从经济学解读关于幸福的10件事

 Money can buy happiness, but up to what point? And does working more make us miserable¹? And will you be happier if you start your own company? Here's what the research tells us。

　　金钱可以买到幸福，但能买到多少幸福呢？另外，工作越多会让我们痛苦吗？如果经营自己的公司会更幸福吗？以下是研究告诉我们的结果：

　　1) Generally speaking, richer countries are happier countries. But since many of these rich countries share other traits -- they're mostly democracies with strong property rights traditions, for example -- some studies suggest that it's our institutions that are making us happy, not just the wealth。

　　通常说来，富有的国家幸福指数更高一些。然而，由于许多这些富有的国家具有其他一些特性——比方说，这些国家大多比较民主，具有强大的财产权的惯例——因此一些研究显示，是我们的体制使我们幸福，而不仅仅是财富。

　　2) Generally speaking, richer people are happier people. But young people and the elderly appear less influenced by having more money。

　　通常说来，富有的人幸福指数更高一些。然而，年轻人和老年人似乎受金钱的影响更小一些。

　　3) But money has diminishing returns-- like just about everything else. Satisfaction rises with income until about $75,000 (or perhaps as high as $120,000). After that, researchers have had trouble proving that more money makes that much of a difference. Other factors -- like marriage quality and health -- become more relatively² important than money. It might be the case that richer people use their money to move to richer areas, where they no longer feel rich. Non-economists might chalk this up to the "keeping up with the Jones'" principle。

　　但是金钱带来的幸福回报在递减——就像其他任何事物一样。满足感随着收入的增长而增长，直到年收入达到75,000美元(或者也可能高达120,000美元)。在那之后，研究人员就发现很难证明更多的金钱能起到多大作用了。其他诸如婚姻质量和健康这样的因素相对来说变得比金钱更加重要。或许事实是这样：富人利用他们的金钱迁到更富有的地区，而在那里他们却不再觉得自己富有了。非经济学人士大概把这一点归结为“互相攀比”原理。

　　3) The diminishing-returns principle is true for entire countries, too... The "Easterlin Paradox³" suggests that once a developed country passes a threshold average income, more growth doesn't increase average reported happiness。

　　满足感递减的原理也适用于所有国家……“伊斯特林矛盾”表示，一旦一个发达国家超过了设定的平均收入水平，那么更多的收入增长并不会增加平均的幸福指数。

　　4) Income inequality reduces well-being⁴, and higher public spending increases well-being。

　　These conclusions have been reached many times ... and called into question many times. Most interestingly, "perceived social mobility⁵" might mitigate⁶ the effects of income inequality. If people think they can move up the income ladder, they're willing to tolerate a larger equality gap。

　　收入不均会降低幸福感，并且更高的公共开支会增加幸福指数。这个论断已经被提及多次……而且曾多次遭到怀疑。更有趣的是，“想象中的社会流动性”或许会缓和收入不均带来的影响。如果人们认为他们可以沿着收入的阶梯向上攀爬，那么他们愿意忍受更大的收入差距。

　　5) Unemployment just makes you miserable。

　　Across most surveys, nothing correlates with unhappiness more than unemployment, except perhaps for bad health. This effect is particularly strong among men in Great Britain, Germany, and the U.S. There is an odd silver lining⁷: Being around lots of other unemployed⁸ people makes us feel better about not having a job. So high-unemployment regions can possibly "neutralize⁹" the negative effects of unemployment -- but that shouldn't make you feel good about them。

　　失业只会让你痛苦。大多数的调查显示，大概除了身体不健康，失业与不幸福的关系最为密切。失业带来的影响在英国、德国和美国男人中最为强烈。有个奇怪的说法是：如果周围有很多其他失业的人，那么我们会对于自己失业这件事感觉没那么糟。因此高失业率地区或许能“抵消”失业带来的负面影响，但是那不应该让你对于失业这件事感觉良好。

　　6) Inflation makes you pretty unhappy, too. But its effect is weaker than unemployment. The mixed evidence seems to suggest that a volatile¹⁰ inflation rate decreases well-being, but in countries with generally stable prices, a little inflation has a small effect on happiness。

　　通货膨胀也会让你十分不快。但是这带来的影响要比失业弱。各种证据似乎表明，不稳定的通货膨胀率会降低幸福感，但是在通常物价稳定的国家，轻微的通货膨胀对于幸福的影响很小。

