Introduction - Money = happiness
Do you think that you would be happy if you had a lot of money? And I mean, a lot! Imagine you could buy anything you wanted to, do anything you wanted to, go anywhere. You wouldn’t think ‘Oh, wait , I can’t afford it!’ You would be able to afford anything!! But would you be happy? Read on!
This fourth section contains 5 steps. Work them through step by step.
Step
Activity
1 Speaking
Think of some questions about giving and receiving presents. Set these questions to a classmate.
2 Reading
A text about how money can buy happiness. Match the study to the findings. Answer the questions. Answer more questions together with a classmate and discuss.
3 Grammar
About the 2nd conditional. Complete the rule. Complete sentences in exercise.
4 Song
Listen to 'Money' from Pink Floyd. Name aspects of wealth. Put the song lines in order. Give your reasons to the statement.
5 Task
Look at the schedule of 'experience' presents. Discuss advantages and disadvantages. Choose in pairs the best present. Make a farewell speech. Explain why you choose this present.
Speaking
You are going to talk to your partner about a present in the context of 'money = happiness'.
Think of five questions about giving and receiving presents. Write these down. Example: Do you prefer to give presents or to receive them?
Set your questions to a classmate.
Step 2 - Reading
Reading: How money can buy happiness
Read the article quickly. Match the dates to the findings.
by Graham Witcomb
Money can buy happiness, to a point. As a child, you were probably told that money doesn't buy happiness. It turns out that this wise advice is wrong, sort of. Many studies have found that wealth is significantly correlated with subjective well-being, but only up to a point.
In 2010, a Princeton study by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton found that earning more than $US75,000 per year won't significantly increase your day-to-day happiness. But don't worry. The fact that your financial achievements no longer fill you with undiluted pleasure may mean something else – that you're spending it wrong.
Most of us make the seemingly logical assumption that as material things last longer than one-time experiences, they should also make us happier for longer. A weekend getaway, we reason, is only good for a few days. A new TV, however, will give us years of enjoyment.
It turns out we have it backwards. We quickly adapt to ever-present material goods so their ability to make us happy diminishes over time. That new TV quickly becomes a "new normal".
A 1978 study found that even lottery winners get used to their new wealth and eventually revert back to their pre-win level of happiness. So, scratch that scratchie? Not just yet.
A 2014 study by Thomas Gilovich found that spending money on experiences, rather than goods, provides a
much greater and longer lasting sense of wellbeing.
The reason, Gilovich concluded, is that: "(1) Experiential purchases enhance social relations more readily than
material goods; (2) Experiential purchases form a bigger part of a person's identity; and (3) Experiential
purchases are evaluated more on their own terms and evoke fewer social comparisons than material purchases.
" Gilovich is suggesting that buying "stuff" to keep up with the Joneses won't make you happy but buying
experiences might.
And it turns out that one of the most satisfying experiences is spending the money not on oneself but someone
else.
In 2013, researchers at Harvard University approached people on campus and gave them either $5 or $20 and
told them to spend it by the end of the day. Half the participants were asked to spend it on themselves; the other
half were told to spend it on someone else. When asked what would make them happiest, most participants
predicted that spending more money ($20 versus $5) and spending it on themselves would do more for them
than giving it away.
However, when the researchers checked up on their subjects that evening, those who had spent the money on
someone else or donated it to the homeless reported feeling significantly better.
But there's a final twist: no difference in mood was found between those who spent $5 or $20 – which reinforces
the idea that it isn't how much money you have to spend, but how you spend it, that has the biggest effect on
your happiness.
Source: www.smh.com
1978
Giving an experience results in more happiness than giving an object.
2010
People who gave presents were happier than those who received.
2013
When you win money, you become happy but that feeling doesn’t stay with you forever.
2014
If you earn more money than your friend, you won’t necessarily be happy.
What three points are made about experience gifts?
What comment is made about the amount of money that was distributed at Harvard?
‘Scratch that scrachie is a play on words. Explain what it means.
Read these questions and answer them together with a classmate.
Which of the findings surprised you? Why?
Have you ever received an ‘experience’ present? What was it? Did you enjoy it?
Do you agree with the findings about ‘experience’ presents?
Have you ever given an experience present? What was it and who was it for?
Did they enjoy it? (why?)
If you could choose an experience present for your parents from the following list, which would you choose?
Give your reasons, and explain why you would not choose the other two.
a hot air balloon ride
a dinner for two in a very expensive restaurant
a day of adventure activities.
