Where are Americans finding true happiness? And where should they be seeking it?

In recent years, studies have shown declining happiness levels among Americans, with varying causes cited. A March Gallup poll, for example, links falling happiness to increased loneliness. This idea was supported by a 2023 Surgeon General report that addressed an American “epidemic of loneliness and isolation.” However, now a new YouGov poll for MarketWatch is highlighting money as another major factor influencing happiness. And it’s not necessarily how much people have, but also how they spend it.

In the October poll, the outlet reported, “only about half of respondents said that the way they use and manage their money made them happy. Asked what money-related activity brought them the most happiness, one in eight respondents said they didn’t know.” For Cara Macksoud, a financial advisor interviewed by MarketWatch, she thought buying a house would bring her happiness — only for that dream to be tainted by the maintenance and effort it required. “I wanted to see things,” she said. “I wanted to feel things. I wanted to experience people. And you don’t do that when you sit in the house on the sofa admiring your curtains.” Macksoud ended up selling her house, claiming that her happiness was ultimately found in the little things, like getting out of the house and buying a cup of coffee.

Looking at the bigger picture, Matt Killingsworth, a senior fellow at the Wharton School, has observed a notable trend through his own research. As he told MarketWatch, “[O]ne of the most important things for happiness is how in control people are of their lives.” Americans, he argued, want the final say, and they want to know how to have it. According to Killingsworth, the main questions are: “What do you really want to spend your time on?” And “What kind of a life do you really want to create?”

Echoing this, author Morgan Housel stated in his book, “The simplest formula for a pretty nice life is independence plus purpose. The independence to do what you want and the wisdom to want to do meaningful things.” He added that “money is a remarkable tool that can provide a better life if you know how to use it.” 

In other words, MarketWatch wrote, “The challenge is for people to understand where their true values lie, and to take that seriously.” Yet, the outlet concluded, “Regardless of where people find themselves financially or how they enjoy spending their money, Housel writes, one thing that tends to be broadly true is that success is ultimately reflected when ‘the people who you want to love you do love you. And that love comes overwhelmingly from how you treat people, rather than what you spend or a level of net worth.’”

These findings beg the question: Is money management the determining factor for whether someone is happy? Or is it connected to having control? As MarketWatch noted, love, and being loved, plays a major role as well. So, what is it? According to Joseph Backholm, Family Research Council’s senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement, each category has its role to play, but the true answer has biblical roots.

“There is a financial aspect to life satisfaction,” he told The Washington Stand. “If you don’t have the means to take care of the essentials, it’s difficult to be content. Not impossible, but difficult.” However, he added, “it’s also indisputable that you do not necessarily become happier as your net worth grows. Sometimes, more money really does lead to more problems, especially if you lack the character to handle the opportunity that comes with more money.”

Backholm explained, “God created us to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. We were created for joy, but we were designed so that joy was a by-product of living the lives we were created for.” He noted a common theme: “We often make the mistake of confusing pleasure with joy and pursuing joy through pleasure, but that never works because we weren’t created to please ourselves. We were created to please our Creator and those around us.” As he emphasized, “We get joy by giving joy.”

Ultimately, Backholm pointed out, “When we serve people around us well, their joy ends up being our joy. The same is true for work. When we serve people well through our work and make their lives better, that brings us satisfaction.” And so, he concluded, “The solution to the joy problem is becoming aligned with what we were created for. Joy won’t be found by looking for it. We’ll find it once we stop trying to be happy and start making other people happy.”