Money Can't Buy Happiness, You're Not Spending It Right

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

This week on Work Life, Adam Grant and Michael norton test the theory that money can't buy happiness. They make people give away some of their own money to see if it makes them happier. What they find is that no matter how much you spend, what really matters is whether you're spending it on someone else rather than yourself. We'll be right back with more from michael norton on how to be a smart spender.

Can money really buy happiness? Michael Norton is a social science researcher who studies how we feel about our spending decisions. His work explores questions like: What’s the best way to spend your cash? How much should you donate to charity? Do credit cards make us unhappy? In this episode, Michael shares the sometimes-surprising findings that can help you use our money to improve your life. Michael is a professor of business administration in the marketing unit at the Harvard Business School. Prior to joining HBS, Michael was a Fellow at the MIT Media Lab and MIT’s Sloan School of Management. His work has been published in a number of leading academic journals and has been covered in media outlets such as the Economist, the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. To learn more about "How to Be a Better Human," host Chris Duffy, or find footnotes and additional resources, please visit: go.ted.com/betterhuman