Recent psychological research findings indicate that a small amount of generosity towards others makes people happier. Even just promising to be more generous was enough to trigger changes in our brain that lead to greater feelings of happiness.
Brain scans revealed that even the intent to be generous was linked to activity in the ventral striatum, an area important in the feeling of happiness. Promising to behave generously could be used as a strategy to reinforce the desired behaviour, on the one hand, and to feel happier, on the other.
Employers may wish to consider displaying generosity to their staff as well as promoting generous behaviour within their staff.