The Bible counsels misers that it's better to give than to receive……and science agrees. CAN buy – but there’s a catch…. you have to spend it on others!

People who made gifts to others or to charities reported they were happier than folks who didn't share, according to a report in today's issue of the journal Science.

While previous studies have shown that having more money can increase happiness, the researchers at the University of British Columbia and Harvard University wondered whether the way people spent their money made any difference……turns out, it does.

Lead researcher Elizabeth W. Dunn, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, said she wasn't surprised that doing something for others made people happy. But she was struck by how big the effect was and that how people spent money was more important than how much money they had.

"This work suggests that even making small alterations in how we spend money on a daily basis can make a difference in happiness," Dunn said. "That doesn't mean go get a high paying job so you can spend tons of money on others. The message is, given what you have, how can you make little alterations to do something for others?"

And, she added, "there's nothing special about money." Giving can involve time or special skills to help other people.

READ MORE ON THE BENEFITS OF GIVING

The report didn't surprise Sue Citro, senior digital membership manager for the Nature Conservancy.

"We do hear from our members and our supporters that they do get a real feeling of satisfaction from knowing their giving is doing good," she said.

Andrea Koslow, director of advertising at the American Red Cross, said: "The act of helping has its own profound effect." "People need a humanitarian outlet ... feeling that they make a difference ... that's very motivating," Koslow said.

The good feeling associated with giving is why workplace charity opportunities can engage employees and lift morale, said Kristine Templin, director of corporate partnerships at the American Red Cross.

The researchers started by asking a sample of 632 Americans, 55 percent of whom were women, to rate their happiness on a scale of 1 to 5, the higher the number the happier. Then they asked the participants to report their annual incomes and estimate how much they spent on paying bills, buying gifts for themselves, buying gifts for others and giving to charity.

The first two were considered personal spending and averaged $1,714 a month; the second two were termed "prosocial" spending and averaged $146 a month.

"Personal spending was unrelated to happiness," the researchers said. "But higher prosocial spending was associated with significantly greater happiness."

A separate study published in 2006 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the same parts of the brain that produce the good feeling when a person receives a reward also respond when they give to someone else.

This is a reprint from the Sun-Sentinel as written by RANDOLPH E. SCHMID – Thank you!