Buying Happiness: Help Others

(This is part two of eight in a series that explores how money can buy happiness, it just buys less than we think and requires that we spend our money the right way. It’s based on the findings of researchers Dunn, Gilbert, and Wilson in their paper, “If Money Doesn’t Make You Happy Then You’re Probably Not Spending It Right” [PDF].)

Last time we talked about the first principle of how money can buy happiness—buying experiences instead of things. Today we’ll discuss the second principle the researchers found: that helping others instead of yourself will increase your level of happiness.

Lending a hand

“Human beings are the most social animal on our planet,” write Dunn, Gilbert, and Wilson. “Only three other animals (termites, eusocial insects, and naked mole rats) construct social networks as complex as ours, and we are the only one whose complex social networks include unrelated individuals.”

What does that have to do with money and happiness? As social creatures, our connections and interactions with others has a profound effect on our level of contentment. When our connections and relationships improve, our happiness increases.

The paper cites a Dunn, Aknin, and Norton (2008) study that found that people who gave more money to prosocial spending were happier, even after controlling for income. Other studies showed similar results, and one even showed that choosing to give money away activated brain areas associated with receiving rewards (Harbaugh, Mayr, & Burghart, 2007).

The benefits of prosocial spending

Why is prosocial spending tied in with happiness? The paper used data from several studies to draw the following conclusions:

1. It has a powerful effect on social relationships. Charitable or prosocial giving has a strong effect on social relationships, and Diener and Seligman (2002) contend that strong social connections are “universally critical for happiness.”
2. It provides an opportunity for positive self-presentation. Spending money on a friend or partner (Dunn, Biesanz, Human, & Finn, 2007) or a charity can reinforce positive self-presentation, as studies have shown that giving improves a person’s mood.
3. It can facilitate the development of social relationships. Besides positively affecting our relationships, prosocial spending can create more connections, since most charitable donations are made by people who are connected to the beneficiaries (e.g., churches, arts organizations, etc.).

Unfortunately, most people inaccurately predict that spending money on themselves will make them happier than spending on others. In a survey of UBC students, Dunn et al. (2008) found that the majority thought that spending money on themselves would make them happier.

What’s more, simply thinking about money makes people less likely to donate to charity or to spend in prosocial ways (Vohs, Meade, & Goode, 2006). “Although money can and should promote happiness,” writes Dunn et al., “the mere thought of money may undermine its ability to do so.”

Do you give money to charity or donate in other prosocial ways? Why or why not? If you do, does it make you happier?