Elizabeth Dunn

Elizabeth Dunn

Elizabeth Dunn is a psychologist and co-author of the 2017 paper on buying time and happiness and of the 2022 PLOS ONE survey on prosocial spending and buying time.

Who they are

The work of Elizabeth Dunn reaches this site through the papers listed below. The name is tied to Buying Time. Their paper reports: Large diverse samples from the United States, Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands (6,271 people): individuals who spend money on time-saving services report greater life satisfaction.

Key papers

Whillans, A. V., Dunn, E. W., Smeets, P., Bekkers, R., & Norton, M. I. (2017). Buying time promotes happiness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(32), 8523-8527. What it reports: Large diverse samples from the United States, Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands (6,271 people): individuals who spend money on time-saving services report greater life satisfaction. A field experiment: working adults report greater happiness after spending money on a time-saving purchase than on a material purchase. Authors conclude buying time can protect against the effects of time pressure on life satisfaction.

Lok, I., & Dunn, E. W. (2022). Are the benefits of prosocial spending and buying time moderated by age, gender, or income? PLOS ONE, 17(6), e0269636. What it reports: Lok and Dunn, PLOS ONE 17(6), 2022, e0269636. Survey of about 15,545 Americans from diverse economic backgrounds. Prosocial spending and buying time both linked to happiness across age, gender and income groups. People who valued time over money were happier when they used money to buy time. Gender and income did not moderate the time-buying link, which was somewhat weaker than the prosocial spending link.

Key ideas

Buying Time: Spending money on services that free up time, such as delivery or help with chores, instead of on material goods.

Sources

  1. Whillans, A. V., Dunn, E. W., Smeets, P., Bekkers, R., & Norton, M. I. (2017). Buying time promotes happiness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(32), 8523-8527.
  2. Lok, I., & Dunn, E. W. (2022). Are the benefits of prosocial spending and buying time moderated by age, gender, or income? PLOS ONE, 17(6), e0269636.