Most of us fantasise about that elusive lottery win, certain that our happiness levels would rocket and we would live happily ever after. Is this really the case? Can money lead to lasting happiness? One study carried out by Brickman et al (1978) investigated this issue. Researchers contacted a small group of individuals who had won major prizes in the Illinois State Lottery. The same number of individuals was randomly selected from the telephone directory to act as a control group.
Participants were interviewed about their current happiness level, their anticipated future happiness level and were also questioned about the happiness they derived from the small uplifts in life such as a beautiful sunset or sharing a joke with a friend.
The lotter winners were no more or less happy than the control group. In addition there was no difference in their anticipated 'happiness level'. The only difference actually noted was that our of the two groups, the non-winners reported greater levels of pleasure gained through the simple everyday uplifts!
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