Money giveth, money taketh away: The dual effect of wealth on happiness

The present study provides the first evidence that money impairs people’s ability to savor everyday positive emotions and experiences. In a sample of working adults, wealthier individuals reported lower savoring ability. Moreover, the negative impact of wealth on savoring undermined the positive effects of money on happiness. Supporting the causal influence of money on savoring, experimentally exposing participants to a reminder of wealth produced the same deleterious effect on savoring as did actual individual differences in wealth. Finally, moving beyond self-report, participants exposed to a reminder of wealth spent less time savoring a piece of chocolate and exhibited reduced enjoyment of it. The present research supplies evidence for the previously untested notion that having access to the best things in life may actually undercut the ability to reap enjoyment from life’s small pleasures.