When I was younger, I had a regular Sunday evening volunteer gig helping prepare and serve meals for homeless teens at a local shelter. At first, I did it because it was the right thing to do. Soon I started looking forward to these evenings because helping the teens made me feel good. They were so appreciative, and it was obvious I made a positive difference in their difficult lives. Needless to say, the only cost was gas money to get to the shelter!
Just about everyone knows the good feeling that comes from helping others. Our brains are wired for social connections, so almost anything that strengthens these connections—including the way we spend money—seems to increase our happiness. There’s more to financial fitness than numbers, and the positive feelings we get from using money this way are very real.
Part Of How We’re Wired
Animals can’t create social networks more complex than ours, and only a few come close. In fact, ours is the only network that includes perfect strangers. Scientists believe the positive feeling from helping others is rooted the hyper-social nature of humans. We’re hard-wired to connect.
We might object to the scientists’ beliefs by saying those good feelings come from cultural influences or a person’s upbringing. This isn’t the case, because the effects of spending on others (prosocial spending) have been demonstrated from Canada to East Africa, making it a cross-cultural norm.
More Evidence for Getting From Giving
Many people involved in philanthropy and volunteerism say they get more back than they give, and evidence backs this up. A number of scientific experiments have demonstrated that prosocial spending tends to increase happiness.
One study using MRI scans showed that the brains of participants who were thinking of donating money to charity became active in brain areas usually associated with getting a reward. Amazingly enough, when we give, we feel like we got rewarded. Our brains act like we’re on the receiving end. It’s how we experience giving physiologically in our brains that connects money and meaning in this way.
The Expectation of Happiness
Imagine I just handed you a $100 bill outside the shopping mall. Do you think you’d get more satisfaction out of buying something nice for yourself or by dropping the money in the charity pot of the Salvation Army® Santa ringing a bell outside?
While most of us have experienced the good feeling that comes with giving, we seem to discount it when deciding whether to spend money on ourselves as opposed to someone else. We expect that we will feel happier after spending on ourselves than we will after spending the same amount on others. Interestingly, the opposite is usually true.
When we expect to feel differently than we actually do when an event occurs, we make what psychologists call an “affective forecasting error.” You might be unsure if you make affective forecasting errors when it comes to giving—unless, that is, you test the concept yourself.
Easy Experiment to Try
Research suggests that giving away as little as $5 a day results in a significant boost to your mood—but don’t just take my word for it. Try it yourself for a week as a fun-finance activity. Make it your goal to spend $5 daily for seven consecutive days on little treats or gifts for others. They could be family, friends, acquaintances or even strangers. The following week, buy a $35 treat for yourself—just a small pleasure—as a reward for your generosity.
I’d love to hear the results of your experiment. How did you spend the money on others, and how did you spend it on yourself? How did you feel each week? Be sure to post a blog comment and let me know!