SUNDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) -- Personal independence and
freedom are more important to people's well-being than wealth, a
new study concludes.
Researchers at the Victoria University of Wellington in New
Zealand analyzed the findings of three studies that included a
total of more than 420,000 people from 63 countries and spanned
nearly 40 years.
Their key finding: "Money leads to autonomy, but it does not add
to well-being or happiness."
The studies looked at data from three different psychological
tests familiar to therapists:
- The General Health Questionnaire, which measures distress in
terms of anxiety and insomnia, social problems, severe depression
and physical symptoms of mental distress, such as unexplained
headaches and stomach aches.
- The Spielberger anxiety inventory, which evaluates how anxious
respondents feel at a particular moment.
- The Maslach Burnout Inventory, which screens for emotional
exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of personal
accomplishment.
The analysis revealed "a very consistent and robust finding that
societal values of [freedom and autonomy] were the best predictors
of well-being," wrote psychologists Ronald Fischer and Diana Boer
in an American Psychological Association release.
"Furthermore, if wealth was a significant predictor alone, this effect disappeared when individualism was entered," they added.
"Our findings provide insight into well-being at the societal level," the researchers concluded.
The study appears in the
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
More information
Mental Health American outlines
ways to live your life well.