研究:快樂越多,賺的越多?

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.
錢賺得越多，人往往越快樂，至少在一定程度上是這樣。但新的研究表明，這句話反過來說可能也沒錯：人越快樂，往往賺的錢也越多。

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.
一項針對1萬多名美國人的研究發現，那些在成長期間每天經歷更多正面情緒且對生活更爲滿意的人在29歲之前會賺更多的錢。這項研究是由倫敦大學學院(University College London)和倫敦經濟學院(London School of Economics)的教授德內夫(Jan-Emmanuel De Neve)和華威大學(University of Warwick)經濟學教授奧斯瓦德(Andrew Oswald)共同進行的。這篇論文上個月發表在《美國國家科學院院刊》(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America)上。上週五在美國經濟學會(American Economic Association)的年會上，這篇論文得到了介紹。

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?'
兩位研究人員利用了全國青少年健康縱向研究(National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health)在1994年至2008年期間得出的調查數據。受調查中學生被問到的問題包括“‘你享受了生活’這樣的表述在過去一週中有多少次是真心話？”等到這些學生年齡漸長後，他們還回答了“從整體看，你對自己的生活有多滿意？”這樣的問題。

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歲和18歲時認爲自己更快樂、且在22歲時對生活更爲滿意的學生到29歲時賺的錢也更多。調查將生活滿意度從一到五打分，學生在22歲時給自己的生活滿意度每多打一分，日後收入就會多出大約2,000美元。這些學生的平均收入約爲3.5萬美元。

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，某個孩子在22歲時對生活滿意度的打分與家庭成員的均值相比每高出一分，其在29歲時的收入和家庭成員的均值相比會高出近4,000美元。

The analysis suggests happiness isn't just linked to higher income─it is helping generate it.
分析表明，快樂不僅與高收入相關，而且有助於一個人賺得更高的收入。

'The takeaway of this is the relationship between income and happiness runs in both directions,' Mr. De Neve said Friday.
德內夫上週五說，這項研究的結論是收入與快樂之間的關係是雙向的。

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.
研究人員推斷，這也許是因爲快樂的年輕人更有可能獲得大學文憑、找到工作並獲得提升。他們也更爲樂觀，不那麼神經質。研究人員在分析中假設個人收入不受教育、身高和自尊等其它因素的影響。

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.
非常快樂的心態確實對一部分人有幫助。那些回答自己“非常快樂”的青少年賺到的收入高出均值大約10%。而不快樂帶來的負面影響則大得多。這些研究發現，那些在青春期“十分不快樂”的人後來的收入較平均收入低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.
不過論文作者認爲，個人幸福和更高收入之間存在的這種聯繫對那些艱難促進經濟增長的國家來說，或許是個好消息。

'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.
論文指出，對決策者而言，這些機制的存在提出了這樣一種可能，即一個更加幸福的社會可能在本質上能給其公民帶來更高的收入。