U5Listening1DaveMartin:HelloandwelcometoMoneyMatters.I’myourhost,DaveMartin.Tonightwe’reveryluckytohaveDr.ReginaSimmonsoftheSimmonsInstituteherewithustotalkaboutmoneyandhappiness.Asusual,we’llbetakingcallsfromyou,thelisteners.IfyouhaveaquestionforDr.Simmons,pleasecallin.Goodevening,Dr.Simmons.Dr.Simmons:Goodevening,Dave.It’sgreattobehere.DaveMartin:Thepleasure’sours.Dr.Simmons,letmestartbyaskingyouthisquestion:What’stherelationshipbetweenmoneyandhappiness?Dr.Simmons:Well,Dave,arecentstudybypsychologistElizabethDunnattheUniversityofBritishColumbiaseemstoshowthat—formostofus—whatmakesushappyisgivingmoneyaway,notspendingitonourselves.That’swhatDunnsaidinarecentinterviewwithNationalGeographic.DaveMartin:Really?Howdidshediscoverthat?Dr.Simmons:Well,itwaswhenDr.Dunnstartedmakingmoremoney—uh,whenshegotajobasaprofessor.Shestartedtogetinterestedinwhethermoneycouldbuyhappinessornot.Shewantedtousetheextramoneyshewasmakinginwaysthatwouldbringherhappiness.Dr.Simmons:Asascientist,shelookedforstudiesandresearchonthesubjectofmoneyanditsrelationshiptohappiness.Tohersurprise,verylittleinformationonthesubjectexisted.SoDr.Dunndecidedtodosomescientificresearchtoseeifpeoplemightgetmorehappinessfromusingtheirmoneytohelpotherpeople,ratherthanthemselves.DaveMartin:Uh-huh.Andhowdidsheresearchthistopic?Dr.Simmons:That’sagoodquestion.Letmegiveyouanexample.Inoneofherfirststudies,Dr.Dunnandherfellowresearchersgaveagroupofpeopleasmallamountofmoneyinthemorning.Theyaskedsomeofthepeopletospenditonotherpeople,andsometospenditonthemselves.Dr.Simmons:Attheendoftheday,theresearchersinterviewedeveryone.Theresearchersdiscoveredthatthepeoplewhospentthemoneyonotherpeoplewerehappierthanthosewhohadspentitonthemselves.Sincethen,Dr.Dunnhascompletedalotofotherresearchonmoneyandhappiness.DaveMartin:Hasshe?Oh,excuseme,butIthinkwehaveourfirstcaller.Hello,you’reontheair.Caller1:Uh,hello,Iwantedtoknowwhataresomeofthemistakespeoplemightmakeiftheytrytobuyhappinesswithmoney.DaveMartin:Thankyou,caller.Dr.Simmons?Dr.Simmons:Yes,well,oneverycommonerroristomakeamajorpurchasesuchasabighousethatyoucan’treallyafford.Manypeoplesimplyassumethatowninganexpensiveitem—ahomeoracar—willmakethemhappy.But,youknow,buyingahomeisabigfinancialcommitment,andinfactpeopleoftengodeepintodebttobuyone.Actually,therearenostatisticstoprovethatowningahomemakespeoplehappy.DaveMartin:Isee.Arethereotherstudiesrelatingmoneyandhappiness?Dr.Simmons:Oh,sure.AnotherinterestingstudywasrecentlydonebyresearchersLeafVanBovenandTomGilovich.Theylookedatthevalueofspendingmoneyonexperiences.Peoplecanbuyitemssuchascars,houses,clothes,andDVDs.Butexperiencesaredifferentfromotheritemsthatpeoplepurchase.Forexample,vacations,concerts,orlanguagelessonsareexperiences.So,anyway,thesescientistsusedsurveystoaskpeoplehowtheyfeltabouttheitemstheyboughtcomparedtotheexperiencestheybought.Well,theresearchersdiscoveredthatmoneyspentonexperiencesmadepeoplehappierthanmoneyspentonitems.Thereasonforthisisprobablybecauseexperiencesaremoremeaningfultoaperson,andtheycontributemoretosuccessfulsocialrelationships.DaveMartin:Interesting!Oh,wehaveanothercallerontheline.Goahead,caller.Caller2:Hello.Myquestionishowmuchmoneydoyouneedtobehappy.DaveMartin:Howaboutthat,Dr.Simmons?Howmuchmoneydoweneed?Dr.Simmons:Well,OK,obviouslythat’snotaneasyquestiontoanswer.Peopleliketosaythat“thebe...
