Money Buys Lack of Unhappiness?

MBH recently came across this 1999 Slate article citing research that indicates:

While it's true that, overall, these data show that money doesn't dramatically affect the distribution of happiness, let's examine some of the nuances. One is that you're nearly four times as likely to be miserable if you make less than $15,000 than you would be if you made more than $35,000. True, 79 percent of people making less than $15,000 still consider themselves "pretty happy" or "very happy." But what if you don't happen to belong to this naturally buoyant majority? Clearly, for at least 15 or 16 percent (i.e., the proportion of unhappy people exceeding the "naturally unhappy" baseline of 5 or 6 percent), the lack of money buys unhappiness.

Chatterbox is also intrigued by what happens when your income rises above $75,000. If you were unhappy before, apparently you're likely to stay unhappy. But 11 percent of the people who were "pretty happy" will become "very happy." Money may not buy happiness, but if you're already happy there's a decent chance it will make you more happy!