Give longer pleasure

To the happiness we feel after a particular event or activity, you get used to: It decreases with each subsequent event. To give something to others, however, might be an exception to this rule, because in two studies it was observed that the joy to give something again and again, lasts longer than the joy, if you can get it.

In the Bible it says: to Give is more blessed than receiving. This is the psychology researchers Ed O’brien of the University of Chicago and Samantha Kassirer from Northwestern University in Evanston in two studies to confirm. They found that the satisfaction of your study subsided participants that if they made other repeated gifts. This was not the case, however, if you received multiple gifts, because then the satisfaction.

"The research says that we need to experience something New, if we want to remain happy. Our research shows that the type of activity could be more important than previously assumed: Repeated, even in the exact same manner, creates a pleasant feeling, the more we tun&quot it;, O’brien explains.

In his Experiment, 96 participants were given five days a day five dollars and had to spend it always for the same purpose. They were asked randomly to use it, either for yourself or for another Person. In the evening, they rated their output and their satisfaction.

In a further Experiment, also the donations from small game made to win the participants are no longer happy, than if you are self-retained.

Why this is so, we don’t know. The researchers accept that people get something, like to compare with others. If you focus on an action that you think may be less in comparison with others, but to experience Giving as an event that makes you happy. A sense of social connection and sense of belonging could also play a role.

ZOU