As we feel the pinch of increasing financial pressure, Australians are less satisfied with their lives today than they were in the pandemic. This was the finding of research by KPMG, as reported by this masthead last week.
More than half of Australians struggle to make ends meet and afford the basic costs of living – and the impact should not be minimised when it comes to health and happiness.
“Chronic financial strain can undermine wellbeing because it creates uncertainty, reduces feelings of control and consumes mental bandwidth,” says Dr Tim Sharp, psychologist and founder of The Happiness Institute.
The report reveals something more significant than financial stress alone.
We are dazzled by the idea that more money might buy us more satisfaction, but research consistently shows that once basic needs are met, more money does not reliably buy it, or happiness.
In fact, we may compromise how we feel about our lives if we give too much weight to such extrinsic, uncontrollable factors as money, at the expense of what really can aid life satisfaction and buffer us from the economic miseries.
When a study tracked American values over two decades, the only “value” that had become more important was money. Factors such as patriotism, religion, children and community involvement declined in value.
Associate Professor Dan Fassnacht doesn’t know whether Australians are following suit or whether financial stress has a way of narrowing our focus.
However, he says: “There is a kind of cultural drift away from the very things that protect us when times are tough. Meaning, community and connection are psychological buffers. When we erode those in favour of financial striving, we lose the scaffolding that holds us together during hard periods.”
Fassnacht co-authored a paper, published in Nature Mental Health, that surveyed 122 international experts in economics, psychology, medicine, philosophy and other disciplines about essential factors for mental wellbeing.
“Money did not make the list,” says Fassnacht, the co-lead of the Be Well Lab at the University of Sunshine Coast.
Six essential factors were agreed on:
- Meaning and purpose – feeling life is worthwhile and goal‑directed.
- Life satisfaction – overall evaluation that your life is good.
- Self‑acceptance – positive and nonjudgmental view of self.
- Connection – close, caring relationships with others.
- Autonomy – feeling in control of choices and self‑expression.
- Happiness – frequent positive mood and cheerfulness.
Interestingly, mental wellbeing doesn’t require us to feel good all the time.
“Negative emotions are functional – they are signals, not failures. Sadness, anxiety and dissatisfaction exist to prompt us to pay attention and make changes,” Fassnacht says.
The pain of loneliness can signal that we need to reach out to others, join a club or prioritise our relationships – somewhat counterintuitively, negative emotions can help us feel better in the long-run.
“Research consistently shows that people who accept difficult emotions tend to have better mental health outcomes than those who constantly try to suppress, avoid or control them,” Sharp adds.
As for happiness – a state of quite literal wellbeing, contentment and joy – the paradox is that the more we chase it, the more elusive it becomes. This is important in a culture where the optimisation of everything, happiness included, is the zeitgeist.
“When happiness becomes a destination to reach (or a metric to hit), we end up in a constant state of perceived deficit,” Fassnacht explains. “It works against the very thing we are chasing: happiness.”
Fassnacht’s advice for creating greater life satisfaction
- Invest in connection, meaning and purpose rather than the things we assume will move the dial, like more money or more achievement.
- Treat your negative emotions as information rather than inconveniences.
- And be cautious about the idea that happiness is a destination you can optimise your way to.
The antidote, according to cognitive scientist and happiness researcher Professor Laurie Santos, is radical acceptance, self-compassion, realising your limits and recognising your common humanity. And doing activities just because they bring us joy.
Fassnacht describes an activity he does with his seven-year-old son: jigsaw puzzles. They’ve improved, he says, “though the big ones still take us ages”.
The pleasure in doing jigsaws is the time spent together – but he has since discovered that competitive jigsaw puzzling has become a thing.
“I don’t want to dismiss that entirely, but it does make me wonder whether we have reached a point where even our simplest leisure activities need to be optimised,” he says. “Sometimes the most protective thing you can do is just be present with someone you love, without a leaderboard in sight.”
Without a leaderboard and without everything needing to be right.
Sharp says: “The challenge for individuals and societies is to acknowledge genuine problems without losing sight of what’s still good, meaningful and worth appreciating.
“Wellbeing isn’t about ignoring hardship. It’s about maintaining hope, perspective, connection and purpose while navigating it. That’s what allows people to flourish even in difficult times.”
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Sarah Berry is a lifestyle and health writer at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
