- 25-Mar-2025
We’ve all heard the age-old phrase: “Money can’t buy happiness.” But what if it can — if you spend it the right way?
Over the past two decades, researchers in behavioral science and neuroscience have uncovered compelling evidence that while money alone won’t guarantee joy, how we spend it makes a world of difference. As someone passionate about the intersection of psychology, economics, and neuroscience, I’ve been fascinated by the work of Dr. Elizabeth Dunn, Dr. Michael Norton, and Arthur Brooks — three of the world’s leading thinkers on money and well-being.
Their research converges on a clear and refreshing insight: if we want happier lives, we need to rethink what our money is really for.
🧠 What Your Brain Thinks Money Is For (And Why It’s Wrong)
Your brain is wired for survival, not happiness. Evolution rewarded accumulation — of status, territory, stuff — because those things once meant security. Today, those same instincts drive us to chase material upgrades (the bigger house, the new phone, the luxury handbag), even when studies consistently show these purchases don’t increase our happiness for long.
Why? Because of something called hedonic adaptation — our brain gets used to good things quickly, and they lose their emotional punch.
Yet, four decades of research, including randomized controlled trials, brain scans, and cross-cultural surveys, point to something different: money can buy happiness — when we stop spending it on ourselves and start using it to build meaning, connection, and time.
🧬 The Five Ways to Buy Happiness (Backed by Brain and Behavior Science)
1. Buy Experiences, Not Stuff
From exotic holidays to Saturday brunch with friends, experiences generate stronger emotional memory traces and activate the brain's default mode network, linked to self-reflection and identity. Unlike material things, experiences age well — they become stories, not clutter.
2. Make It a Treat
Your brain loves novelty. When we indulge daily, pleasures become routine. By spacing out treats (your favorite coffee, a massage, a night out), we renew their joy and appreciation. Neuroscience calls this the “dopaminergic reset.”
3. Buy Time
If you can use money to avoid tasks you dread (like cleaning or commuting), your well-being improves. People who "buy time" report higher life satisfaction, reduced stress, and greater cognitive bandwidth. It’s not laziness — it’s neuro-efficient living.
4. Pay Now, Consume Later
Modern finance makes it easy to “consume now, pay later” — but that increases debt and regret. Flip it: pay first, enjoy later. Anticipation boosts dopamine. Delayed gratification enhances both the experience and your self-control.
5. Invest in Others
This is where the magic happens. Across 136 countries — rich and poor, east and west — spending money on others boosts happiness more than spending on yourself. Dr. Michael Norton’s experiments show that even giving someone a coffee can trigger a “helper’s high” — lighting up your brain’s reward system.
In businesses, teams that spend bonuses on each other outperform those who keep them. In communities, giving creates a ripple effect of generosity. And in life, it creates meaning.
🧪 But What About You?
You might be thinking, “That sounds nice, but I’d still rather have the money myself.” That’s normal. One of the most persistent human biases is called miswanting — the tendency to be wrong about what we think will make us happy.
Here’s what the data shows:
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In experiments, people given $5 or $20 to spend on others were significantly happier than those who spent it on themselves — and it didn’t matter if they were in Canada or Uganda.
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When people donate to causes they care about, their emotional well-being improves.
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Giving activates the brain's social bonding networks (hello, oxytocin), while hoarding activates stress systems (hello, cortisol).
Even more interesting? You don’t need a lot of money to benefit. The amount is less important than the intention and the impact.
🧭 Practical Questions to Guide Your Spending
Instead of defaulting to “What can I afford?” try asking:
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Will this purchase change how I spend my time on a typical Tuesday?
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Will this bring me closer to someone I care about?
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Will I remember this a year from now?
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Can I use this to make someone else’s life better?
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Is there a way to turn this into a treat, not a routine?
These aren’t just fluffy questions — they’re grounded in solid science. In fact, they can help you rewire your relationship with money altogether.
🧘♂️ A Word on Neuroscience, Mindfulness, and Happiness
Dr. Elizabeth Dunn has also been outspoken about the importance of scientific rigor in happiness research. While practices like meditation and nature walks are popular, the evidence linking them to happiness in everyday, non-clinical populations is weaker than we’ve been led to believe.
This doesn’t mean they’re useless — just that what consistently works, according to well-designed, large-sample, replicated studies, is:
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Practicing gratitude
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Nurturing relationships
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And yes, spending money on others
So while it’s great to invest in mindfulness, don’t overlook the proven brain-boost of helping a friend, volunteering, or buying lunch for someone having a rough day.
🏁 Final Thought: You Can Literally Buy More Happiness
In the words of Dr. Michael Norton: “You're leaving a huge amount of happiness on the table by not giving more of your money away.”
And Arthur Brooks reminds us, “The worst way to use money is to buy more stuff. The best way is to connect it to purpose, people, and time.”
So no — money can’t buy happiness if you use it to fill a void. But it absolutely can when you use it to live a life of connection, meaning, and generosity.
If you want to be rich in happiness, you don’t need a bigger paycheck — you need a better spending plan.
💬 I'd love to hear from you:
Have you ever spent money on someone else and felt happier because of it? Or have you bought something for yourself and felt…meh? Share your story in the comments or send me a message.
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