7/28/2019 Why Spending Money on Others Promotes Your Happiness — PsyBlog

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PsyBlog

Why Spending Money on Others Promotes Your

Happiness

Contrary to many people's instincts, money spent on others gives more

happiness than money spent on themselves.

This is not a radical idea which will blow your mind with its incredible newness. Far from it. But because it's

advice that sometimes goes against our natural instinct, it's worth repeating.

Research suggests that many people think that spending money on themselves will make them happier than

spending it on other people (Dunn et al., 2008). But there is evidence from various different studies that, on

average, this isn't true:

Participants who were given $5 or $20 to spend on another person were happier than those who spent it

on themselves (Dunn et al., 2008).

Peo ple who spend greater proportions of their income on giving to others or to charity are happier than

those who spend it on themselves (Dunn et al., 2008).

Canadian and Ugandan students who thought back to times they'd been generous to others were happier 

than those thinking back to money they'd spent on themselves (Aknin et al., 2010).

And we haven't even taken into account how happy it makes the recipient.

Prosocial spending

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But why? Why is it that spending our money on others—prosocial spending—makes us happier?

It's partly because giving to others makes us feel good about ourselves. It helps promote a view of ourselves as

responsible and giving people, which in turn makes us feel happy. It's also partly because spending money on

others helps cement our social relationships. And people with stronger social ties are generally happier.

So if prosocial spending makes us feel good, how come we tend to think personal spending will make us

happier?

It's because of the insidious effect money has on the mind. Studies have shown that the simplest reminder of 

money has all kinds of negative effects (from Vohs et al., 2006). It makes us:

less likely to help others,

less likely to donate to charity,

less likely to spend time with others,

three times more likely to want to work alone, despite knowing we're taking on more work.

These are all precisely the behaviours that are likely to make us happy, yet just being reminded of money makes

us less likely to engage in them.

It's not that money is always evil; under the right circumstances it can motivate us and modern societies would be

difficult without it. But money clearly has some negative psychological effects. So fight money's evil side. Fool it.

Betray it. Give it away! Generosity is the good type of selfishness.

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How to Spend Wisely

→ This post is part of a series on how to spend wisely:

Why Many Small Pleasures Beat Fewer Larger Ones

The Dangers of Comparison Shopping

Why Spending Money on Others Promotes Your Happiness

Buy More Experiences and Less Stuff 

Buy Less Insurance

How to Get More Pleasure from Your Money

The Impressive Power of a Stranger’s Advice

How to Dodge Buyer’s Remorse

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