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Income-related behaviour
By Nadia Ayub and Zahid Iqbal
The development of positive psychology has
stimulated a growing interest in the studies of what constitutes
people’s happiness and social well-being, and an increasing body of
research has focused on what contributes to people’s satisfaction with
their lives.
Life satisfaction is a multifaceted construct that
refers to one’s overall evaluation of life domains such as health,
fin1833ances, job self-esteem, and interpersonal relationships. Other
research study life satisfaction, for example, Lucas, Diener, and Suh,
1996, define life satisfaction, “as a part of one’s subjective
well-being refers to an overall assessment of an individual’s quality of
life based on one’s own criteria.”
One aspect of individual life satisfaction that has
been the subject of extensive analysis in the literature is income
satisfaction. According to Helliwell (2002), people with higher income
tend to be more satisfied with their life than with lower-level of
incomes, although this difference is less than proportional to their
difference in income. It was also suggested that financial security and a
sense of closeness and connectedness with others predict life
satisfaction. Indeed, it is found that short-term problems such as those
caused by financial difficulties and changes in relationships through
retirement or death might have a significant impact on life satisfaction.
Wealth is related to many positive outcomes in life. For example, people
with higher incomes have better physical and mental health have greater
longevity, lower rates of
infant mortality, are less frequently the victims of violent crime, and
experience fewer stressful life events. In addition, richer people score
higher in characteristics such as interpersonal trust. It should be noted that the correlates of higher incomes are
not confined entirely to the benefits of not being poor; the richest
group, for example has better health than the second highest income
category.
Other factors like education also contribute to life
satisfaction. Evidence has suggested that age, education or individual
income appears to have significantly positive impacts on the income
satisfaction of both spouses. Results from different researches also
indicates that income, like education, consistently has been related to
life satisfaction and the association appears to be stronger at the lower
levels of income. People rank happiness and satisfaction ahead of money as
a life goal.
Although the effect of income has a larger effect from
nation to nation than going from individual to individual, for example,
Diener and Diener (1995) found that among women financial satisfaction was
more strongly related to life satisfaction in poorer versus richer
nations, and this trend was of borderline significance for men. Schyns
(1998) also reproduced the finding that the relation between income and
life satisfaction is largest in the poorer nations. The findings of Biswas
Diener and Diener (2000) in the slums off Calcutta, that income was
strongly related to life satisfaction indicates that where income
differences are related to differences in meeting universal basic needs
for food and shelter, the effects of income can be relatively strong.
Schyns (2000) performed a mediational analysis on West Germany and Russia,
examining the direct and indirect paths of income’s influence on life
satisfaction. In Germany, the path was indirect through financial
satisfaction, whereas in Russia the direct effect was significant. These
findings suggest that the effect of income on life satisfaction can come
either from its influence on financial satisfaction, or more directly from
the life circumstances of rich versus poorer people. Saris (2001) found
stronger effects of income, after controlling for previous income, in
Russia compared to in Germany, suggesting that the effect of income change
might be stronger in poorer nations.
Among all criterions: health is crucial for life
satisfaction. Low levels of life satisfaction are similarly predictive of
a variety of negative outcomes, including mental and physical health
problems. An example of this is the UK government’s recent report
‘opportunity for all: tackling poverty and social exclusion’, which
clearly identified poor health as one of the major problems associated
with low income (Department of Social Security, 1999). Most studies
correlate life satisfaction and psychological symptoms including anxiety,
stress, low efficacy, loneliness and depression in individual’s which
cause dissatisfaction in life. This is particularly true with depression
which was the fifth leading cause of disease burden in the world in 1999,
when both fatal and non-fatal consequences were measured.
Depression affects most aspects of life including
physical health, less participation in social activities, satisfaction
with life, and paid work. Adults who were depressed are less socially
active and less satisfied with their lie than adults who are not
depressed. Other research indicates that low-income is particularly high
risk for developing depressive disorder. Depression and other measures of
psychopathology have shown to be relating to indicators of subjective
quality of life. In fact, a central component of the phenomenology of
depression is a pervasive sense of dissatisfaction. This centrality is
recognizing in Beck’s cognitive triad in which depressed persons are
hypothesize to experience a pervasive sense of pessimism about their
lives, their world, and their future.
Examining the effect of income and depression of life
satisfaction is a relatively new research field. Therefore the primary
aims of the current study are twofold. One, our study attempts to provide
a life-course perspective to examining economic influences on life
satisfaction. Two, the study also looks at a relative analysis, in terms
of mental health influence on satisfaction with life.
Methodology
Sample: The sample of this study consisted of 207
participants from different areas in Karachi, Pakistan. For the purpose of
the study, a snowball sampling technique was used. Age ranged from 24 to
69, with a standard deviation of (SD = 10.45). Education ranged form
intermediate to masters. The median income was Rs 20,000.00 (range was
from Rs 15000 to Rs 1,00,000.00). All subjects volunteered to participate
in the study.
Procedure: The questionnaires were completed under
normal, standardized conditions. Respondents completed the questionnaire
manually. At the beginning of each questionnaire, an overview was
provided. All respondent filled demographic forms included: gender, age,
educational background, marital status, and occupation.
Discussion: The main findings of this study are that
there is a negative relationship between depression and satisfaction with
life.
Moreover, a significant relationship between income
and satisfaction with life and life satisfaction increases with the growth
of income. Respondents with higher income felt happier and more satisfied
with their lives because higher income could be used to have a better
lifestyle through greater leisure opportunities and improved nutritional
intake, fewer financial uncertainties, better access to health services
and an improved living environment through better housing and the ability
to move to places that are more prosperous.
First, results indicated that a person’s level of
satisfaction with life was significantly associated with income. Evidence
for these effects is consistent with other studies for example; researches
suggest that there is a positive relationship between satisfaction and
income additionally; higher income would allow the family to enjoy a
higher standard of living.
An analysis of individual statements suggests that the
subjects who had relatively higher levels of income were more satisfied as
they reflected on their lives than subjects with lower income levels. For
instance, their expectations for life seemed to be in line with what they
actually had gotten out of life. This may indicate that income is a
resource that allows one to obtain those things in life that are perceived
as important and desired. Similarly, the higher income people appeared to
be more optimistic in their outlook on life. Adequate financial resources
would likely make life look better rather than worse.
Second, we found a negative relationship between
depression and life satisfaction. In past studies, a significant inverse
relationship was found between depression and life satisfaction. This
suggests a possibility that, when people are dissatisfied with their
lives, they become depressed.
The results of this study have several implications
for practitioner that life satisfaction may predicted by a subjective
interpretation of health. As Diener et al. (1999) pointed out; perceived
health status reflected not only one’s actual physical condition but
also one’s emotional adjustment level. Thus, professionals should
continue to address not only economic conditions but also mental health
that influences their clients’ life satisfaction. This is even more the
case, since other dampening effects, such as adaptation mechanisms,
education, and personality traits; all play an important role in shaping a
person’s life satisfaction.There are some limitations of the present
study. First, the afore-mentioned findings are derived from a purposive
convenience sampling process; therefore, the generalisability of the
findings is limited second, this study did not include social support,
personality, and education an important correlate of life satisfaction.
Future investigations should include this variable and explore
relationships among social support, personality, education, and other
value variables. In addition, the joint contributions of social support,
personality, education to life satisfaction should be examined.
Conclusion
To conclude, the results of the study showed that
income has a positive influence on life satisfaction. This study can serve
as a starting point for further research, which would study the influence
of ongoing economic and social changes on the psychological health, and
life satisfaction of its people.
— Courtesy - Pakistan Business Review, April 2009
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