Financial resources impact the relationship between meaning and happiness.

Do financial resources relate to how important meaning is for one's happiness? Across three large-scale data sets spanning more than 500,000 individuals across 123 countries, we examined the relationship between meaning and happiness for individuals who vary in financial resources. Whether based on actual income level (Studies 1 and 2) or subjective assessments of socioeconomic status (Study 3), the results reveal that meaning is a weaker predictor of happiness for individuals with greater (vs. lesser) financial resources. Collectively, these studies suggest that having greater financial resources weakens the link between meaning and happiness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).