Can money buy happiness? Yes, claim the authors of a new study—but only up to a point . Psychology has shown that richer people generally rank the overall quality of their lives more favorably than poorer people do. Their happiness seems to be motivated less by having the money to be able to buy what they want, instead it comes from being able to keep up with those who earn and have the same assets. "Our findings point to the possibility that those whose happiness comes from buying things have to buy more and more to maintain a constant level of happiness." writes Glenn Firebaugh of Pennsylvania State University. 

---

 金钱能买幸福吗？能，但只能在一定程度上。一项新研究的作者们如是说。心理学研究表明：富人对总体生活质量的满意度一般比穷人要高。然而，他们之所以真正感到幸福并不是因为购买欲得到满足，而是因为自己能够赶上那些财力相当的人。“我们的发现表明：那些幸福感来自购物的人，不得不消费更多的金钱，以维持现有的幸福感。”来自宾夕法尼亚州州立大学的格伦·菲尔鲍这样写道。