Scientific research + video games. We reckon you can prove anything with this combination. Boffins in China appear to believe the same. A new slab of research from the world's new powerhouse of capitalism (God bless it!) has apparently proved that merely thinking that you've got money is enough to make you happy.

In a recent report, Xinyue Zhou from Sun Yat-Sen University says that "Money activates a general sense of confidence, strength, and efficacy". Between 72 and 108 students were used in tests to prove this hypothesis.

Apparently, "In the study, students played a computer game called Cyberball, in which players think they are playing catch with three other individuals. These are actually being controlled by the computer, which eventually refuses to throw the ball to the human player.

"The volunteers who had physically handled money before playing, thinking they were completing a finger-dexterity task, reported feeling less distress on a standard social self-esteem scale than those who had handled blank pieces of paper."

So, there you go... money does make you happy.