Buying presents for others promotes happiness

On the train to Waterloo I pass Pimlico Plumbers; lights emblazoned over its building and a roof adorned with reindeer (they always seem to go a little over the top but do well to portray their festive spirit). I smile, impressed, but dismiss the early celebration. My train pulls in and soon I arrive home. I switch on the TV, and see the Coca-Cola advert. Okay, so now I know it is time…

Most of us have our own ways of recognising the approach of Christmas (strangely, it seems, not involving actually peeking at the calendar). Soon we envision our ideal Christmas holiday. Fluffy white snow, a comforting log fire and plenty of mince pies and presents: Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ sums it all up.

However, research has found the way to truly have a happy Christmas (or, just recently for some, Diwali) is to spend money on others. Maybe then it would be wise to avoid a night out at Saints and instead save that money towards the holiday?

Research carried out by psychologists at the University of British Columbia found that spending some of one’s income on others produced greater happiness. They also found that participants who were randomly assigned to spend money on others experienced greater happiness than those assigned to send money on themselves.

In the first of two experiments, participants who received a wage bonus were asked to report their happiness. After a period of between six-eight weeks they were then asked to report their happiness again, but also the proportion of their bonus that they spent on bills, expenses, rent/mortgages, gifts for themselves, gifts for others, and charitable donations. They found those who spent more on others or charity experienced significantly greater happiness in the time period.

In the second experiment, participants were given $20 at the beginning of the day and then split into two groups. The first group was instructed to use the money on themselves while the second was told to spend it on someone else or give it to charity. At the end of the day, it was the second group who reported greater levels of happiness.

Our brain also leaves traces of this phenomenon. After giving participants money, researchers found differences in neural activity between those who chose to keep it versus those who donated it. As expected, the monetary reward activated the mesolimbic pathway, which is known as the ‘reward system’ in the brain. The pathway is made up of the nucelus accumbens, the amygdala, the hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex, and is linked by dopamine-transporting neurons. The study also found that those who donated their money had greater comparable activity in this area. Contrary to popular belief, our brain activity seems to suggest we prefer giving a gift to receiving one.

Obviously for some people their Christmas (or whichever occasion is most important) is simply perfect as it is. But if with age you have lost your love for the holiday or simply want this year to be special, give yourself the gift of giving. Isn’t that what that student loan/bar job at Kelsey’s is really for?