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收入與快樂
The Effect of Income on Happiness
Are you satisfied with how much you make? Does earning MORE make you happier?
Pay check after pay check, most of us wish the digits would go up so we could have more on the table; do more, buy more. Our consumer society has wired us to believe that the higher our income, the stronger our buying power, the more privileges we have, is directly related to how happy we are. Remember the expression Keeping up with the Joneses?
In the pursuit of happiness, as soon as we graduate from college, or when we’re old enough to earn a living, our focus turns to how we can earn a decent income. We find a job or start a money making scheme. Once we’re earning an income that’s enough for our basic needs, we then strive to earn more than what we’re currently making. We aim for promotion, or work harder, until we reach the next level of income. It doesn’t stop there. It goes on and on as our needs and lifestyles change.
In the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, once you can afford to meet your basic survival needs - first food, then shelter - you can start satisfying higher needs such as security and self-esteem. It’s hard to think of self-development when you’re hungry, and everyone around you is living the good life. We obviously need resources to be able to go up the hierarchy, and address our deeper emotional and intellectual needs.
But once we’re past meeting the basic survival needs, how much more income do we require, to find happiness and fulfillment?
Mechanisms by which income affects happiness
There are two major mechanisms which explains the impact of income to our happiness - adaptation and social comparison.
Adaptation mechanism says that if you’re given a one-off increase in your income, your happiness temporarily increases - until you get used to it then you begin to aspire for more. At first, when you’re earning a meager income, your focus is on buying yourself your daily needs. As your income increases, so does your standard of living. You purchase goods of higher quality. You begin to want better products and services - a better car, a bigger house, etc. Very rarely are we satisfied with what we have, if we see that there are better things available.
In the social comparison mechanism, people evaluate their income by comparing it to other people. This is where the keeping up with the joneses mentality comes from. Here, we evaluate our happiness by how much more we have as compared to other people. Although you already have a nice house, a good car, or the latest gadgets, if your neighbor has better stuff, you will cease to be contented with what you have. And you will blame the disparity and your discontent on your income. You say to yourself, I must earn more.
Facts on How Income Affects Happiness
Here are what studies say about the link between our income and our happiness:
The happiness of people living in poverty increases when they’re given a higher income. It eases their burdens and helps them escape from poverty. But once they experience freedom from the deprivation, the link between their increased income and happiness starts to dissipate.
Richer nations tend to be happier than poorer nations. In our society, the richer people are generally happier than the poor.
In the Easterlin paradox study of 1995, despite the growth in the income in the past decades, people’s self-reported level of happiness and satisfaction didn’t improve.
In the USA, the average income increased by 300% from 1970 to 1990 but the Americans’ sense of well-being didn’t improve with the increase in their pay checks.
Amidst the significant increase in income, people have been focused on strengthening their purchasing powers rather than on personal improvement. For example, a janitor at present can be considered richer than a doctor three decades ago, but he is still a janitor.
According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, the author of The How of Happiness, the set point of your happiness level is determined by several factors, which include genetics, your individual circumstances - such as your looks, income and marital status - and by the things or activities you choose to do to make yourself happy.
Is Your Happiness Dependent on How Much You Earn?
Consider the increase in your income ever since you started earning. Did it result to an increase in your level of happiness? Are you happier now than you were before? Or is there an unnamed need that is still begging to be satisfied? Happiness is highly relative, and it depends on the standard and meaning you give to it. Understanding what makes you happy can help you determine how to use your income to improve your overall well-being.
If you look closely into happiness, it can be divided into two subjective aspects of well-being: life evaluation and emotional well-being.
Life evaluation is your assessment of what you believe you have in life, which includes your income. This is where the belief that ‘money can buy happiness’ enters the scenario. Your income is what enables you to buy things for yourself and your loved ones, from the basic survival needs, to unnecessary wants and luxuries. You measure your success and happiness by what you can afford to buy with your income.
Emotional well-being is more about the quality of your life. This is satisfied by the activities you engage in, not for monetary reasons, but for your own emotional satisfaction and personal growth.
The studies show that although your income can give you a comfortable life, it doesn’t guarantee happiness. Some data even shows the contrary. People with high income usually have dysfunctional relationships, because their time is spent at work rather than with their loved ones.
The important thing to remember is that money is just a means to help you achieve happiness. You can use it to pay for a vacation with your loved ones, or enroll yourself in that class you’ve always planned to attend, keep your family safe in a comfortable house, and other activities that enrich your life and contribute to your growth. That’s all your income is good for. It is NOT the end in itself.
