Increase your “financial patience” (DW#623)
As we discussed yesterday, practicing gratitude can counteract our tendency to give up on goals if we do not get instant gratification.
Another very interesting study has looked into how the patience and perseverance developed by gratitude plays out in financial decision making.
David DeSteno of Northwestern University led a study where participants were asked to recall an event that made them feel grateful, happy, or neutral. After writing about this event, they reported their mood and then made a series of financial decisions.
The participants in the study had an interesting choice at the end of the session: they could either take a cash reward right there or they could choose to receive a larger amount of money in the mail at a later date.
The researchers found that those who had experienced gratitude were much more likely to wait for the bigger payout.
DeSteno reported that the "financial patience" of participants in the study had increased by about 12 percent just by recalling an event that made them feel grateful.
He then said, imagine if we could increase people’s savings by that much! A 12% increase in savings has the potential to change the financial status of individuals and families over time.
Pretty cool, yes?
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