Dunn Elizabeth W, Aknin Lara B, Norton Michael I
Department of Psychology, 2136 West Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
Science. 2008 Mar 21;319(5870):1687-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1150952.
Although much research has examined the effect of income on happiness, we suggest that how people spend their money may be at least as important as how much money they earn. Specifically, we hypothesized that spending money on other people may have a more positive impact on happiness than spending money on oneself. Providing converging evidence for this hypothesis, we found that spending more of one's income on others predicted greater happiness both cross-sectionally (in a nationally representative survey study) and longitudinally (in a field study of windfall spending). Finally, participants who were randomly assigned to spend money on others experienced greater happiness than those assigned to spend money on themselves.
尽管许多研究探讨了收入对幸福感的影响，但我们认为人们如何花钱可能至少与他们赚多少钱一样重要。具体而言，我们假设把钱花在别人身上可能比花在自己身上对幸福感有更积极的影响。为这一假设提供了趋同证据，我们发现，无论是从横截面角度（在一项全国代表性调查研究中）还是纵向角度（在一项意外之财支出的实地研究中）来看，将更多收入花在他人身上都预示着更高的幸福感。最后，被随机分配去把钱花在别人身上的参与者比被分配去把钱花在自己身上的参与者体验到了更大的幸福感。
