The last dreary days of winter got you down? Finding yourself sad as a result of too little sun?
Well, according to psychologists, now you don’t have to wait for your mood to improve, or depend upon a drastic change in weather or other circumstances.
Evidently, now you can buy happiness and a better mood, according to a recent study.
All you have to do is give.
The study found that individuals who were given money and were asked to give it away, rather than spend it on themselves, experienced a marked increase in their mood and sense of happiness.
For six to eight weeks on average–regardless of the size of the gift or whether it was given to strangers (charity) or to relatives or friends.
The bottom line is that for those in the study, spending it on others felt better, while spending it on themselves generated no emotional benefit.
I guess as a true barometer for whether this is true, we could all tune into Oprah’s Big Give and observe how the mood of the contestants fares over time.
Or, we could just try it for ourselves by making someone else happy with a gift.
Try just thinking for two seconds about the gift you might give and why. Now, try not to smile.
I bet you can’t.
