Study suggests exercise makes people more generous

By Stephen Beech

Exercise makes people more generous, suggests a new study.

Scientists found that burning calories increases the urge to dig deep for charities.

The post-exercise "warm glow" increases generosity towards good causes, according to the research that involved people watching "Bargain Hunt" on TV while working out on exercise bikes.

A research team from the University of Portsmouth discovered that the energized feeling following a workout that comes from a hit of dopamine — the feel-good hormone — can prove beneficial in multiple ways.

Their findings, published in the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise, suggests that the mood boost triggered by exercise makes some people significantly more generous.

But the researchers say people have to enjoy breaking a sweat to feel the "warm glow" of generosity.

Joe Costello, an associate professor at Portsmouth, said: "Exercise did not directly make people more generous.

"Instead, it worked through mood.

"Participants who felt more energized and alert after cycling were significantly more likely to donate to charity and to take positive financial risks on their own behalf.

"Those who did not see an improvement in mood after exercise showed the opposite pattern, giving less."

The Portsmouth team believes the brain's dopamine system is central to the effect.

Previous research by Costello and his international colleagues has shown that exercise triggers a release of dopamine — the brain's "feel-good" hormone — which plays a key role in mood, motivation and reward processing.

Costello, research group lead for Portsmouth's Extreme Environments and Occupational Performance Group, said: "We know exercise is good for physical health, and we know it improves cognitive performance.

"What we wanted to know was whether exercise can also make people more generous, more willing to give."

To test the idea, 138 adults were brought into the university's Extreme Environments Laboratories (EEL) and seated on stationary exercise bikes arranged around a television screen.

Those in the exercise group cycled at a moderate intensity — enough to raise their heart rates to between 120 and 130 beats per minute — watching an episode of the BBC daytime program Bargain Hunt.

Those in the control group simply sat on the bikes and watched the same episode without pedaling.

Study co-author Cheryl Williams, a Ph.D. student in Portsmouth's School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences, said: "We needed something completely neutral.

"We didn't want to artificially excite people or raise their heart rates through the screen.

"Bargain Hunt doesn't evoke any powerful emotional reactions — at least for most people — which was exactly the point."

Before and after the session, participants completed mood questionnaires.

They then played a series of real-money decision-making games, including the opportunity to donate to Macmillan Cancer Support and to give money to a stranger.

Implications for charities, public health, and even the economy could be considerable, according to the research team.

Study lead author Joe Cox, a professor at Portsmouth, said: "If exercise reliably produces a mood-driven 'warm glow' that makes people more generous, community sports events, gym classes and parkruns could become powerful fundraising mechanisms — helping people get into the right headspace to give.

"Charities could strategically place donation opportunities at the end of fitness events, when participants are most likely to be experiencing that afterglow.

"The mood boost is real, the generosity effect is real — it just needs to be channeled."

The study suggests designing programs that foster positive emotional engagement with exercise, rather than simply mandating participation, may be key to unlocking these wider benefits.

Cox added: "Exercise prescriptions are most likely to generate social and prosocial benefits among people who genuinely enjoy, or anticipate enjoying, physical activity."

The researchers hope to build on their findings with longer-term, real-world studies outside of the lab to track whether the mood and generosity effects of exercise build over time.

They also want to explore whether different forms of physical activity produce the same results.