Buying Time Is The Key To Happiness
byCheryl Rosen/
Sure, travel agents can find the perfect vacation for each customer, offer up perks and good deals, and even have your back when things go wrong. But who knew they could also buy you happiness? And that’s a scientific fact!
An article in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesentitled “Buying Time Promotes Happiness” reports that the happiest people in the world are those who can afford to pay for the most valuable commodity of all, free time.
“Around the world, increases in wealth have produced an unintended consequence: a rising sense of time scarcity,” the study’s abstract says. “We provide evidence that using money to buy time can provide a buffer against this time famine, thereby promoting happiness. Using large, diverse samples from the United States, Canada, Denmark, and The Netherlands (n? = 6271),我们表明,那些花局部激素y on time-saving services report greater life satisfaction.”
作者报告说,他们的现场实验“提供了因果证据,表明工作成年人在花费时间购买后与物料购买相比,花钱在节省时间购买后的幸福感。这些结果共同表明,使用金钱购买时间可以保护人们免受时间压力对生活满意度的有害影响。”
In fact, they say, “We suggest that buying time may provide an alternate mechanism to receiving the support needed to cope with daily demands, such that the relationship between time stress and reduced life satisfaction should be attenuated among people who use money to access more time.”
So go ahead, travel agents, charge a fee. You are worth every penny. After all, in addition to a great vacation, you are selling the gift of time. And in this stressful age, that’s selling happiness by the jar.