The happiness we get from the acquisition of things is momentary. Oftentimes, what makes us really happy to be alive, are the things that money can’t buy.
踩單車好處多
Cycling - health benefits betterhealth.vic
Riding to work or the shops is one of the most time-efficient ways to combine regular exercise with your everyday routine. An estimated one billion people ride bicycles every day – for transport, recreation and sport.
Cycling for health and fitness
It only takes two to four hours a week to achieve a general improvement to your health. Cycling is:
Low impact – it causes less strain and injuries than most other forms of exercise.
A good muscle workout – cycling uses all of the major muscle groups as you pedal.
Easy – unlike some other sports, cycling does not require high levels of physical skill. Most people know how to ride a bike and, once you learn, you don’t forget.
Good for strength and stamina – cycling increases stamina, strength and aerobic fitness.
As intense as you want – cycling can be done at very low intensity to begin with, if recovering from injury or illness, but can be built up to a demanding physical workout.
A fun way to get fit – the adventure and buzz you get from coasting down hills and being outdoors means you are more likely to continue to cycle regularly, compared to other physical activities that keep you indoors or require special times or places.
Time-efficient – as a mode of transport, cycling replaces sedentary (sitting) time spent driving motor vehicles or using trams, trains or buses with healthy exercise.
Health benefits of regular cycling
Cycling is mainly an aerobic activity, which means that your heart, blood vessels and lungs all get a workout. You will breathe deeper, perspire and experience increased body temperature, which will improve your overall fitness level.
The health benefits of regular cycling include:
increased cardiovascular fitness
increased muscle strength and flexibility
improved joint mobility
decreased stress levels
improved posture and coordination
strengthened bones
decreased body fat levels
prevention or management of disease
reduced anxiety and depression.
Cycling and specific health issues
Cycling can improve both physical and mental health, and can reduce the chances of experiencing many health problems.
Obesity and weight control
Cycling is a good way to control or reduce weight, as it raises your metabolic rate, builds muscle and burns body fat. If you’re trying to lose weight, cycling must be combined with a healthy eating plan. Cycling is a comfortable form of exercise and you can change the time and intensity – it can be built up slowly and varied to suit you.
Research suggests you should be burning at least 8,400 kilojoules (about 2,000 calories) a week through exercise. Steady cycling burns about 1,200 kilojoules (about 300 calories) per hour.
If you cycle twice a day, the kilojoules burnt soon add up. British research shows that a half-hour bike ride every day will burn nearly five kilograms of fat over a year.
Cardiovascular disease and cycling
Cardiovascular diseases include stroke, high blood pressure and heart attack. Regular cycling stimulates and improves your heart, lungs and circulation, reducing your risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Cycling strengthens your heart muscles, lowers resting pulse and reduces blood fat levels. Research also shows that people who cycle to work have two to three times less exposure to pollution than car commuters, so their lung function is improved. A Danish study conducted over 14 years with 30,000 people aged 20 to 93 years found that regular cycling protected people from heart disease.
Cancer and cycling
Many researchers have studied the relationship between exercise and cancer, especially colon and breast cancer. Research has shown that if you cycle, the chance of bowel cancer is reduced. Some evidence suggests that regular cycling reduces the risk of breast cancer.
Diabetes and cycling
The rate of type 2 diabetes is increasing and is a serious public health concern. Lack of physical activity is thought to be a major reason why people develop this condition. Large-scale research in Finland found that people who cycled for more than 30 minutes per day had a 40 per cent lower risk of developing diabetes.
Bone injuries, arthritis and cycling
Cycling improves strength, balance and coordination. It may also help to prevent falls and fractures. Riding a bike is an ideal form of exercise if you have osteoarthritis, because it is a low-impact exercise that places little stress on joints.
Cycling does not specifically help osteoporosis (bone-thinning disease) because it is not a weight-bearing exercise.
Mental illness and cycling
Mental health conditions such as depression, stress and anxiety can be reduced by regular bike riding. This is due to the effects of the exercise itself and because of the enjoyment that riding a bike can bring.
Hand cycling and health
Hand cycles are similar to recumbent tricycles, but they are powered with hand instead of foot pedals. Velcro straps can be used to secure the hands to the pedals if necessary.
This style of tricycle allows amputees, people with spinal injuries and those recovering from certain conditions such as stroke to cycle as a form of exercise and recreation. Hand cyclists get cardiovascular and aerobic benefits similar to those of other cyclists.
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