Money can be used to make comparisons (rather than buy happiness), which creates a circle of unhappiness
A survey (*) conducted by Sara J. Solnick and David Hemenway asked students and faculty at the Harvard School of Public Health whether they would prefer to earn $50,000 a year while everyone else earned $25,000 or if they’d prefer to earn $100,000 a year and everyone else $200,000. The majority chose the first option. What economic truth underlies this intriguing story?
[This research paper has been reproduced with permission of the authors, professors of IE Business School, Spain http://www.ie.edu/]