People are slow to adapt to the warm glow of giving

Psychological Science

32 Pages Posted: 5 Jan 2023

See all articles by Ed O'Brien

Ed O'Brien

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

Samantha Kassirer

Northwestern University

Date Written: August 28, 2018

Abstract

People adapt to repeated getting. The happiness we feel from eating the same food, earning the same income, and many experiences quickly decreases as identical exposure increases. Two preregistered experiments (N = 615) examined whether people also adapt to repeated giving—the happiness we feel from helping others rather than ourselves. In Experiment 1, participants spent a windfall for five days ($5.00/day), on themselves or the same other. In Experiment 2, participants won money in ten rounds of a game ($0.05/round), for themselves or the same charity. Although getting elicited standard adaptation (happiness significantly declined), giving did not grow old (happiness did not significantly decline: Experiment 1), and grew old more slowly than equivalent getting (declining at half the rate: Experiment 2). Past research suggests people are inevitably quick to adapt in the absence of change. These findings suggest otherwise: the happiness we get from giving appears to sustain itself.

Keywords: happiness, change, pro-social behavior, hedonic adaptation

Suggested Citation

O'Brien, Ed and Kassirer, Samantha, People are slow to adapt to the warm glow of giving (August 28, 2018). Psychological Science, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4315776

Ed O'Brien (Contact Author)

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

Samantha Kassirer

Northwestern University ( email )

2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
United States

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