Lottery winners, trust-fund babies and others who get their money without working for it do not get as much satisfaction from their cash as those who earn it, a study of the pleasure center in people's brains suggests.
Emory University researchers measured brain activity in the striatum - the part of the brain associated with reward processing and pleasure - in two groups of volunteers. One group had to work to receive money while playing a simple computer game; the other group was rewarded without having to earn it.
The brains of those who had to work for their money were more stimulated.
"When you have to do things for your reward, it's clearly more important to the brain," said Greg Berns, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science. "The subjects were more aroused when they had to do something to get the money relative to when they passively received the money."
Berns and other researchers said the study has broader real-world implications, particularly in the age of multimillion-dollar lottery jackpots.
He said that other studies have shown "there's substantial evidence that people who win the lottery are not happier a year after they win the lottery. It's also fairly clear from the psychological literature that people get a great deal of satisfaction out of the work they do."
In the Emory study, published Thursday in the journal Neuron, volunteers played a computer game in which they had to push a button every time a triangle appeared. The 16 volunteers played while their brains were scanned by a magnetic resonance imaging machine, or MRI.
The researchers found that some reward centers of the brain were activated whenever a volunteer received money. However, the striatum was activated only when volunteers worked for their reward.
Berns suggested that the brain is wired this way by nature.
"I don't think it ever evolved to sit back and sit on the couch and have things fall in our laps," he said.
The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
"This part of the brain is a fascinating part. It's associated with drug abuse, a number of diseases," Berns said. "It's no coincidence we're finding it to be very important in almost everything that we do."
I think I will get a copy of that report and forward it the the next stranger that call or email me for a donation to do their good work. They'll be happy to know that they will be happier if they start working for a living.
RJOh
P.S. That would be a good report to give to all my new friends if I ever won a lottery jackpot.
I am in the same boat as golotto. When win a nice jackpot I will feel as though I have earned it and will have a great deal of satisfaction getting the winning numbers because I studied and analyzed the numbers I picked.
HEY RJOH, I AM SURE THAT DOES "sCIENTIST" work with money obtained thru donation. Because How else will pay for this kind of stupid work. YES DEFINETLY " It's nicer when you actually earn ..........................THE lotteryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
The funniest thing about this study is that it points out that if you win the lottery today you're not going to be any "happier" a year from now then before you won. It also leaves out the fact that you probably are still going to be happy that you did win because you should have financial freedom. The study also doesn't point out the productivity level of the lottery winners, trustee, heirs, etc. Before or after their point of recieving funds or money. I don't think happiness should be measured by how hard you work or even if you work. I personally do not like to work but does that mean I am not going to be happy?
Winning a jackpot is realy hardwork. Yor brain is stimulated and exausted just by thinking what you will do with all the money you have won. I will accept winning a jackpot.
My brain wont have any comment or problem as I am control. I am from Malaysia. In malaysia our 6/49 toto jackpot starts at RM1Million. The largest it has been was RM14Million.
Your powerball starts at USD10Million. Convert to malaysia is RM38million. sharks!!!!!!! thats hell a lot of money. With that much on money your will live like a king here.
Could it be that people who are content to work for low wages aren't "stimulating" their brains to improve their conditions?
I doubt anyone is content to work for low wages.... ceo swine are content to pay low wages... while heath care costs are out of control, gas prices are soaring and even "low wage" jobs are hard to come by...
my synapses will be snappin' on election day...
I can honesty say that after working for others 20 of my 35 years of like that I would be happier the year after a win (the MINUTE the check cleared ,to be exact)... just because you don't have to work for someone else doesn't mean you won't do other things to stay sharp... THen I would be able to afford that stimulation...
I don't know whose brain they used, it certainly wasn't mine. I like the old saying said by a few folks who should know which goes: "I've been poor and I've been rich and rich is better"
I didn't win the NY lottery tonight so I'll have to wait to put it to the test.
My experience has been that it's more rewarding to earn money rather than have it fall into my lap. It has been said that only someone who has created his own fortune (through labor) can really enjoy the fortune he has created, because he knows its value whereas someone who hasn't done the work to create it cannot.
On the other hand ...
I am stuck in a career vacuum from which there is no escape. I am highly educated, yet I can't get a job in the field for which I'm trained. And I can't afford to return to school for retraining. I have been out of work for over a year, with no prospects in sight. It is quickly coming to the point where I'll be grateful to find work as a janitor (I'm not kidding).
I would rather earn a fortune than get it for free. But I would also rather get a fortune for free than be where I am. I would also rather get a fortune for free than spend the rest of my life doing work that I hate. For me, a fortune is not a ticket to Couchpotatoland; it's freedom to do work that I can love, and security for my family in old age.
