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Money Can Buy Happiness As Long As You Spend it on Someone Else
By JLP | March 21, 2008
I think this something most of us probably already knew, but I thought I’d mention it anyway. I found this article on Reuters about research that has been done that shows that money buys happiness but only when it’s spent on other people. From the article:
“We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn,” said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia.
They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, gifts for others and donations to charity.
“Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not,” Dunn said in a statement.
I know this to be true. I’d even take it further and say that people are happier when they help others in any way—whether it be monetarily, time, or just kindness towards another person. I just wish I would remember this. I tend to forget it often!
Topics: Personal Growth |