Consider these three surprising benefits:
1. We’re actually happier when we give money away.
Watch any hour of prime-time TV, and you’ll see 18 minutes of commercials that all say the same basic message: if only you buy this particular product, then you will be happier. If only you get that new truck. If only you get that new phone.
But that’s not actually how real life works. You get a new phone and six months later it’s obsolete. So you need a new one, and then another new one, and then another new one. The cycle of acquiring possessions never ends. A new truck is nice, but if we’re looking to it to satisfy us and give us a sense of security and significance, then we’re looking in the wrong place.
Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia, conducted a variety of studies and concluded that once routine bills are paid, pro-social spending actually makes people happier than personal spending.
In one straightforward experiment, researchers gave five and twenty dollar bills to groups of college students. Half the participants were instructed to spend the money on themselves. The other half were to spend the money on toys for children and other charitable giving.
Afterward, participants who spent the money on others reported enhanced mood, increased sense of meaning and significance, and greater overall feelings of well-being.
Conclusion: It pays to give.
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