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  • Current Opinion in Psychology

Time, Money, and Happiness

By: Cassie Mogilner and Michael I. Norton
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Abstract

We highlight recent research examining how people should manage their most precious resources—time and money—to maximize their happiness. Contrary to people’s intuitions, happiness may be less contingent on the sheer amount of each resource available and more on how people both think about and choose to spend those resources. Overall, focusing on time leads to greater happiness than focusing on money. Moreover, people enjoy greater happiness from spending money on others rather than themselves and from acquiring experiences instead of possessions. Similarly, people enjoy greater happiness from spending time on or with others and from acquiring experiences—both extraordinary and ordinary.

Keywords

Happiness; Behavior; Resource Allocation; Money

Citation

Mogilner, Cassie, and Michael I. Norton. "Time, Money, and Happiness." Current Opinion in Psychology 10 (August 2016): 12–16.
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About The Author

Michael I. Norton

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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  • Laughter on Call: Injecting Conversational Levity By: Alison Wood Brooks, Michael I. Norton and F Katelynn Boland
  • Reaching for Rigor and Relevance: Better Marketing Research for a Better World By: Shilpa Madan, Gita Venkataramani Johar, Jonah Berger, Pierre Chandon, Rajesh Chandy, Rebecca Hamilton, Leslie John, Aparna Labroo, Peggy J. Liu, John G. Lynch, Nina Mazar, Nicole Mead, Vikas Mittal, Christine Moorman, Michael I. Norton, John Roberts, Dilip Soman, Madhu Viswanathan and Katherine White
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