　　7) Working more hours makes you happier ... until it makes you miserable。

　　As workers move from part-time work to full-time¹¹ work, they're happier. But as they move from full-time work to Jesus-when-will-this-day-finally-end work, the joy of labor¹² subsides¹³. There seems to be an "inverse¹⁴ U-shaped relationship" between hours worked and self-reported well-being, although the precise figures differ across countries。

　　工作时间越长让你越幸福……直到这让你感到痛苦。当人们从兼职工作转为全职工作时，他们会感到更加幸福。但是当他们从全职工作转为“上帝啊什么时候今天的工作才彻底结束”这样的工作时，劳动的快乐便荡然无存。虽然在不同国家之间得到的精确调查数据有所不同，但在工作时长和自我的幸福感之间似乎有一个“反U型关系”。

　　8) Commuters are less happy. The studies here are really interesting. Health scientists say that commuting¹⁶ can make you sick and die -- not conduciveto happiness. Daniel Kahneman's research on female happiness found that while commuting, women experienced the "lowest ratio of positive to negative emotions during the day." One study pegged¹⁷ the magic number at 22: If your commute¹⁵ is more than 22 minutes, there is an appreciable¹⁸ decline in reported well-being. Yet another study found that for every 10 minutes of additional commuting, community involvement falls by 10 percent。

　　每日通勤上下班的人幸福感较低。这里的研究真的非常有趣。健康学家称，每天上下班会让你生病甚至死亡——对幸福无益。丹尼尔-卡尼曼针对女性幸福感的调查发现，当乘公交车上下班时，女性会体会到“一天当中积极情绪转为消极情绪的最低点”。一项研究指出了22这个魔幻数字：据报道，如果你的通勤时间超过了22分钟，那幸福指数会有明显的下降。而另一项研究发现，乘车上班时间每增加10分钟，社区参与度就会少10%。

　　9) Self-employed people are happier. When workers think they're good at their job and that their bosses like them, they're more satisfied. So it makes sense that when they are their own boss, they're happier to work. A famous OECD study found that the self-employed "typically report higher levels of overall job satisfaction than the employed." But another study suggests that only rich self-employed people are happier to be self-employed。

　　个体经营者更幸福。如果工作者认为他们很擅长自己的工作并且老板也喜欢自己，那么他们就更有满足感。因此，当他们做自己的老板时，他们工作起来更幸福，这样就讲得通了。经合组织一项著名的研究发现，个体经营的人比受雇者更明显地“有更高的工作满意度”。但另一个研究也表明，只有富有的个体经营者才比受雇者感觉更幸福。

　　10) Debt sucks. The kind of debt matters. Mortgage debt doesn't correlate much with happiness. Credit card debt does -- in a negative way. Either way, high debt correlates strongly with anxiety and depression。

　　欠债糟糕。债务的种类很有讲究。抵押负债与幸福的关联并不高。信用卡债务则很相关，而且还是负面影响。不管怎样，高负债绝对会带来焦虑和忧愁。

1 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

4 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

5 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

6 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

7 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

8 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

9 neutralize   

v.使失效、抵消，使中和

参考例句：

• Nothing could neutralize its good effects.没有什么能抵消它所产生的好影响。
• Acids neutralize alkalis and vice versa.酸能使碱中和碱，亦能使酸中和。

10 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

11 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

13 subsides   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的第三人称单数 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• Emotion swells and subsides. 情绪忽高忽低。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His emotion swells and subsides. 他的情绪忽高忽低。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 inverse   

adj.相反的，倒转的，反转的；n.相反之物；v.倒转

参考例句：

• Evil is the inverse of good.恶是善的反面。
• When the direct approach failed he tried the inverse.当直接方法失败时，他尝试相反的做法。

15 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

16 commuting   

交换（的）

参考例句：

• I used the commuting time to read and answer my mail. 我利用上下班在汽车中的时间来阅读和答复给我的函电。
• Noncommuting objects are as real to the mathematicians as commuting objects. 对于数学家来说，不可交换的对象与可交换的对象是一样真实的。

17 pegged   

v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平

参考例句：

• They pegged their tent down. 他们钉好了账篷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She pegged down the stairs. 她急忙下楼。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

18 appreciable   

adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的

参考例句：

• There is no appreciable distinction between the twins.在这对孪生子之间看不出有什么明显的差别。
• We bought an appreciable piece of property.我们买下的资产有增值的潜力。