Yes. We are all human. We compare. Sometimes down to very little trivial stuff like why the neighbour’s floor mat looks better on their front porch or how that shirt looks better on him.
But comparing salaries brings it to a whole different level!
In this study, researchers show that comparing salaries is a HUGE no-n simply because it makes us feel utterly and completely unhappy.…
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Comparing salary is the recipe for unhappiness–study
from themedguru.com
The surest way to feel unhappy about your salary is to compare it with others, suggests the findings of a new study.
Researchers at the Paris School of Economics used the European Social Survey and established that people who compared their incomes with others tended to be less happy.
“Constantly looking over one’s shoulder seems to make the world a less happy — and more unequal – place,” concluded the study authors.
Comparison with friends more depressing
The unhappiness was more pronounced if the comparison was made with the salaries of friends and family rather than work colleagues.
So in a way, comparisons with work colleagues appear relatively innocuous, whereas comparisons with friends appear the most offensive for it is twice as painful vis-à-vis salary comparisons with colleagues.
“With work colleagues it’s a fairness issue, but with school friends who had the same opportunities as you might think ‘They’ve done much better than me so I must be less competent’,” noted Professor Cary Cooper, an expert in organizational psychology and health at Lancaster University Management School.
The responses of the 19,000 participants in the study clearly established that the more significance people attached to such comparisons, the worse they were in terms of satisfaction with regard to life in general and standard of living in particular.
“Those who compare more are less happy. There is a negative and significant correlation between comparison intensity and subjective happiness,” maintained the study authors.
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