Happiness is . . . giving rather than receiving

TO GIVE really is to receive, scientists revealed yesterday, after discovering that the ‘warm glow’ of acting generously shows up in brain scans.

Treating others also makes you happier in the long run, they said.

In the first study to look at the physical effects of generosity, neuroscientists promised 50 people the equivalent of £20 a week for a month, asking half to treat themselves with the money, and half to spend it on someone else.

Those considering buying dinner or a present for someone else saw the ‘happiness’ part of their brain light up more than those who kept the money for themselves.

Lead researcher Dr Soyoung Park, from the University of Lubeck in Germany, said: ‘We already knew that when people behave generously they reported being more happy, but we did not know why.

‘The results of this study show this is happening in the brain, in a network linking the regions involved with generosity and happiness. This is in line with the evolutionary point of view that as social creatures human society benefits when we help each other.

‘This may be why the brain gives us this reward when we act selflessly.’

Her study, published in the journal Nature Communications, suggests that ‘generous behaviour is driven by the positive emotion (also termed warm glow) that it evokes’.