How satisfied are you with your life? A study from Granada in Spain suggests your answer depends on the balance between envy and compassion. On a scale from 1 (totally disagree) to 7 (totally agree), how much do you agree with each of the following statements:
I am not worried about how much money I have; what worries me is that there are people who have more money than I have.
I am not worried about how much money I have, what worries me is that there are people who have less money than I have.
The first statement measures envy. If you scored 1 or 2, then you are about as envious as the average person. If you scored 4 or above, you are more envious than three-quarters of the respondents. Obviously, envy is inversely related to life satisfaction: the more envious you are, the less satisfied you are with your life.
The second statement measures compassion. If you scored 3-5, you are about as compassionate as the average respondent. If you scored 6-7 or 1-2, you rank, roughly speaking, among the 25% most or least compassionate respectively. Compassion is related to happiness, but in the opposite direction to that which you might expect. Those who reported worrying about the less well-off were happier than those who didn’t. It may be that those who show concern for others are nicer people to be around, and so enjoy more pleasant everyday interactions.
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