WASHINGTON—Moneycanbuyhappiness,butonlyifyouspenditonsomeoneelse,accordingtoresearchers.Spendingaslittleas$5adayonsomeoneelsecouldsignificantlyboosthappiness,theteamattheUniversityofBritishColumbiaandHa

　　WASHINGTON—Moneycanbuyhappiness,butonlyifyouspenditonsomeoneelse,accordingtoresearchers.

　　Spendingaslittleas$5adayonsomeoneelsecouldsignificantlyboosthappiness,theteamattheUniversityofBritishColumbiaandHarvardBusinessSchoolfoundonThursday.

　　Theirexperimentsonmorethan630Americansshowedtheyweremeasurablyhappierwhentheyspentmoneyonothers---eveniftheythoughtspendingthemoneyonthemselveswouldmakethemhappier.

　　“Wewantedtotestourtheorythathowpeoplespendtheirmoneyisatleastasimportantashowmuchmoneytheyearn,”saidElizabethDunn,apsychologistattheUniversityofBritishColumbia.

　　Theyaskedtheir600volunteersfirsttoratetheirgeneralhappiness,reporttheirannualincomeanddetailtheirmonthlyspendingincludingbills,giftsforthemselves,giftsforothersanddonationstocharity.

　　“Regardlessofhowmuchincomeeachpersonmade,thosewhospentmoneyonothersreportedgreaterhappiness,whilethosewhospentmoreonthemselvesdidnot,”Dunnsaidinastatement.

　　Dunn’steamalsosurveyed16employeesatacompanyinBostonbeforeandaftertheyreceivedanannualprofit-sharingbonusofbetween$3,000and$8,000.

　　“Employeeswhodevotedmoreoftheirbonustopro-socialspendingexperiencedgreaterhappinessafterreceivingthebonus,andthemannerinwhichtheyspentthatbonuswasamoreimportantpredictoroftheirhappinessthanthesizeofthebonusitself,”theywroteintheirreport,publishedinthejournalScience.

　　“Finally,participantswhowererandomly(随机地)requiredtospendmoneyonothersexperiencedgreaterhappinessthanthoserequiredtospendmoneyonthemselves,”theysaid.

　　Theygavetheirvolunteers$5or$20andhalfgotclearinstructionsonhowtospendit.Thosewhospentthemoneyonsomeoneorsomethingelsereportedfeelinghappieraboutit.

　　“Thesefindingssuggestthatveryminoradjustmentinspendingallocations(分配)---aslittleas$5---maybeenoughtoproducerealgainsinhappinessonagivenday,”Dunnsaid.

　　ThiscouldalsoexplainwhypeoplearenohappiereventhoughUSsocietyisricher.

　　“Indeed,althoughrealincomeshaveincreaseddramaticallyinrecentdecades,happinesslevelshaveremainedlargelyflatwithindeve