来源：《今日心理学》
日期：2021年1月1日
The relationship between money and happiness is complicated, to say the least. Some research has found that higher income is related to people’s overall life satisfaction but not to moment-to-moment happiness. Other research has found that wealth explains a minuscule (less than 1 percent) amount of the variation in people’s happiness. Other research suggests the relationship between money and happiness is much stronger.
至少可以说，金钱和幸福之间的关系是复杂的。一些研究发现，高收入与人们的整体生活满意度有关，但与每时每刻的幸福感无关。另一项研究发现，在人们的幸福感变化中，财富只能解释一小部分(不到1%)。其他研究表明，金钱和幸福之间的关系要紧密得多。
New research forthcoming in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Science suggests that money can buy at least one type of happiness—something psychologists refer to as “happiness frequency.”
即将发表在《社会心理学和人格科学》期刊上的一项新研究表明，金钱至少可以买到一种幸福——心理学家称之为“幸福频率”。
“We draw on prior research that distinguishes between the frequency and intensity of happiness to suggest that higher income is more consistently linked to how frequently individuals experience happiness than how intensely happy each episode is,” say the authors, led by Jon Jachimowicz of Harvard Business School. “Notably, we demonstrate that only happiness frequency underlies the relationship between income and life satisfaction.”
哈佛商学院的贾希莫维茨领衔的作者说：“我们借鉴了先前区分幸福频率和强度的研究，表明收入越高，个人体验幸福的频率越高，而不是每一段经历的幸福程度越高。”。“值得注意的是，我们证明了只有幸福频率才是收入和生活满意度之间关系的基础。”
To arrive at this conclusion, the psychologists recruited 1,290 U.S. adults to participate in a short online study. Participants were asked to report how frequently they experienced the emotion of happiness (“about once each month,” “about once each week,” “about once each day,” “about 2-3 times each day,” or “more than 3 times each day”) as well as how intense each feeling of happiness was (“very low,” “low,” “moderate,” “high,” or “very high”). Participants were then asked to report their annual household income and answer a series of demographic questions.
为了得出这个结论，心理学家招募了1290名美国成年人参与了一项简短的在线研究。参与者被要求报告他们感受幸福感的频率（“大约每月一次”、“大约每周一次”、“大约每天一次”、“大约每天2-3次”或“每天3次以上”），以及每次幸福感的强度（“非常低”、“低”、“中等”，“高”或“非常高”）。然后要求参与者报告他们的家庭年收入，并回答一系列人口统计学问题。
The scientists found that income was associated with happiness frequency but not happiness intensity. Specifically, individuals who reported higher incomes experienced happiness more frequently than those with lower incomes.
科学家们发现，收入与幸福频率有关，但与幸福强度无关。具体来说，收入较高的人比收入较低的人更容易感受到幸福。
The authors next attempted to find out why this association might exist. They theorized that it might have to do with the type of happiness-promoting leisure pursuits people were engaging in. For instance, past research has found that wealthy individuals engage in more active leisure pursuits such as praying, socializing, and exercising while non-wealthy individuals engage in more passive leisure pursuits such as watching TV, napping, and resting. This may be one of the reasons why money is associated with elevated levels of well-being. (Another reason may have to do with the degree to which wealthy individuals engage in work pursuits that offer a high degree of personal autonomy.)
接下来，作者试图找出这种联系存在的原因。他们从理论上说明，这可能与人们从事的促进幸福的休闲活动有关。例如，过去的研究发现，富有的人从事更积极的休闲活动，如祈祷、社交和锻炼，而非富有的人从事更消极的休闲活动，如看电视、打盹和休息。这可能是为什么金钱能带来更高水平的幸福感的原因之一。（另一个原因可能与有钱人从事具有高度个人自主权的工作有关。）
To test this idea, the scientists explored data from the 2012-2013 American Time Use Survey. In this survey, over 20,000 U.S. adults were asked to report everything they did on the day before taking the survey. Participants were also asked to evaluate their emotional state at different times throughout the day. This allowed the researchers to calculate happiness frequency and happiness intensity and match those values with the types of activities people were engaged in.
为了验证这一观点，科学家们研究了2012-2013年<美国时间使用调查>的数据。在这项调查中，超过20000名美国成年人被要求报告他们在接受调查前一天所做的一切。参与者还被要求评估他们在一天中不同时间的情绪状态。这使得研究人员能够计算幸福频率和幸福强度，并将这些值与人们从事的活动类型相匹配。
They again found evidence linking income to happiness frequency but not intensity. They also found that lower-income individuals engaged in more passive leisure pursuits, which partly explained why these individuals experienced happiness less frequently.
他们再次发现了收入与幸福频率相关的证据，但与幸福强度无关。他们还发现，收入较低的人从事更消极的休闲活动，这在一定程度上解释了为什么这些人体验幸福的频率较低。
The scientists conclude, “Taken together, income may bring about happiness not through more intensely happy experiences, but through a greater number of them.”
科学家们得出结论：“综上所述，收入带来的幸福可能不是更强烈的幸福体验，而是更高频的幸福体验。”
Whether or not money can buy other forms of happiness is still an open question.
金钱能否买到其他形式的幸福，仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。