Feeling Good about Giving 16
(2008) might be undermined by adding external incentives to people’s reason for giving. In
short, we asked two related questions: If people are aware that giving to others makes them
happier, will they a) give more money and b) will this incentive undermine the happiness they
receive from giving to others? In an initial test of this question, we asked a sample of over 1,000
readers of the New York Times, who had just read about our research demonstrating the link
between giving and happiness, to answer questions about their personal and prosocial spending
and their well-being. Compared to our other studies, respondents reported spending a relatively
large amount on others (some 40% of their spending). While this difference could be due to the
sample (this was a much wealthier sample than would be typical, as approximately half the
respondents reported earning $85,000+), an intriguing possibility - and one that deserves further
investigation - is that people who read the article may have been spurred to devote more of their
money to others versus themselves.
Most importantly, our basic effect replicated: respondents who reported having spent
more so far that day on others reported greater happiness, whereas there was no relationship
between spending on oneself and happiness. Thus, the beneficial effects of giving still emerged,
suggesting that becoming aware of the emotional benefits of prosocial spending did not
undermine its impact on happiness. Because we could not follow up with these individuals,
however, we do not know if this momentary increase in charitable behavior would sustain over
time, or - as with increases in donations when matching funds are available - self-interested
giving might crowd out intrinsic motivation and decrease subsequent giving.
Conclusion