“Feeling Good Vs. Doing Justice”: How Donation of Time and Money Impact Happiness

This paper discusses the relationship between donation (donation of time and money) and happiness. Through a survey with a probabilistic sample from a large Brazilian city the authors found that donating both time and money positively influences the happiness of individuals. The “feel good” sense moderates the relationship between donation of time and happiness, such that there is no relationship when the “feel good” sense is low. In addition, when individuals have a better perception that people’s donations are based on “doing justice”, the relationship between material donation and happiness is non-significant.