Scientists Discover That Money Actually Can Buy Happiness

Money can buy you happiness.

Researchers gave 200 people a one-time sum of $10,000 and asked them to rate their happiness on a monthly basis.

They had to spend 10 grand in three months.

What about the result? After a luxurious three months, participants who received the cash rated their happiness higher than those who didn't. The researchers found that their happiness remained high after that.

The lower the participants' incomes, the happier they are. The increases above a certain threshold were not evenexistent.

The experiment supports the idea that a universal basic income could have a significant and positive effect on people's lives.

When participants signed up for the "mystery experiment," they didn't know they were part of it. The participants had to be bilingual.

"My hope is that this experiment will teach us something important about human nature," Anderson wrote in a statement. It becomes something meaningful in your own life.

The participants didn't think the experiment was real until they saw the money in the bank account.

The 100 people who didn't get any money were asked to rate their happiness on a monthly basis.

Private citizens can improve net global happiness through voluntary redistribution to those with less according to the researchers.

Participants with an annual household income over $123,000 weren't much happier after getting the cash gift.

Cash transfers could benefit the vast majority of the world's population given that 99 percent of individuals earn less than this amount.

Three low-income countries, as well as three high-income countries, were represented by participants.

It makes sense that people from low-income countries are more happy than people from high-income countries.

Ryan Dwyer, who was a University of British Columbia PhD student at the time, said that ten thousand dollars in certain places around the world can buy you a lot. Some people spent a lot of money on renovations to their houses.

The study has some limitations, from the selection biases built into the efforts of finding participants to the fact that their happiness was only being measured for a short time.

The University of British Columbia psychology professor hopes the experiment will encourage other wealthy donors to do the same.

She hopes that people will copy the study and think they can do it. Even a small amount of money can make a difference.

A mystery couple spent $2 million on gifts for people around the world.

A study says universal basic income will not make people work less.