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#012 — How Generosity Changes our Brain
December 2024
Hello Friends!
I first published this article on how generosity changes our brains two years ago for the original dv. newsletter.
And you know what? It’s as feel-good and fascinating today as it was then. I’ve re-read it several times and it simply makes me smile. I mean, how could it not?! It’s the science of giving which I find absolutely amazing.
With the holiday season in full swing — and the competitive noise of sales tactics from Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday and the like — I thought this article would be a brilliant way to cut through that clamor.
So, here it is again — delivering holiday cheer to your day and throughout the giving season.
xo ~ Suzanne
It’s early December and the holiday season is in full-swing — which means so is the season for giving.
Giving comes in many forms.
How each of us chooses to give is often deeply personal. It may be in the form of a charitable donation or formal volunteering for a nonprofit. It could be helping a stranger or caring for a family member or gifting material objects.
What these and other examples have in common is that they involve “giving good things to others freely and abundantly” — the definition of generosity according to the University of Notre Dame’s Science of Generosity Project.
Tell most people that giving can make them happy and it’s no surprise to them.
What they may find surprising is the science behind it. A growing body of research has revealed that giving to others produces numerous psychological and physiological benefits.
Giving produces a “warm glow.” Literally.
Research has shown that prosocial behavior can cause body temperature to rise. More broadly, warm-glow giving describes a phenomenon where people feel pleasure when they spend money on others.
Originally introduced as an economic model that framed giving as a good but selfish act, the phenomenon has since been studied by scientists, who generally agree that giving releases feel-good neurochemicals like oxytocin and endorphins.
The exact neural processes that underlie the benefits of giving remain unclear, but a 2006 fMRI study provided some of the first hard evidence showing that giving involves a complex interplay between several brain regions, including the mesolimbic reward system and the decision-making prefrontal cortex.
thank you for reading and your thoughtful feedback.
xo ~ suzanne
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