Many people on this site work very hard at earning their paycheck and they somehow find a way to take some time analyse the lottery they are playing and pick their own numbers. To me, thats really hard work. It takes a long time to look through past drawing data and come up with a "system" to pick your own numbers. If someone like that wins the lottery, I think they have earned it and will be happy.
On the other hand, I do agree witht he research above. If someone who does not do any work to pick their own numbers and just uses quick picks, if they win, I think they would not be as happy as the person who picked their own number (and this is just my opinion ofcourse). They would still be happy ofcourse. But there are exceptions and somepeople who still be happy even if they used a quickpick.
So if someone who picks their numbers and while at the same time uses 1-2 quickpicks, wins the lottery, they will definitely be happy.
I think I will get a copy of that report and forward it the the next stranger that call or email me for a donation to do their good work. They'll be happy to know that they will be happier if they start working for a living.
RJOh
P.S. That would be a good report to give to all my new friends if I ever won a lottery jackpot.
BULLS****! Why do
"The brains of those who had to work for their money were more stimulated."
Based on this study, I should be happy a year after a lottery win because I worked very hard to choose my numbers.
I am in the same boat as golotto. When win a nice jackpot I will feel as though I have earned it and will have a great deal of satisfaction getting the winning numbers because I studied and analyzed the numbers I picked.
HEY RJOH, I AM SURE THAT DOES "sCIENTIST" work with money obtained thru donation. Because How else will pay for this kind of stupid work. YES DEFINETLY " It's nicer when you actually earn ..........................THE lotteryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
The funniest thing about this study is that it points out that if you win the lottery today you're not going to be any "happier" a year from now then before you won. It also leaves out the fact that you probably are still going to be happy that you did win because you should have financial freedom. The study also doesn't point out the productivity level of the lottery winners, trustee, heirs, etc. Before or after their point of recieving funds or money. I don't think happiness should be measured by how hard you work or even if you work. I personally do not like to work but does that mean I am not going to be happy?
Winning a jackpot is realy hardwork. Yor brain is stimulated and exausted just by thinking what you will do with all the money you have won. I will accept winning a jackpot.
My brain wont have any comment or problem as I am control. I am from Malaysia. In malaysia our 6/49 toto jackpot starts at RM1Million. The largest it has been was RM14Million.
Your powerball starts at USD10Million. Convert to malaysia is RM38million. sharks!!!!!!! thats hell a lot of money. With that much on money your will live like a king here.
USD1.00 is equel to RM3.80
I doubt anyone is content to work for low wages.... ceo swine are content to pay low wages... while heath care costs are out of control, gas prices are soaring and even "low wage" jobs are hard to come by...
my synapses will be snappin' on election day...
I can honesty say that after working for others 20 of my 35 years of like that I would be happier the year after a win (the MINUTE the check cleared ,to be exact)... just because you don't have to work for someone else doesn't mean you won't do other things to stay sharp... THen I would be able to afford that stimulation...
I don't know whose brain they used, it certainly wasn't mine. I like the old saying said by a few folks who should know which goes: "I've been poor and I've been rich and rich is better"
I didn't win the NY lottery tonight so I'll have to wait to put it to the test.
My experience has been that it's more rewarding to earn money rather than have it fall into my lap. It has been said that only someone who has created his own fortune (through labor) can really enjoy the fortune he has created, because he knows its value whereas someone who hasn't done the work to create it cannot.
On the other hand ...
I am stuck in a career vacuum from which there is no escape. I am highly educated, yet I can't get a job in the field for which I'm trained. And I can't afford to return to school for retraining. I have been out of work for over a year, with no prospects in sight. It is quickly coming to the point where I'll be grateful to find work as a janitor (I'm not kidding).
I would rather earn a fortune than get it for free. But I would also rather get a fortune for free than be where I am. I would also rather get a fortune for free than spend the rest of my life doing work that I hate. For me, a fortune is not a ticket to Couchpotatoland; it's freedom to do work that I can love, and security for my family in old age.
Many people on this site work very hard at earning their paycheck and they somehow find a way to take some time analyse the lottery they are playing and pick their own numbers. To me, thats really hard work. It takes a long time to look through past drawing data and come up with a "system" to pick your own numbers. If someone like that wins the lottery, I think they have earned it and will be happy.
On the other hand, I do agree witht he research above. If someone who does not do any work to pick their own numbers and just uses quick picks, if they win, I think they would not be as happy as the person who picked their own number (and this is just my opinion ofcourse). They would still be happy ofcourse. But there are exceptions and somepeople who still be happy even if they used a quickpick.
So if someone who picks their numbers and while at the same time uses 1-2 quickpicks, wins the lottery, they will definitely be happy.