Giving gives happiness (September 06, 2008)
Money buys more happiness...if you give it away
In March 2008, Elizabeth Dunn of the University of British Columbia and colleagues reported that people enjoyed greater happiness if they spent money on gifts or charity. Of 630 Americans, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness.
Dunn’s study also measured the happiness levels of employees at a Boston firm before and after they received a profit share bonus of between $3,000 and $8,000. What made a big difference to employees’ happiness was the way they spent the bonus, rather than its size. Those who gave their bonuses on gifts for others or gave to charity reported more benefits than those who had not.
Participants in another experiment were given a $5 or $20 bill and asked to spend the money by 5pm that day. Half had to spent the money on themselves, and half had to spend it on others. Those who spent the windfall on others reported being happier at the end of the day than those who had spent it on themselves.
The Oprah Winfrey show amazed an audience when they told them that each would go home with $1,000 – however, they had to spend that on someone other than family. After a week of giving money away, many reported that they felt changed.
Give this exercise a go...
The next time you feel like shopping to browse or fill a few hours, take a sum of money up to £20. Instead of shopping with it for yourself, make it your goal to give that amount of money away by the end of the day, maybe in a gift to a friend, giving it to an animal charity or whatever.
Write down how happy you felt before you spent the money. And when you’ve given your money away, make a note of it again. Check the difference. Make a note of your happiness 24 hours later, 48 too.
Now ask which has brought you greater lasting happiness – giving the money away; or spending it on yourself?
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