Compare and discuss your answers with other classmates.
Step 3 - Grammar
Grammar
Let’s look at the 2nd conditional.
Read the sentence and complete the rule.
If I had a lot of money, I would be happy.
This means that the person did have a lot of money.
This means that the person wished that they had had a lot of money.
This means that the person is imagining that they had money.
This is the second conditional and we use it when we are talking about imaginary or unlikely situations.
We use the simple past and then the verb with would.
Complete the sentences with the correct verb.
De onderstaande antwoorden moet je zelf nakijken; vergelijk jouw antwoorden met de goede
antwoorden, en geef aan in welke mate jouw antwoorden correct zijn.
Song
Listen to the song 'Money' from Pink Floyd.
The video shows many aspects of wealth.
Which do you think you will see? Write down at least 4 aspects.
Then watch the video.
Check here your answers.
Aspects of wealth:
lots of cash coins
gold bars
swimming pool
casinos
fur coats
diamonds
fast cars
caviar
surfing (playboy lifestyle)
football team
boats
helicopter
servants
stock exchange
jet planes
horse racing
people working in the city
mining
models
music industry
rice
art world
hungry children
homelessness
Now listen again and put the song lines in order.
Get a good job with more pay and you're OK
Money, get away
Think I'll buy me a football team
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
Money, it's a gas
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
I'm in the hi-fidelity first class traveling set
Don't give me that do goody good bullshit
Money, get back
And I think I need a Lear jet
I'm all right, Jack, keep your hands off of my stack.
Money, it's a hit
But if you ask for a rise it's no surprise that they're giving none away
Is the root of all evil today
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie
Money, it's a crime
Money, so they say
One of the last lines is ‘money is the root of all evil’.
To what extent do you agree with that? Give your reasons.
Step 5 - Task
Task 4
A friend of yours, Ella, is leaving your school because her parents are moving to a different town. You want to give her an ‘experience’ present. Look at the following presents.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Then in pairs choose the best present.
Look at the activities.
Note down the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Then talk to your classmate. Talk together about the advantages and disadvantages.
Then try to agree on one activity together.
Besides the pictures of page 1 you can also think of other ideas,
like a photoshoot, a wellness treatment or your own ideas.
Then together prepare a farewell speech for Ella.
In the speech you describe the 'experience' present, you have chosen for her.
You also mention in your speech why you have chosen this activity for her.
Answers
B4 Money = happiness
Step 1 Speaking
Hard to think of any question? Here are some examples.
What was the last present you received?
Who gave it to you?
Do you still use it? Why/why not?
Have you ever received a present that was an ‘experience’.
Describe it. Did you enjoy it? Why/why not?
Do you prefer to give presents or to receive them?
Can you remember the best/worst present you have ever received?
Say why it was really good/not so good.
Do you sometimes buy a present for yourself?
etc.
Step 2 Reading
2010
If you earn more money than your friend, you won’t necessarily be happy.
1978
When you win money, you become happy but that feeling doesn’t stay with you forever.
2014
Giving an experience results in more happiness than giving an object.
2013
People who gave presents were happier than those who received.
Answers to the questions:
Studies seem to show that whilst wealth can make you happy, it’s not entirely true.
Because it will very quickly become normal – not new.
That even if you win the lottery, you will soon return to your ‘pre-win’ state ie you won’t be happy.
1. Social relations will be better 2. They become part of your identity 3. Less likely to have comparisons made.
The amount doesn’t matter. It’s how you spent the money that matters.
Scratch as a verb means to rub out but it also means to stop doing something.
A scratchie is the lottery card where you need a coin to rub out (scratch) the numbers with a coin. So scratch that scratchie, in this article, means – stop playing the lottery.
Step 3 Grammar
c. This means that the person is imagining that they had money.
Step 4 Song
Lyrics of Money - Pink Floyd:
2 Money, get away
1 Get a good job with more pay and you're OK
5 Money, it's a gas
4 Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
6 New car, caviar, four star daydream,
3 Think I'll buy me a football team
Money, get back
11 I'm all right, Jack, keep your hands off of my stack
12 Money, it's a hit
8 Don't give me that do goody good bullshit
7 I'm in the hi-fidelity first class traveling set
10 And I think I need a Lear jet
16 Money, it's a crime
15 Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie
17 Money, so they say
14 Is the root of all evil today
13 But if you ask for a rise it's no surprise that they're giving none away
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by Graham Witcomb
