once he became successful again, he was happier. Being successful means becoming
wealthy also. Essentially the speaker was also saying that after he regained his wealth and social
status that he became happier. I am able to use this source to support my side even though it is a
counterargument.

Research: Can Money Buy Happiness? (2013, September 25). Retrieved October 26, 2015.
This website article focuses on using money in a different way. People often donate
money to charities to make themselves and others feel good. The authors main purpose of this
article is to provide studies that show that people enjoy investing their money in people that are
less fortunate. Most people are willing to donate at least a few dollars to a charity that they want

Money Can Buy Happiness

to support because it gives people a sense of joy and accomplishment knowing that they just
brightened someone elses day.
The author is credible because he is analyzing research that has been done. The
information is reliable and credible because donating to charities is a common act that people
engage in. The author provides examples of how companies promote charitable organizations
such as such as PepsiCo and Google and nonprofits such as DonorsChoose.org are harnessing
these benefits by encouraging donors, customers, and employees to invest in others, (Can
money buy happiness 2013). These examples make his argument more reliable by providing
well-known examples from our society that can relate to most people.
The content of this article differs from the other sources because it is a website article. It
shows another perspective on the issue that money influences happiness. People like to give
away their money because it makes them and the people they are donating to feel a sense of
happiness. Happiness and the feeling of satisfaction is what drives people to donate their money.
Walker, M. (2015). YOU can buy happiness. Redbook, 124.
The authors purpose of this article is to prove to people that spending money on things
that interest them can ultimately boost their joy. She states Maybe money cant buy you love,
but studies say that if you spend it in the right waysspecifically on things that fulfill you
emotionallyit can boost your joy (Walker 2015). She must have interviewed a select number
of people and asked them what theyre favorite thing is and why. Everyone she asked said their
favorite thing was something that they had to buy. The people she asked didnt just like the items
they were spending money on; they liked how it made them feel or made their day easier.
The topic of money and happiness relates to everyone in our society so this is a current
source. Everyone spends money and knows what makes them happy. This source may be biased

Money Can Buy Happiness

depending on the type of people she interviewed. The people she interviewed may all be wealthy
so they will have different opinions than those who are not as wealthy. The author is credible
because she writes for the Redbook magazine and she said she asked finance professionals for
their opinions too. This source is not as reliable as others mainly because its based off of
opinions rather than actual statistics.
My argument is shaped by this source because it helps back up my point of view on the
issue. Although it has a few flaws, it still is a useful source for this project. The prices and stories
for each individual will be essential in making the research narrative. This is also a different type
of source than my others. This is a magazine article and my other sources are academic journals
and a video.
Wyld, D. C. (2011). Does More Money Buy More Happiness on the Job? Academy Of
Management Perspectives, 25(1), 101-103. doi:10.5465/AMP.2011.59198457
The author of this article did studies on how pay influences the satisfaction of employees.
Surprisingly, the results showed that there was no correlation with pay and overall satisfaction
previous findings were reported appeared to have no impact on the observed relationships
between compensation and pay/job satisfaction(Wyld 2011). This was unexpected because
many people had predicted that it would have a positive correlation. This study is relevant to
everyone that has a job and works for their money. Most people tend to believe that if they were
to be paid more than that would increase their happiness, but this source proves that it actually
doesnt.
The author establishes credibility because he is a professor at Southeastern Louisiana
University and has done research for this topic. The studies were done in 2010, therefore the
information is relatively current. The content of the article is unbiased because the results are

Money Can Buy Happiness

actual facts rather than opinions. The information is very reliable and useful in my argument
because it provides a counterargument and makes my argument more credible.
I provided this source because I wanted to prove that everyone has a different perspective
of what happiness means. In this case, the study refers to happiness on the job relating to
increased pay. Many of my other sources focus on the materialistic side of how money can buy
things that cause happiness. This source has made me think of different ways that money can
influence our satisfaction and in ways that it cant.