Happiness is about Respect not riches

(Source:  The Greater Good Science Center- the center, located at the University of California, Berkeley, studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being, and teaches skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society.)

I have found the research reports coming from this center to be most thought-provoking, even a bit provocative.
I often wonder why the wealthy amongst us are not more compassionate than the poor- there are compassionate people on both ends but there is not a big difference between them it seems. Have a look below.

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Happiness is about Respect, Not Riches

And there was other discouraging news for the wealthy this year.
Research has long suggested that money doesn’t buy happiness; a study published in Psychological Science in July confirms that finding and goes a step further, changing the stakes of what we think of as high status: It turns out that if we’re looking to money, we’re looking in the wrong place.

Instead, the study found that happiness is more strongly associated with the level of respect and admiration we receive from peers.
The study’s researchers, led by UC Berkeley’s Cameron Anderson (and again including Keltner), refer to this level of respect and admiration as our “sociometric status,” as opposed to socioeconomic status.

In one experiment, college students high in sociometric status in their group—their sorority, for example, or their ROTC group—were happier than their peers, whereas socioeconomic status didn’t predict happiness.
Similarly, a broader, nationwide survey, which boasted people from a variety of backgrounds, income, and education levels, found that those who felt accepted, liked, included, and welcomed in their local hierarchy were happier than those who were simply wealthier.

“You don’t have to be rich to be happy,” Anderson told Greater Good, “but instead be a valuable contributing member to your groups.”

There is something very intuitive about this finding, something we don't really need scientific research for in order to understand profoundly: that people, more than anything else, need to feel appreciated, loved and connected in order to be happy.