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New research on happiness from Harvard Business School on issues including spending money on new experiences versus goods, and how and why spending money on others promotes happiness.
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Successful, But Still Feel Empty? A Happiness Scholar and Oprah Have Advice for You

by Avery Forman

So many executives spend decades reaching the pinnacles of their careers only to find themselves unfulfilled at the top. In the book Build the Life You Want, Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey offer high achievers a guide to becoming better leaders—of their lives.

The Clock Is Ticking: 3 Ways to Manage Your Time Better

by Kristen Senz

Life is short. Are you using your time wisely? Leslie Perlow, Arthur Brooks, and DJ DiDonna offer time management advice to help you work smarter and live happier.

You’re More Than Your Job: 3 Tips for a Healthier Work-Life Balance

by Kara Baskin

Younger workers are rejecting the idea of sticking with one employer for the long haul and are instead finding happiness by job-hopping and creating dramatically different boundaries with work. In a new book, Christina M. Wallace maps out a step-by-step guide to building a flexible and fulfilling life that includes rest, relationships, and a rewarding career.

Why Giving to Others Makes Us Happy

by Michael Blanding

Giving to others is also good for the giver. A research paper by Ashley Whillans and colleagues identifies three circumstances in which spending money on other people can boost happiness.

When a Vacation Isn’t Enough, a Sabbatical Can Recharge Your Life—and Your Career

by Michael Blanding

Burning out and ready to quit? Consider an extended break instead. Drawing from research inspired by his own 900-mile journey, DJ DiDonna offers practical advice to help people chart a new path through a sabbatical.

How to Live Happier in 2023: Diversify Your Social Circle

by Michael Blanding

People need all kinds of relationships to thrive: partners, acquaintances, colleagues, and family. Research by Michael Norton and Alison Wood Brooks offers new reasons to pick up the phone and reconnect with that old friend from home.

Inclusive Leadership Advice: Get Comfortable With the Uncomfortable

by Francesca Gino

People tend to seek sameness, but they can teach themselves to relish in the differences of the human experience. Francesca Gino offers these three principles from improv to anyone who's trying to lead more inclusively.

You Don’t Have to Quit Your Job to Find More Meaning in Life

by Shalene Gupta

Before you give notice and go on a vision quest, consider this: Fulfillment doesn't require big change, says research by Julian De Freitas and colleagues. In fact, you can find more meaning even in a job you don't love.

Blissful Thinking: When It Comes to Finding Happiness, 'Your Dreams Are Liars'

by Dan Morrell

Happiness research is all the rage. Arthur Brooks shares how understanding the origins of joy can improve the way we lead organizations—and our personal lives.

More Proof That Money Can Buy Happiness (or a Life with Less Stress)

by Michael Blanding

It's not about the bigger home or the better vacation. Financial stability helps people escape the everyday hassles of life, says research by Jon Jachimowicz. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

How Bonuses Get Employees to Choose Work Over Family

by Rachel Kim Raczka

Working late again? Research by Ashley Whillans and colleagues shows how incentive pay encourages workers to think of downtime as wasted time. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Using Behavioral Science to Improve Well-Being for Social Workers

Re: Ashley V. Whillans

For child and family social workers, coping with the hardships of children and parents is part of the job. But that can cause a lot of stress. Is it possible for financially constrained organizations to improve social workers’ well-being using non-cash rewards, recognition, and other strategies from behavioral science? Assistant Professor Ashley Whillans describes the experience of Chief Executive Michael Sanders’ at the UK’s What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care, as he led a research program aimed at improving the morale of social workers in her case, “The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Want to Be Happier? Make More Free Time

by Dina Gerdeman

Enjoying life requires time, but too often we willingly give it away in pursuit of money and career. Ashley Whillans shows how to restore the proper balance. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Fighting the COVID Blues: Advice from Business Research

by Dina Gerdeman and Danielle Kost

Pandemic uncertainty doesn't have to spell doom. Happiness experts at Harvard Business School offer these research-based strategies for managing stress. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Make Your Employees Feel Psychologically Safe

by Martha Lagace

To do their best work, people need to feel secure and safe in their workplace. In a new book, Amy C. Edmondson details how companies can develop psychological safety. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

How to Monetize Happiness

Re: Ethan S. Bernstein

Is there a business model around happiness? Hitachi believes that a happy employee is a productive one, and is investing in "happiness sensors" to prove the connection. Ethan Bernstein explains why in this podcast. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Want to Be Happier? Spend Some Money on Avoiding Household Chores

by Dina Gerdeman

In an age of time scarcity, buying our way out of the negative moments in the day is an important key to happiness, according to research by Ashley V. Whillans, Michael I. Norton, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Paul Smeets, and Rene Bekkers. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

To Buy Happiness, Purchase an Experience

by Carmen Nobel

Michael Norton explains why spending money on new experiences yields more happiness than spending it on new products. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

From McRibs to Maseratis: The Power of Scarcity Marketing

Re: Michael I. Norton

In the new book Happy Money: the Science of Smarter Spending, behavioral economists Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton describe how money can buy happiness—but only if we spend it the right way. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Feeling Good about Giving: The Benefits (and Costs) of Self-Interested Charitable Behavior

by Lalin Anik, Lara B. Aknin, Michael I. Norton & Elizabeth W. Dunn

Helping others takes countless forms and springs from countless motivations, from deep-rooted empathy to a more calculated desire for public recognition. Social scientists have identified a host of ways in which charitable behavior can lead to benefits for the giver, whether economically via tax breaks, socially via signaling one's wealth or status, or psychologically via experiencing well-being from helping. Charitable organizations have traditionally capitalized on all of these motivations for giving, with a recently emerging focus on highlighting the mood benefits of giving—the feelings of empowerment, joy, and inspiration that giving engenders. Indeed, if giving feels good, why not advertise the benefits of "self-interested giving," allowing people to experience that good feeling while increasing contributions to charity at the same time? HBS doctoral candidate Lalin Anik, Professor Michael I. Norton, and coauthors explore whether organizations that seek to increase charitable giving by advertising the benefits of giving are making claims supported by empirical research and, most importantly, whether such claims actually increase donations. Key concepts include: Happier people give more and giving makes people happier, such that happiness and giving may operate in a positive feedback loop (with happier people giving more, getting happier, and giving even more). At the same time, charitable organizations should be concerned about the possibility of crowding out their donors' proclivity to donate in the longer term by incentivizing them (via gifts, etc.) in the short term. While offering donors monetary or material incentives for giving may undermine generosity in the long term, preliminary research suggests that advertising the emotional benefits of prosocial behavior may leave these benefits intact and might even encourage individuals to give more. Future research is needed to disentangle the possible costs and benefits of self-interested giving. The authors are actively engaging charitable organizations to conduct these studies. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.