Monday, January 18. 2010
David Krueger MD
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- Didn’t we already (sort of) settle the
inverse of this question in my earlier blog, Money
And Happiness: The Real Relationship?
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- While happiness is a result and not a goal,
consider these assorted findings:
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- Several thousand college freshmen were rated
according to their cheerfulness. Two decades later, those who
ranked at the top of the cheerfulness measures earned an average
income 31% higher than those with lower scores.
- A study of employees at three U.S. companies
found that those with increased happiness measured over an 18-month
period had higher salary increases during that period.
- People with greater left prefrontal cortex
activity – the area of the brain that generates happiness –
produce more antibodies and have stronger immune systems. Greater
activity in this part of the brain also relates to lower levels of
stress hormone. (Neuroscientist Dr. Richard Davidson)
- Dutch men and women who laughed more often
and had more positive views of the future had a 25% lower risk of
mortality than those less optimistic.
- Expansiveness and extroversion correlate with
a lower risk of diabetes.
- Employees with a more consistently good mood
miss fewer days of work.
- And happiness can help keep
money. Unhappy people – specifically those who are sad – become
self focused and spend as much as 300% more for the same item. (Dr.
Cynthia Cryder) The act of spending stimulates the pleasure center
of the brain and temporarily counters both sadness and anxiety.
- Although not definitive, these findings
suggest that happiness – a register of positive energy – can
increase the most tangible and universal emblem of energy – money.
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