It seems natural that happiness comes from having more money. Even if they don't admit it, people still behave as if it were true. More money means you can have what you want and do what you want. The house you dream of? It's yours. The new car you want? Here are the keys. The freedom to enjoy your favorite hobbies? Here's your racket, the court is over there, just after the swimming pool. So the puzzle is: why do social scientists consistently find only moderate relationships between having more money and being happy? Some have even suggested that this moderate link might be exaggerated. In reality, money may have very little to do with happiness. The curious thing, however, is that people often seem aware, on some level, that money won't make them happy. And yet, they continue to work to earn money that they objectively do not need. But first, let's look at three reasons why money doesn't make us happy: It's relative income that's important. As I noted previously, money is relative. It turns out that we don't really care about our real income level, as long as we earn more than other people around us. Unfortunately, as we earn more money, we are likely to be surrounded by wealthier people and so we often end up not benefiting from positive comparison. Material goods do not make us happy. Acquiring things like houses and cars only has a passing effect on happiness. People's desires for material goods are increasing at the same rate, or even more, than their wages. Again, this means that despite considerably more luxurious goods, people are not happier. There is even evidence that materialism makes us less happy. People don't turn to enjoyable activities when they are in the middle of paper......satisfied with life. Through the “illusion of concentration,” we convince ourselves that satisfaction equals happiness. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Even though we seem to have everything, we feel like something is missing, but we are unable to identify what that thing is. This thing is simply this: feeling happy. Right away. In the moment.What will make you happy right now?ReferencesKahneman, D., Krueger, AB, Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, AA (2006). Would you be happier if you were richer? An illusion of concentration. Science, 312, 1908-1910. Schnall, P., Landsbergis, P., Belkic, K., Warren, K., Schwartz, J., & Pickering, T. (1998). Results of the Cornell University Ambulatory Workplace Blood Pressure Study: A review. Psychosomatic Medicine, 60, 697. Schwartz, B. (2007). There must be an alternative. Psychological investigation, 18, 48-51.