Spending money on others makes you happier

Spending money on others makes you happier

"Employees who devoted a greater fraction of their bonus to "prosocial spending", that is giving money to others, experienced greater happiness after sharing the bonus. This, in fact, made them happier than getting the actual bonus itself.".

Studies also showed that when they randomly give $5 to someone, this person feels happier when spending it on a stranger than buying something for themselves.

How can you use this? This does not mean giving away tons of money for charity. It's not about making the world prosper. It's a biological/psychological phenomena. It could be as simple as getting someone a coffee.

Things you can try:

• Invite someone to coffee or dinner

• Do a favor for your parents and/or partner(ex. chores, drive them somewhere, etc.)

• Purchase something from a small, local business to support their efforts

• Make a small donation for something you believe in

• Volunteer with your time and efforts to a local organization

Those are just some ideas. This weekend, try to do one thing that supports someone else instead of yourself - even if it's just for 1 dollar.

Here's the podcast clip from the Happiness episode and the article from the Journal of Science.

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