Warm Glow - Publications - Faculty & Research

2013
Article

Does Social Connection Turn Good Deeds into Good Feelings? On the Value of Putting the 'Social' in Prosocial Spending

By: Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Gillian M. Sandstrom and Michael I. Norton

When are the emotional benefits of generous behavior most likely to emerge? In three studies, we demonstrate that the hedonic benefits of generous spending are most likely when spending promotes positive social connection. Study 1 shows that people feel happier after... View Details

Keywords: Money; Prosocial Spending; Social Connection; Well-being; Donations; Charitable Giving; Warm Glow; Social Relationships; Gift Giving; Happiness; Relationships; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Society

Citation

Read Now

2014
Article

Prosocial Spending and Happiness: Using Money to Benefit Others Pays Off

By: Elizabeth W. Dunn, Lara B. Aknin and Michael I. Norton

While a great deal of research has shown that people with more money are somewhat happier than people with less money, our research demonstrates that how people spend their money also matters for their happiness. In particular, both correlational and... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Spending; Well-being; Happiness; Money; Spending; Welfare; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

Citation

Find at Harvard

Read Now

19 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

What Motivates People to Give Generously—and Why We Sometimes Don't

good. While one could argue that the warm glow is a “selfish” reason to give, I think it’s actually still a win for humanity. Julian Zlatev: There’s been a long debate in psychology about whether people are... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint, HBS Alumni Bulletin

29 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 29

among adults around the world, and the warm glow of giving can be detected even in toddlers. These benefits are most likely to emerge when giving satisfies one or more core human needs (relatedness,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Publications