News in Brief
Humans
Money can buy happiness if you know what you're doing, plus argumentative kids and good gifts in this week's news
Don’t worry, buy happy
Studies find that money buys less happiness than most people think, but that’s because people don’t spend it right. Psychological research provides eight principles for getting a spending buzz that often go ignored, say psychologist Elizabeth Dunn of the University of British Columbia and her colleagues. In an upcoming Journal of Consumer Psychology, Dunn’s team recommends the following: Buy more experiences and fewer goods, spend on others, focus purchases on small pleasures, buy less insurance, pay first and consume later, assess the daily impact of major purchases, avoid comparison shopping and pay attention to purchases that make others happy. —Bruce Bower
Kids’ argument clinic
Preteens can be taught to argue better, and that’s a good thing — really. Kids who take twice-weekly classes from sixth to eighth grade in which they research and debat
Studies find that money buys less happiness than most people think, but that’s because people don’t spend it right. Psychological research provides eight principles for getting a spending buzz that often go ignored, say psychologist Elizabeth Dunn of the University of British Columbia and her colleagues. In an upcoming Journal of Consumer Psychology, Dunn’s team recommends the following: Buy more experiences and fewer goods, spend on others, focus purchases on small pleasures, buy less insurance, pay first and consume later, assess the daily impact of major purchases, avoid comparison shopping and pay attention to purchases that make others happy. —Bruce Bower
Kids’ argument clinic
Preteens can be taught to argue better, and that’s a good thing — really. Kids who take twice-weekly classes from sixth to eighth grade in which they research and debat
