Money, time, and happiness are three of the five concepts people constantly think about (the other two being success and sexuality). We devote a large part of our mental energy to these concepts and believe that if we obtain them, we will be happy. In the flow of life, we have two basic resources for fulfilling our desires. These are “time” and “money.” However, since most of us do not know how to use them, we end up being more unhappy.
Money
People think that if they have more money, they will be happier. This is true when moving from a low-income group to a middle-income group. However, a plateau begins at the middle-income level, and more money does not bring more happiness. Money pushes people to think more about themselves. Winners of large lottery prizes immediately start thinking about how to spend the money, and often think, “If only the prize had been a little bigger…” However, research conducted at the University of British Columbia has shown that people who spend money on others are happier (1).
Michael Norton, a professor at Harvard Business School and marketing expert, has conducted numerous studies on how money is used and the feelings it evokes in people, compiling his work in the book Happy Money (2).
In one of Norton’s studies, students were given envelopes containing $25 in the morning; one group was told to spend the money “for themselves,” while the other group was told to spend it “for others.” At the end of the day…
Students participating in a study conducted by Norton were given envelopes containing $25 in the morning; one group was told to spend the money “for themselves,” while the other group was told to spend it “for others.” At the end of the day, the students’ satisfaction levels were assessed in the research laboratory. It was found that those who spent the money “for others” experienced significantly more kindness and satisfaction and were happier.
In scientific circles, this study has been criticized for being conducted in wealthy countries such as the US and Canada, and therefore the results cannot be generalized and the validity of the study is limited to these countries. In response, the study was repeated in South Africa, Uganda, and India, and the same results were found everywhere. Spending part of one’s money on others and witnessing people’s happiness made people feel better about themselves all over the world.
Time
Many people, including ourselves, complain about not having enough time. Yet time is the only resource that is equally distributed to everyone in the world. Successful or unsuccessful, rich or poor, young or old, everyone has 24 hours, and people today are as sensitive about saving their time as they are about saving their money.
A research group at the University of British Columbia repeated their study on money with time. Some students who agreed to participate in the study on a free day were told to spend their time “only in ways that pleased themselves,” while others were told to spend their time “in ways that pleased others.” At the end of the day, the evaluation showed that those who spent their time pleasing others were much happier.
At first glance, this seems like a contradictory result, prompting the question, “If I can’t even take care of myself, won’t spending my time on others cause me more distress?” Interestingly, however, it was observed that those who spent their time on others felt the need to do more for them and give them more of their time after a while. Perhaps this explains why people who initially join volunteer service organizations reluctantly end up spending more and more of their time on this path after a while.
Conclusion
These findings confirm that money can’t buy happiness and that it’s impossible to be happy by only thinking about ourselves. The results of the studies show that people who spend some of their time and money on others are happier. So do something good for someone else. Don’t just focus on yourself, but also on those who are less fortunate than you. We all have a small portion of our budget and time that we can spare for others, and this amount, which may seem small and insignificant to us, can make a big difference in someone else’s life. Just knowing this can help you sleep more peacefully at night.
We will continue to explore this topic in more depth in the next article.
Sources:
- Dunn EW, Aknin LB, Norton MI. Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science 2008; 319 (5870): 1687-1688.
- Norton MI, Dunn EW. Happy money. Simon & Schuster; 2013.
(*) This article is taken from the book Akılsız Duyguların Cezasını Kararlar Çeker (Decisions Pay the Price for Foolish Emotions), published by Remzi Kitabevi.
