Why do we chase more money? When research shows, it often fails to deliver happiness. The answer lies in psychology. A video on the Bloomsbury Wealth YouTube Channel.
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Transcript: Robin Powell & Daniel Crosby/ Psychologist & author
Robin Powell: Why do we chase more money? When research shows, it often fails to deliver happiness. The answer lies in psychology. Our relationship with money reveals profound truths about human behaviour, truths that can transform how we think about wealth and what truly matters. Dr. Daniel Crosby is a behavioural psychologist specialising in the connection between money and meaning.
Daniel Crosby: We live in this time when we have more abundance than we’ve ever had, and yet we have this spiritual, existential, psychological poverty. And some of that impoverishment comes from treating money as the end all be all, comes from treating money as liquid happiness.
RP: Dr. Crosby’s observation about treating money as liquid happiness cuts right to the heart of our modern dilemma, but here’s what makes this even more fascinating. We are often completely unaware of our true motivations. We tell ourselves stories about why we spend, but our actual behaviour reveals something quite different.
DC: One of the things that you first learn about humankind when you start to study human behaviour is that we are massively self-deceived. That the way that we account for why we do the things we do, and why we actually do the things we do, sometimes doesn’t have a whole lot in common. And so we’re always looking for royal roads to insight into why we do the things that we do. And money is a very clear descriptor of your values. A related concept is that spending money is a form of voting. If you look at the most powerful human and civil rights movements in history, almost all of them have had financial and economic levers. We do the same thing every day when we spend our money. We are voting every time we spend a pound or a dollar. We are voting for the world that we want to exist, and I don’t know that we’re always doing that very consciously.
RP: So if money doesn’t automatically buy happiness, what does the research actually tell us? It turns out the relationship is far more nuanced than most people realise.
DC: A few years ago, many years ago at this point, there was research that showed that at about $75,000 US, happiness started to plateau. And people like me were excited about that finding because it said, well, look, you know, you really, you really can’t buy happiness. But they were measuring in that study was more the absence of pain, perhaps more so than, than joy or happiness. And it is true that money can buy you. Freedom from pain. It can, it can take you to the doctor, it can fix your leaky roof. It can warm your drafty house. So there is some freedom from pain that comes with money, which is no small good, that about 15% of people are just impervious to money when it comes to happiness. So their sadness, uh, is the impact of something larger. Could be organic or genetic considerations. It could be. Traumas or, or negative personal experiences. And so chasing money, if you’re, if you’re one of that 15% chasing money is not going to help you much.
RP: Whether it’s automating good habits, aligning spending with our values, or avoiding temptation, small changes yield profound results. The goal isn’t eliminating emotion from our financial lives. It’s ensuring those emotions serve our long-term wellbeing. After all, money is just a tool. The question is, are you using it to build the life you actually want?
Disclaimer — The information in this video does not constitute advice or a recommendation, and you should not make any investment decisions on the basis of it. If you do however require advice please do not hesitate to contact Bloomsbury Wealth.
