研究:快乐越多,赚的越多?

Earning more money tends to make people happier, at least up to a point. But new research suggests the reverse may also be true: happier people actually go on to make more money.

钱赚得越多，人往往越快乐，至少在一定程度上是这样。但新的研究表明，这句话反过来说可能也没错：人越快乐，往往赚的钱也越多。

In a study of more than 10,000 Americans, those who experienced more positive daily emotions and felt more satisfied with their lives while growing up earned more income by age 29, according to research from University College London and London School of Economics professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and University of Warwick economics professor Andrew Oswald. The paper, published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, was presented Friday at the American Economic Association's annual meeting.

一项针对1万多名美国人的研究发现，那些在成长期间每天经历更多正面情绪且对生活更为满意的人在29岁之前会赚更多的钱。这项研究是由伦敦大学学院(University College London)和伦敦经济学院(London School of Economics)的教授德内夫(Jan-Emmanuel De Neve)和华威大学(University of Warwick)经济学教授奥斯瓦德(Andrew Oswald)共同进行的。这篇论文上个月发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America)上。上周五在美国经济学会(American Economic Association)的年会上，这篇论文得到了介绍。

The researchers drew on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health between 1994 and 2008 that asked students how often statements like 'You enjoyed life' had been true during the past week. Later, when students were older, they also answered the question 'How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?'

两位研究人员利用了全国青少年健康纵向研究(National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health)在1994年至2008年期间得出的调查数据。受调查中学生被问到的问题包括“‘你享受了生活’这样的表述在过去一周中有多少次是真心话？”等到这些学生年龄渐长后，他们还回答了“从整体看，你对自己的生活有多满意？”这样的问题。

Students who described themselves as happier at age 16 and 18 and felt more satisfied with their lives at age 22 earned more income at age 29. On a scale of one to five, a one-point increase in life satisfaction at age 22 translated into about $2,000 more in later earnings. The mean income was around $35,000.

那些在16岁和18岁时认为自己更快乐、且在22岁时对生活更为满意的学生到29岁时赚的钱也更多。调查将生活满意度从一到五打分，学生在22岁时给自己的生活满意度每多打一分，日后收入就会多出大约2,000美元。这些学生的平均收入约为3.5万美元。

Among siblings, a one-point increase in life satisfaction at age 22, compared with the mean of the family, translated into a nearly $4,000 difference in earnings at age 29, compared with the family mean.

在那些多子女家庭中，某个孩子在22岁时对生活满意度的打分与家庭成员的均值相比每高出一分，其在29岁时的收入和家庭成员的均值相比会高出近4,000美元。

The analysis suggests happiness isn't just linked to higher income─it is helping generate it.

分析表明，快乐不仅与高收入相关，而且有助于一个人赚得更高的收入。

'The takeaway of this is the relationship between income and happiness runs in both directions,' Mr. De Neve said Friday.

德内夫上周五说，这项研究的结论是收入与快乐之间的关系是双向的。

That could be because happier young adults are more likely to earn a college degree, get hired and promoted, be more optimistic and less neurotic, the researchers posit. In their analysis they controlled for other factors, such as education, height and self-esteem.

研究人员推断，这也许是因为快乐的年轻人更有可能获得大学文凭、找到工作并获得提升。他们也更为乐观，不那么神经质。研究人员在分析中假设个人收入不受教育、身高和自尊等其它因素的影响。

Being really happy helps some: Those reporting a 'very happy' adolescence earned an income about 10% above the average. But being unhappy hurts far more─those who experienced a 'profoundly unhappy' adolescence made about 30% less than the average income, the paper found.

非常快乐的心态确实对一部分人有帮助。那些回答自己“非常快乐”的青少年赚到的收入高出均值大约10%。而不快乐带来的负面影响则大得多。这些研究发现，那些在青春期“十分不快乐”的人后来的收入较平均收入低30%左右。

Still, a connection between personal happiness and greater income could be good news for countries struggling to boost economic growth, the authors suggest.

不过论文作者认为，个人幸福和更高收入之间存在的这种联系对那些艰难促进经济增长的国家来说，或许是个好消息。

'For policymakers, the existence of these mechanisms raises the possibility that a happier society may be one that intrinsically generates higher incomes for its citizens,' the paper notes.

论文指出，对决策者而言，这些机制的存在提出了这样一种可能，即一个更加幸福的社会可能在本质上能给其公民带来更高的收入。