The good feeling you get when you donate to your favorite charity could be your brain patting you on the back.
A team of psychologists and economists from the University of Oregon
has found that donating to charity activates a part of the brain
associated with pleasure.
The study, published in the journal Science, represents a major advance
in the fledgling field of neuroeconomics, which explores how the brain
affects the way people handle money.
Even low-income people give away part of their income, the study found.
“People feel good knowing that they’re a charitable giver,” wrote
William Harbaugh, an economics professor and one of the authors of the
article.
Source: Greater New Orleans Foundation e-Newsletter, June 29, 2007
Eric Ellison
It seems like we’ve known that it “feels good” for hundreds of years, right? I understand that now it’s been proven, but I propose this “proof”: It feels good, therefore it stimulates a pleasure center in the brain. Ask anyone who donates, or better yet finds meaningful, non-charitable ways to support causes.