Summary Of If We Are So Rich, Why Aren T Happy

The articles of authors Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener all talk about how money affects an individual’s level of happiness. Csikszentmihalyi’s article mostly focuses on the topic about those who are rich and why they are not happy, whereas the Diener’s article mostly focuses on the topic whether or not money can buy happiness.
Contemporary author, Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, in her text, “If We Are So Rich, Why Aren’t Happy?” discusses the unclear relationship between material and subjective well-being. Mihaly compares nations with more than twice the gross national product of another country with less to see the difference in levels of happiness. An example she provided in her article are the inhabitants of Germany
The wealth of nations is one of the strongest predictors of the life satisfaction in societies. From a survey that was conducted, on average, rich nations were satisfied, however, very poor nations tended not to be. “Although money matters, other factors also influence the happiness of nations” (Diener & Biswas-Diener). Rich nations and people are happier than their poor counterparts but, another way to analyze the effect of money on happiness is to examine the emotional well-being of individuals who have won a large lottery. By doing this, Diener and Biswas-Diener compared the happiness of ticket buyers who won than those who did not win. Both authors give an example by telling the story of Viv Nicholson (who was the largest lottery winner in Great Britain). Even though Nicholson won a great deal of money, she “had a difficult time coping with her new circumstances” (Diener & Biswas-Diener). She became alienated from her friends, she was deported for assaulting a police officer in Malta, she filed for bankruptcy and she was married five times, in which she ended up working as a stripper and drinking heavily. In the end Nicholson learned that she did not need money in order to be