About a decade ago I had to complete a major work (Personal Interest Project) for Society & Culture in High School, where we could pick any social issue to research and discuss.

I knew straight away that I wanted to understand whether money buys us happiness? At the ripe old age of 16 I knew that perhaps I wouldn’t find any research on the topic I had invented… However a trip to the NSW State Library soon revealed there were many models that were relevant to my research such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the law of diminished marginal utility and the fact that its human nature to never be satisfied.

After designing a questionnaire and asking relatives things like ‘If you won a million dollars what would you spend it on?’ and researching the topic further it was evident that money doesn’t buy us happiness.  The consumerist culture of the modern era largely drives individuals to think they will achieve self gratification the more they buy.