Prosocial Spending and Happiness: Using Money to Benefit Others Pays Off
This paper focuses on the emotional effects on individuals who give. It demonstrates that how people spend their money matters for their happiness. In particular, both correlational and experimental studies have shown that people who spend money on others report more happiness. The benefits of such prosocial spending emerge among adults around the world, and the warm glow of giving can be detected even in toddlers. These benefits are most likely to emerge when giving satisfies one or more core human needs (relatedness, competence, and autonomy). The rewards of prosocial spending are observable in both the brain and the body and potentially can be harnessed by organizations and governments. The paper also postulates that giving employees the opportunity to engage in prosocial spending via their workplace potentially can enhance job satisfaction and performance.
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