The feeling of inspiration that a person experiences reaching the intended goal, performing certain actions over time becomes dull. This is called hedonistic adaptation. But the joy that embraces people helping other people is an exception to the rule. This conclusion was reached by psychologists from Northwestern and Chicago Universities.
New hypotheses
The experiment was that participants gave gifts, and then they themselves received similar ones. In the first case, emotions were stronger and longer than in the second.
According to one of the leaders of the study, Edd Obraen, the results of similar tests conducted earlier showed that it is necessary to regularly change hobbies or lifestyle in order to feel happy. But there is another way to achieve this. The more often a person makes gifts and surprises to close or strangers, the deeper and longer his positive emotions.
Interesting tests
The essence of the new experiment was as follows. Within 5 days, each of the participants received a certain amount of dollars daily.
Under the terms of the test, this money had to be spent on the same needs.
Two options were offered.
People could spend the allocated funds:
1 - for their own and 2 - for charitable purposes - they paid in the same cafe a cup of coffee for the visitor or transferred the amount received online for the same donation.
The study involved 96 students. At the end of testing, the following was revealed.
The feeling of joy and pleasure among young people who spent money on themselves dulled at the stage of completing the experiment. Students who spent money on charity were encouraged and enthusiastic at the end of the experiment.
Obraen and his colleague from the University of Chicago conducted a second such experiment online, in which 502 people participated. For 10 rounds they played a puzzle and received a small cash reward for each round won.
Money could be left to yourself or donated at your discretion. After each victory, the participants rejoiced in cash prizes. But, as in the first study, the feeling of joy among those who left money for themselves decreased over time, while those who donated to charity remained stable.
The subsequent analysis showed that students who decided to donate the winnings to other people thought for a long time about how best to do this. The joy and excitement that they experienced while they thought about what to do and where to send the money were long enough.
Scientists have made the following interesting conclusions. When people help each other, they feel personal significance and involvement in strengthening social ties. This feeling is the cause of long-term positive emotions.
It is not surprising that the owners of large estates today donate considerable sums for the implementation of social and environmental projects. Helping others - helping yourself. Here is such a recipe for happiness.
