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Money buys happiness for some, but misery for others, according to a new UC Berkeley study. 

The study, published in the June edition of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, finds that people who enter the workforce looking for a hefty salary are happy when they get it. But those who are interested in meaning or fulfillment on the job actually feel worse as they move up the ladder. 

The study comes to no definitive conclusions as to why values-driven people become less and less happy as they rake in more and more dough. But Ariel Malka, a UC Berkeley Ph.D. candidate in psychology and co-author of the study, said they may become upset about forgoing fulfillment and creative self-expression to make the big bucks. 

“If you were the type of person who back in the day said, ‘Oh yeah, I value a job for intrinsic values,’ then you effectively sold out ... your happiness takes a hit,” he said. 

Malka, citing studies that found that people have less fun pursuing hobbies if they are paid for it, added that fattening the wallet may just take the enjoyment out of a beloved job. 

“Perhaps making a lot of money in your job can actually cause you to question why you are working at the particular job you have,” he said.  

The study, co-authored by professor Jennifer Chatman, of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, followed 124 men and women from graduate school to the professional world over a nine-year period. 

Participants filled out lengthy surveys while studying business at Haas between 1986 and 1991. In 1995, four to nine years after completing the initial surveys, participants checked in again, recording their annual income and rating their well-being and job satisfaction. 

While the study identifies differences in job satisfaction between those motivated by money and those motivated by loftier goals, it found, on average, that income has no impact on happiness. 

“In a capitalistic society, people generally believe that—all other things being equal—being rich is better,” said Chatman. “But that is not what we found.” 

Previous studies, he said, have shown that pay hikes make a real difference in the happiness of lower-income workers. “At those income levels, having more money [means] knowing where you’re going to live next month or whether you’re going to have enough groceries for dinner,” he said. 

Malka, for his part, said he’s a pretty happy guy, even though he envisions years of work as a researcher and junior professor who won’t make much money. “My family laughs at me—they say I do this research to justify going into a low-paying job,” he said.