Stinginess may save you some quid but on the long run your health may suffer from it.
Researchers at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia examined the physiological response of study participants as they played in a financial bargaining game, and their study found that stinginess affects our stress level.
In the experiment, researchers measured heart rate variability during the exchange. Players who made low offers had increased heart rates.
The aim of the study was to measure mental stress when it comes to money and decision-making, and the researchers even noted that stingy participants may also have experienced stress due to feelings of guilt.
According to Markus Schaffner, study co-author and manager of the Queensland Behavioural Economics Group Laboratory for Economic Experiments at QUT: “The results indicate we have negative feelings when we treat someone unfairly, for example by offering below 40 percent of the total in the game. There is an emotional and physiological cost, and we feel uncomfortable.”
If stinginess actually does have a daunting impact on our stress levels, why don’t we become more charitable to our partners, friends, family and even the poor around us so we don’t increase our stress levels? Remember stinginess affects our stress level.
S.O.Z