Are we working too much at the expense of our own happiness?
Scientific litsketch on boosting mental health
Research shows that people tend to work too much that their happiness is reduced especially for those who are earning at a higher rate (Hsee et al., 2013).
In an experiment, people were divided into two groups. Group One was asked to listen to a really annoying noise 20 times if they wanted to get a chocolate while Group Two had to listen 120 times to earn the chocolate. So Group One had a higher earning rate than Group Two. For both groups, they could choose to listen to the annoying noise to earn chocolates or listen to a song for their leisure. They were not allowed to take the leftover chocolates out at the end of the experiment so there was no reason for them to work to listen to the annoying noise more than what they wanted and could eat during the experiment.
But the findings showed that people who had a higher earning rate unnecessarily overworked to listen to the annoying noise to get more chocolates than they could consume during the experiment although listening to the noise was rated as being less happy than listening to the music. The research also found that people overworked more than necessary at the expense of their happiness because they mindlessly worked until they felt tired rather than until they had earned enough.
Somehow, we have been wired to work until we get tired especially when our earning rate is high even though it can make us less happy. But thinking about what the optimal amount of reward is that could make us happy can help us reduce our urge to overwork.
The key to happiness is to keep our lives free from the love of money and be content with what we have by rejecting the temptation to work more and more at the expense of our happiness. Make sure that you decide to work to increase your happiness rather than working at the expense of your happiness.
Hsee, Christopher K., Jiao Zhang, Cindy F. Cai, and Shirley Zhang. "Overearning." Psychological science 24, no. 6 (2013): 852-859.