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Although much research has shown that income is related to reported happiness, the relation is weak. Could what a person does with his wealth affect his or her happiness?
A team from Canada and the U.S. surveyed a nationally representative group of 632 U.S. adults and found that spending money to satisfy one’s needs and desires (buying consumer goods, for example) had no correlation with that person’s reported level of happiness. Spending money on others, however, was significantly correlated with reported happiness. The team then longitudinally followed 16 employees who received a bonus: Spending the bonus money on themselves was not correlated with reported happiness, but spending on others was. Finally, the team gave 46 people money, aske…