What charity does to your brain | Your Brain on Money | Big Think

What charity does to your brain | Your Brain on Money
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What happens in your brain when you give time or money? Altruism is often framed as an act performed for the sake of someone else without the expectation of a reward. Author Jenni Santi and psychology professor Michael Norton explain that there is more happening on a biological level than we realize.

In the 2000s, experiments by neuroscientists Jorge Moll and Jordan Grafman showed that two areas of the brain light up when we volunteer or help someone. These same “pleasure centers” are activated when we think of food or romantic partners.

All forms of giving are good, Norton says, but time (i.e. volunteering) is the resource that is often seen as the hardest to spare. He offers tips for those looking to give more or more consistently, including a self-audit to assess and ultimately change spending habits.
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TRANSCRIPT:

MICHAEL NORTON: There's a cynical view of people that they are really self-centered and selfish and all they care about is themselves and they would never help anybody with anything unless they're forced to. And it's true that sometimes people are self-centered and selfish, of course. But when you think about the world, there's amazing, amazing generosity happening all the time. We just don't always build it into our sense of what people are like.

NARRATOR: There's a good amount of giving in the world, but wouldn't we be happier spending on ourselves instead?

MICHAEL: What's surprising is that we still think that the next thing that we buy for ourselves is gonna really make us happy. What we try to show is that some of the things that we're spending on now just aren't doing much for us and we can think about spending on different things and try to get a little bit more happiness out of that aspect of our lives.

NARRATOR: Could changing the way we spend money and giving more to others really make us happier? This is Your Brain on Money. This is Michael Norton. He studies human behavior at Harvard, and co-wrote a book called Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending.

MICHAEL: When we tell people, “Hey, did you know that giving to other people can make you happy?”, most people are not blown away. They understand, they've had experiences that make them happy, they understand the concept, but it doesn't occur to us that often to give instead of getting stuff for ourselves. And so it has to be a habit of mind that we encourage ourselves to give more often than we do. That feeling of having done something that counts in the world is one of the key predictors of why giving can pay off in more happiness.

NARRATOR: We know generosity can be rewarding, but what's really happening when we give time or money to others? This is Jenny Santi. She's worked for years in philanthropy and is the author of the book, The Giving Way to Happiness.

JENNY SANTI: When we help someone, we get a feeling of elation. It's basically nature's way of rewarding us. Kind of like the feeling we get when we run and we feel good, we feel happy. It's the same for when we help others.

NARRATOR: Science has shown that our brain releases rewarding chemicals when we exercise,
but can the same be true for simply giving? In 2006, Jorge Moll and Jordan Grafman, both neuroscientists at national institutes of health, developed an experiment to measure our neuroactivity when we give.

JENNY: Grafman and Moll's experiments in the 2000s provide the very first evidence that the joy of giving has biological basis in the brain.

NARRATOR: Subjects were given a pool of money they were allowed to keep. A computer then gave them a series of causes that they could either donate to or keep the money instead. As they made their decisions, their brain activity was recorded by FMRI.

JENNY: Turns out, there are two rewards centers of the brain that light up when people give. And these are the pleasure centers of the brain. These areas are called the midbrain VTA as well as the subgenual area, the same parts of the brain that light up when there's food, or when we think of romantic partners. These experiments suggest, for the first time, we have evidence of the biological basis of the joy of giving.

NARRATOR: If generosity is more reward than sacrifice, how can we all experience the joy of giving?

MICHAEL: One question that people often ask is where should I give to a charity? Should I give to a close friend or a family member or someone on the street who's in need? The short answer is all of them are good. So, any kind of giving that you do, again, is gonna be better than spending on yourself...

[bigthink]

Do you give to charity? If so, do you have a strategy for it?

[carlstawicki]

It's a paradox. You won't give if doing so doesn't result in satisfaction or pleasure, which means you're selfish by giving.

[cassieoz]

People have a screwed up (marketing driven) idea of happiness. What they are selling is PLEASURE, not happiness.

[askemervigbahnson]

Dear Big Think, we already knew that giving feels good. You forgot to explain the reason why tho, but thx for encouraging us to become more happy, I guess

[divyamsheth]

I like how every conclusion on Big Think is backed by solid research.

[RichLuciano]

"Why giving feels good."

Because giving is good.

[SeelenTaucher]

In Japan, they do Exchanges...Sharing TIME with people they get along well with, in Exchange for colored Paper, because good joyful TIME together is more precious to them, than colored papers.

[cynicallyyours-wz]

I am struggling financially myself but I still find ways to help others. If I receive a food hamper to help me out and there is something in it that I don't use or eat, I give it back to the charity to give to someone else. I had stock left over from a market business I used to have, I tried selling it on line but no one was interested so I donated everything to a local charity so they could benefit from it, as they have a charity shop.

[madisonla]

Personally, giving definitely feels good even if the other person knows or doesn't know. I feel happier in my soul and I think there is an emotional payoff I get (like a natural chemical rush in my brain and it helps my karma and keep balance in the universe). **Not sure if this makes sense but these are words**

[Lisa-eogd]

I started volunteering for Operation Christmas Child. It provides gifts along with the Gospel of Jesus to impoverished children overseas. I have found this activity to be very fulfilling. I do it year-round so that I can take advantage of sales on the items that are sent. That helps a lot since I have limited resources. I pray for each child who will receive my gifts.

[netabaughman]

I can't afford housing in the area I work. A friend took me in. When I buy him things or cook for him, he is mad. It hurts to not be appreciated when everything is so tight. Drowning

[existncdotcom]

A person's self-interest is BEST served by serving the self-interests of others (as they define their self-interests). Thus, self-interest is self-limiting.

[stefannikola]

No. Giving is hell. Giving trains sociopaths, narcissists, and manipulators to just take the giver for granted and to exploit the giver.

[thijs]

I say change the system to be more equal over even having people who are wealthier, doing better than others. Because it's everything but equal, there should be diversity, but exactly at the point when there is a need for people to start giving to the less fortunate, that's when your system sucks. Giving doesn't make you feel good. Making sure you don't have to give, that makes you feel good.

[wallstreetruler]

Thinking big and different makes you successful

[TheyCallMeNewb]

Awesome music. Somehow even better maxim.

[PsoriasisChannel]

Some people actually steal from people to give.

[seanhurley]

Depends if your own needs are sufficiently met.

[Kittie]

Just as I have always suspected: There is no altruism. We only give because it makes US feel good, not the other person.

[donnysandley]

Giving to anyone who doesn't give themselves is toxic