What people did after receiving $10,000 unexpectedly shows that there's still hope for humanity
Coming across a big amount of cash unexpectedly could open doors to prosperity or a dilemma about spending, saving or investing the money. To figure out how many people are actually capable of being generous in times of economic hardship, a research team from the University of British Columbia and Yale University conducted a study with 200 people, as per Psychological Science.
The results surprised everyone because they showed how there are many individuals who prefer to be generous with a lot of money in their hands. However, acquiring a huge sum to be provided to participants was a challenge until wealthy donors stepped in to help the researchers figure out if some generosity is left in mankind.
The participants of the experiment were recruited using TED's social media channels and they were unaware of the real purpose behind the experiment. The people picked from across the globe included a mix of those from generally prosperous nations as well as candidates from less wealthy countries in the middle of financial strain. The countries included Brazil, Indonesia, Kenya, Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Each of the participants received $10,000 to spend within three months and didn't have options to save or invest it but the possibilities were endless. They also had to keep track of their expenses and had the freedom to do whatever they wished with the sum in the given time.
The research team pushed some of the participants to record their expenditure on social media which led them to feel a sense of societal pressure as their activities were being observed by countless netizens. In the cases of some people, their income went up by 10% as they received the money for the experiment. For others, the money helped to increase their income by as much as 125%. However, the researchers discovered that people are generous in general, regardless of the amount of money they received.
The ones who did not post about their expenditure on social media ended up donating 15% of their income to charity, whereas the ones updating about their expenditure on social media donated 23%, possibly due to the pressure of creating a positive impression on their audience online. All in all, 68% of the money was spent on what the researchers called "prosocial spending." This style of expenditure benefited someone other than the spender—for example, some took their friends out for a meal whereas one woman even donated all of her money to social causes and charity.
Some even chose to give their money to their loved ones and family. The experiment only proved that mankind is not selfish as a whole. Sure there might be people who only think about themselves and do not take the suffering and struggles of others around them into consideration but there are enough people in the world who reach out to help the underprivileged folks. Individuals who were having a financially rough time in their lives decided to spend their money only on necessities. Additionally, the research also determined that helping others also made donors feel better about themselves.