Beyond Money

Abstract

SUMMARY-Policy decisions at the organizational, corporate, and governmental levels should be more heavily influenced by issues related to well-being--people's evaluations and feelings about their lives. Domestic policy currently focuses heavily on economic outcomes, although economic indicators omit, and even mislead about, much of what society values. We show that economic indicators have many shortcomings, and that measures of well-being point to important conclusions that are not apparent from economic indicators alone. For example, although economic output has risen steeply over the past decades, there has been no rise in life satisfaction during this period, and there has been a substantial increase in depression and distrust. We argue that economic indicators were extremely important in the early stages of economic development, when the fulfillment of basic needs was the main issue. As societies grow wealthy, however, differences in well-being are less frequently due to income, and are more frequently due to factors such as social relationships and enjoyment at work.Important noneconomic predictors of the average levels of well-being of societies include social capital, democratic governance, and human rights. In the workplace, noneconomic factors influence work satisfaction and profitability. It is therefore important that organizations, as well as nations, monitor the well-being of workers, and take steps to improve it.Assessing the well-being of individuals with mental disorders casts light on policy problems that do not emerge from economic indicators. Mental disorders cause widespread suffering, and their impact is growing, especially in relation to the influence of medical disorders, which is declining. Although many studies now show that the suffering due to mental disorders can be alleviated by treatment, a large proportion of persons with mental disorders go untreated. Thus, a policy imperative is to offer treatment to more people with mental disorders, and more assistance to their caregivers.Supportive, positive social relationships are necessary for well-being. There are data suggesting that well-being leads to good social relationships and does not merely follow from them. In addition, experimental evidence indicates that people suffer when they are ostracized from groups or have poor relationships in groups. The fact that strong social relationships are critical to well-being has many policy implications. For instance, corporations should carefully consider relocating employees because doing so can sever friendships and therefore be detrimental to well-being.Desirable outcomes, even economic ones, are often caused by well-being rather than the other way around. People high in wellbeing later earn higher incomes and perform better at work than people who report low well-being. Happy workers are better organizational citizens, meaning that they help other people at work in various ways. Furthermore, people high in well-being seem to have better social relationships than people low in wellbeing. ...

Health, economy and social capital in Nordic children aged 13-17 years and their families: changes between 1984, 1996 and 2011

“…[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] There are studies of socioeconomic differences and health [22,23] as well as cultural differences and health. [24,25] Family income is a key determinant of health child development, reducing the children's likelihood of incurring certain illnesses and cushioning the consequences of ill-health.…”

Does a money‐is‐all attitude cause alienation? A cross‐cultural comparison of Korea, the US and Sweden

“…Furthermore, increases in income and attachment to money have been found to be associated with increases in distrust, depression (Diener and Seligman, 2004), isolation and alienation (Fournier and Richins, 1991;Wuthnow, 1994;Schwartz, 2000;Hammerslough, 2001;Kasser, 2002;Griffin, 2010). In his seminal book The Higher Price of Materialism, Kasser (2002) reported that people with higher levels of economic achievement had weaker relationships with the community and that their materialism was related to low self-esteem and anxiety.…”

Conceptualizing and Measuring Well-Being Using Statistical Semantics and Numerical Rating Scales

“…However, they are not constructed to, nor do they, assess the social or economic welfare of countries. For example, Diener and Seligman (2004) point out that decreasing mental health may increase GDP if more money is spent on care. "Paradoxically," they write, "a mounting problem in well-being might increase economic indicators, and the increase in GDP does not indicate whether the money is spent effectively" (p. 17).…”

“…The definition and measures also have an impact on societies as SWB measures are used for evaluating national progress. Diener and Seligman (2004) point out that what is measured by societies is likely to receive more attention and in turn be the very thing to which meaning is attached and ultimately pursued. This raises the question: What exactly should be defined and measured as SWB?…”