Giving Makes Us Happy

It's better to give than receive, the Bible tells us; and now scientists agree. People who do something for others or give to charities are happier than those who don't, says a report in this week's issue of Science magazine. Researchers at Harvard University and the University of British Columbia found that the way people spend their money affects their happiness.

What surprised lead researcher Elizabeth Dunn, assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, was the magnitude of the affect and that how people spent their money was more important than how much money they had.

"This work suggests that even making small alterations in how we spend money on a daily basis can make a difference in happiness," Dunn said. "The message is, given what you have, how can you make little alterations to do something for others."

Study participants were asked to assign a "happiness quotient" to various personal spending items -- paying bills, buying gifts for themselves, buying gifts for others, giving to charity. The study found that personal spending like paying bills and buying things for yourself had no relation to happiness. However, giving to others "was associated with significantly greater happiness," Dunn said.

In another experiment, Canadian students were given envelopes containing between $5 and $20. Some were directed to spend the money on themselves; others, to buy a gift for someone. The amount of money spent had no impact on the students' feelings, but the opportunity to give a gift rather than buying something for themselves created significantly greater feelings of happiness. The people on "Oprah's Big Give" must be ecstatic!