The rules are simple, you must spend it in three months, not save or invest.
What would you buy?
Where would you go?
Photo: CHAOSS/Depositphotos
And who would you help?
The study’s results were announced inPsychological Science.
As it would turn out, people are surprisingly generous with their sudden windfalls of cash.
Photo: ALEXKALINA/Depositphotos
You might be wondering where all this money came from in the first place.
The experiment was funded by wealthy donors who were interested in supporting this inquiry into mankind’s goodness.
Each individual was given $10,000 to spend within three months.
They could not save or invest it, but otherwise the sky was the limit.
They also had to keep records of their spending.
Yet the team found that people are generous across the board, no matter how impactful the cash.
Across the board, 68% of the money was spent on what the researchers termed prosocial spending.
This spending benefited others beyond the spenderfor example, taking a friend to dinner.
People got creative.One womangave away all of the money in $500 segments towards community causes.
Others donated to loved ones in need.
So humans are not as selfish as some might think.
This knowledge can inform social policy, and it can also give a sense of hope.
Additionally, donating to others has a selfish perkit makes you happier.
What happens when you give someone $10,000 and tell them to spend it in three months?
A study found a lot of prosocial spending.
