Spending money on experiences, not material goods, will make people more grateful and generous, according to a recent study published in a U.S. psychological journal.

Focusing on the connection between spending money and happiness, Thomas Gilovich, a professor of psychology at Cornell University, together with his co-researchers, conducted six experiments and explored how spending money in different ways will affect a person's emotions and behaviors toward others.

"A certain type of consumption -- experiential consumption -- is more likely to foster feelings of gratitude than the consumption of material goods. And by prompting greater feelings of gratitude, it also leads to more prosocial behavior," the study showed.

Personal consumption toward "having," say buying a new TV, would not increase feelings of gratitude as strong as personal consumption toward "doing," say going on a vacation. Consumers are more likely to express gratitude for experiential purchases.

Feelings of gratitude may change a person's behavior. In one experiment, participants were asked to recall either a significant material or experiential purchase. They were also asked to divide 10 U.S. dollars between themselves and an unseen recipient. It turned out that those who recalled an experience were more generous, as they allocated on average 3.96 dollars to the other person, compared to an average 2.67 dollars allocated by those thinking about material purchases.

Experiential purchases contribute to one's sense of identity and social connection, and are often in line with one's values. They are "likely to promote more of a sense of gratitude than dividing one's attention between what one has and what others have," the study concluded.

Scientists also considered the types of gratitude people feel when reflecting on experiential purchases. The "urge to 'give back' that stems from untargeted gratitude," which is not attributable to the actions of another person, "is more broadly felt, encouraging a desire to pay forward as well as back," the study showed.

"The emotional state of feeling grateful when there is no one to thank -- when one feels grateful for being alive, for good fortune, or, yes, for an unusually satisfying experience -- can lead to a powerful urge to do something with that gratitude, such as giving to anonymous others," the study showed.

The gratitude people feel after experiential purchases could also create a "positive feedback loop," the study showed. People tend to buy more experiences than material goods after feeling grateful for the first experiential purchase, which on a large scale may lead to a more generous society.

The study, entitled "Cultivating Gratitude and Giving Through Experiential Consumption", was first published online on Oct. 31, in the journal named Emotion under the American Psychology Association.

source: Xinhua