Happiness Comes to People Who Give, Study Finds

By Sam Kean

It turns out you can buy happiness, as long as you don't try to buy it for yourself.

Psychology scholars conducted an array of experiments that found people are happier when they spend money on others, such as giving to charity, than when they spend money on themselves.

In research findings published in the journal Science last month, Elizabeth W. Dunn, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, explained how she and several colleagues