Feeling Grateful? It's More Likely After a Trip Than a Birkin
OK, so it's almost Thanksgiving and stories about gratitude abound. But here's a new one, at least to me. We all know that giving is better than receiving, right? But what if you're giving an experience rather than an XBox1 Virtual Reality headset. People are more grateful for what they’ve done than what they have, and that gratitude can lead to greater generosity toward others, according to new research, newswise.com reports. The new study found that feelings of gratitude develop more often when people reflect on experiential purchases, such as vacations or tickets to events, than when they reflect on gadgets, furniture or clothes they’ve purchased. Reflecting on gratifying experiences also leads to more subsequent altruistic behavior than thinking about significant material possessions, the researchers found. In other words, when people are grateful for experiences, they treat the other people better as well. “We know a sense of gratitude carries...