Saturday, March 22, 2008

Money Can Buy Happiness..

I found this article really useful that i decided to post it here for everyone to read..This shows that it really is better to give than to take =) I really enjoy this article because i personally feel happier when i spent money on others..which makes this article particularly true for me..Not to say that spending money on friends ALL THE TIME will make themselves happier..X_X

Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else, researchers reported on Thursday. Spending a little on someone else a day could significantly boost happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found.
Their experiments on more than 630 americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others, even if they thought spending money on themselves would make them happier.
"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 themselces, gifts for others and donations to charity.
They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it.
This could also explain why people are no happier even though US society is richer.-Reuters
-Taken off from The Star - 22 March 2008