Money buys happiness--when it's spent on others, study says

VANCOUVER (AFP) - Money can buy happiness -- as long as it is spent on other people or on pro-social causes, scientists said Thursday.

Research to be published in the journal Science on Friday proves the scientific grounds behind the adage it's emotionally better to give than to receive, said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia in this city on Canada's Pacific Coast.

The researchers ran three experiments to measure how happy people felt after either spending money on themselves, or giving money to pro-social causes such as buying someone a meal or a charitable donation.

"We found that people who reported spending more money on others were happier," said Dunn, lead author of the study co-authored by master's student Lara Aknin and Michael Norton of the Harvard Business School.

Dunn said previous studies found a correlation between happiness and charitable giving, but the new research revealed that pro-social giving is an actual cause of happiness.