It is often said that money cannot buy you happiness, but new psychology research suggests that the reverse may also be true.
A study published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science has found that moderately happy people are wealthier than extremely happy individuals.
While people who are happy are certainly more healthy and successful than those who are angry and depressed, said Dr Ed Diener of the University of Illinois, people who are moderately happy may achieve more than those who are extremely happy.
'Our findings suggest that extremely high levels of happiness might not be a desirable goal and that there is more to psychological well-being than high levels of happiness,' the study says.
The researchers looked at six different studies of happiness and life outcomes to investigate the optimum level of happiness.
One study, the World Values Survey, which included nearly 120,000 people from 96 countries, found that those who rated their life satisfaction at 8 or 9 out of 10 made more money than those who rated themselves at 10.
However, 10s and 9s were more likely to have stable intimate relationships.
Another study found that the happiest college students were also the most social, but they had lower grade averages than their slightly less happy peers.
In four studies that looked at individuals' well-being several years after their happiness level was initially assessed, the happiest people wound up with less education and lower incomes than the moderately happy individuals.
As far as achievement goes, Dr Diener said, extremely happy people may be more satisfied with their lot in life and less likely to make efforts to change it by getting more education or finding a new job.
'Maybe we're not built to be ecstatic all the time, maybe we need some negative emotions,' he said.
