Does It Feel Better To Give Or Receive A Gift?
The gift of giving Jason Schneider “Spending money on others might represent a more effective route to happiness than spending money on oneself,” says Elizabeth Dunn, a University of British Columbia psychologist. In 2008, she conducted a survey of 632 Americans to study their spending habits and happiness. The subjects reported spending a lot more on themselves than on friends or relatives: $1,714 versus $146, on average. But their happiness correlated more strongly with the gifts they gave. Receiving gifts also has a strong effect. A 1998 study led by Charles Areni, now of Macquarie University in Australia, asked 174 college students, half male and half female, to write down a memorable gift-related experience. The majority, about 71 percent, described receiving a gift. The results were even more pronounced along gender lines: Among females,...