Modern economic theory asserts that consumers experiencing the scarcity problem should try to enlarge their budget. By contrast, relying on the ancient Greeks' perspective, we present a mathematical model demonstrating that higher investment in reducing material desires is positively associated with higher welfare. We present evidence from 999 participants aged 25–65 survey, showing that adopting the ancient Greek strategy for dealing with the gap between material desires and financial means is positively correlated with individuals' subjective well‐being, while adopting the modern economics strategy is not. Moreover, we show that the prudent desire management becomes less productive with age.

中文翻译：

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论主观幸福感与应对金融稀缺问题的过度策略

现代经济理论认为，遇到稀缺问题的消费者应该尝试扩大预算。相比之下，根据古希腊人的观点，我们提出了一个数学模型，证明在减少物欲方面的更多投资与更高的福利呈正相关。我们提供了来自 999 名 25-65 岁参与者的调查证据，表明采用古希腊策略来处理物欲与财力之间的差距与个人的主观幸福感呈正相关，而采用现代经济学策略则不然。此外，我们发现，随着年龄的增长，谨慎的欲望管理的成效会降低。