Buying Time Promotes Happiness

Ashley V. Whillans; Elizabeth W. Dunn; Paul  Smeets; Rene  Bekkers; Michael I. Norton

Article | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | August 8, 2017

Buying Time Promotes Happiness

by Ashley V. Whillans, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Paul Smeets, Rene Bekkers and Michael I. Norton

Abstract

Around the world, increases in wealth have produced an unintended consequence: a rising sense of time scarcity. 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 = 6,271), we show that individuals who spend money on time-saving services report greater life satisfaction. A field experiment provides causal evidence that working adults report greater happiness after spending money on a time-saving purchase than on a material purchase. Together, these results suggest that using money to buy time can protect people from the detrimental effects of time pressure on life satisfaction.

Keywords: time; well-being; Money; Happiness; Satisfaction;

Format: Print

Read Now

Citation:

Whillans, Ashley V., Elizabeth W. Dunn, Paul Smeets, Rene Bekkers, and Michael I. Norton. "Buying Time Promotes Happiness." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 114, no. 32 (August 8, 2017).

Poverty entails more than a scarcity of material resources—it also involves a shortage of time. To examine the causal benefits of reducing time poverty, we will conduct a longitudinal field experiment in an urban slum in Kenya with a sample of working mothers, a population who is especially likely to experience severe time poverty. Participants will receive vouchers to use on services designed to reduce their burden of unpaid labor. The effect of these vouchers will be compared against in-kind vouchers that do not save time, equivalently valued unconditional cash transfers, and a neutral control condition. Using a pre-post design, we will measure whether time-saving vouchers influence subjective well-being and perceived stress. Additionally, we will explore the causal effects of reducing time poverty on cognitive functioning and economic decision making. This research tests a new model of economic aid that recognizes both financial and temporal constraints.

Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2018

The Contrasting Effects of Performance Incentives: How Exposure to Incentives Shape Social Interactions Within and Outside Organizations.

Julia Hur, Alice Lee-Yoon and Ashley V. Whillans

Employees today report being too busy to talk with their friends and family, even though the number of hours that employees work has remained relatively constant over the last five decades. To explain this paradox, we explore the role of incentive systems in shaping how employees think about and allocate time to their social relationships. Across 4 studies (n = 132,139), we examine how exposure to performance incentives shape employees’ social interactions. Results from one archival dataset, one panel survey, and two experiments show that when employees’ pay is contingent on performance, they prioritize spending time with work ties at the sacrifice of spending time with personal ties. We also document a mechanism for these results: employees who are rewarded for their performance perceive work ties as more instrumental. These results are strongest when performance incentives are based on peer evaluations and administered to employees (vs. managers). These findings provide the first empirical evidence incentives shape employees’ social interactions both within and outside of the workplace, potentially providing a novel explanation for the dissolution of familial and close ties in North America.

Keywords: Performance incentives; work-family boundary management; instrumentality; emotions; lonelines; Employees; Performance; Motivation and Incentives; Work-Life Balance; Emotions;

Citation:

Hur, Julia, Alice Lee-Yoon, and Ashley V. Whillans. "The Contrasting Effects of Performance Incentives: How Exposure to Incentives Shape Social Interactions Within and Outside Organizations." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-050, October 2018. View Details

Cite View Details Read Now

When making major life decisions—such as choosing what to do after graduation—is it better to prioritize time or money? In a pre-registered longitudinal study of 1,232 graduating university students, respondents who valued time over money chose more intrinsically rewarding activities and were happier one year after graduation. These results remained significant controlling for baseline happiness, potential confounds such as materialism and socioeconomic status, and when using alternative model specifications. These findings extend prior research by showing that the tendency to value time over money is not only predictive of daily consumer choices, but also of major life decisions. Additionally, this research clarifies the direction of the observed associations between valuing time and money and happiness, showing that valuing time over money uniquely contributes to well-being, in part by encouraging intrinsic motivation. Together, this work sheds new light on whether, when and how valuing time shapes happiness.

Faculty & Research

Buying Time Promotes Happiness

Abstract

Citation:

About the Authors

More from these Authors