via Inc.com by Marcel Schwantes
We’ve all heard this cliché growing up — how “it’s better to give than to receive.” Whether you’re gainfully employed, looking for work, retired, or living off an inheritance from your rich uncle, science says the very act of giving away your money leads to more happiness.
But there’s a catch.
A Harvard Business School report concluded that the emotional rewards are the greatest when our generosity is connected to others.
In other words, donating to an unfamiliar and anonymous charity doesn’t raise your happiness levels as much as contributing to a cancer-stricken friend’s GoFundMe Campaign does.
The findings, published in the International Journal of Happiness and Development, strongly suggests that “social giving” makes people happier, plain and simple.
This was the first study of its kind to examine how social connection helps turn generous ‘prosocial’ behavior — the type that benefits another person — into positive feelings for the donor.
The bottom line? It’s the social connection tied to the giving — whether to a person in need in your community, or a grassroots charity close to your heart — that gives the giver the greatest psychological benefit and boost of happiness.
6 ways to give and raise your happiness levels.
Maya Angelou was right on the money when she said, “No one has ever become poor from giving.” But before you think your only option to give involves whipping out the checkbook when you aren’t able, there are quite a few other creative means to acting in generosity…
…keep reading the full & original article HERE
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