Evolutionary advantage of overestimating utility of income

People overestimate the utility they will derive from future income.

There is an evolutionary advantage of this overestimation. Higher expected utility you expect from future income induces higher effort from you. People with this type of overestimation are more likely to put more effort into earning money.

In terms of passing on more genes, being happy is not as important as being wealthy. People put too much emphasis on material gains, however, literally are used by their genes as tools to pass on.

Do you want to be happy or wealthy? Of course you want both if possible....but what if you have to choose one?

The future utility of material goods tends to be overestimated, the future utility of social interaction tends to be underestimated.