Research on charitable giving found happiness and giving create one big circle— happy people donate more money, and the more money people donate, the happier they are. Studies also suggest spending money on others rather than ourselves ups our bliss levels— that’s right, hand the awesome gifts over to a pal Spending money on others promotes happiness.
(source:Dunn, E.W., Aknin, L.B., Norton, M.I. Department of Psychology, 2136 West Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada. Science, 2008 Mar 21;319(5870):1687-8. . )
And while even buying for strangers makes us a bit happier, the closer we are to the recipient, the greater the happiness payoff It's the recipient that counts: spending money on strong social ties leads to greater happiness than spending on weak social ties.
(source: Aknin, L.B., Sandstrom, G.M., Dunn, E.W., et al. Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. PLoS One, 2011 Feb 10;6(2):e17018. .)
Generosity may become even more important as we age, since providing social support improves older adults' well-being . And parents will be glad to know the more they give kids today (primarily gifts of time, but also shelling out the cash for over-the-top cell phone bills), the more supportive kids are likely to be when their parents age .
Copy from http://greatist.com/happiness/are-we-happier-when-we-give-or-receive-gifts
