A survey has found no direct correlation between wealth and happiness although money still tops the list of factors affecting people's feeling of contentment, according to Xiaokang, a fortnightly Chinese magazine.

Can money buy you happiness?

Happiness is more important than scores

The "2014 Chinese happiness index" survey was jointly conducted by Xiaokang and the media research lab of Tsinghua University.

Some 61.2 percent of 36,315 people who responded nationally said they feel happy with their lives while 13.7 percent said they are not that happy. On a scale of 0 to 10, the average happiness score among the respondents is 6.6.

When asked which element most affects their feelings of happiness, the majority of respondents said money, followed by health and marriage.

But 65.4 percent don't believe that the more money a person has, the happier he or she will be. Most said an annual salary of 100,000 to 200,000 yuan ($16,359 to 32,718) would make them happy.

When asked what government action could improve the feeling of happiness, most chose a pay raise, better food safety or social security.

Scientific research has shown that when per capita GDP of a country reaches $3,000, there would be direct correlation between wealth and happiness and the per capita GDP of China has already passed $ 6,000.

People's feeling of happiness is a subjective experience, mainly decided by the fair distribution of social resources and interests, said Dai Changqing, deputy head of the Development and Educational Psychology Institute of Wuhan University.