Give your full attention as a form of prosocial spending

Treat undivided attention as a resource you can intentionally spend on another person.

Why it works

Dunn and Norton extend prosocial spending conceptually to the spending of time and attention. Full attention is scarce, non-fungible, and deeply valued by the recipient in a way that money cannot fully substitute. Giving someone your genuine presence — phone away, other agenda suspended — activates the same social-connection mechanisms as financial generosity and can be practiced regardless of income.

How to do it

1. For one conversation per day, put the phone face-down and commit to being fully present for its duration.
2. Treat any distraction that arises as a cost you are consciously choosing not to impose on this person.
3. At the end, note how the quality of attention changed the exchange.

Evidence

Full attentional presence in conversation is associated with felt connection and relationship quality; the extension of "prosocial spending" to time and attention is Dunn and Norton’s theoretical framing, consistent with their broader research program. (mechanistic)

The "attention as prosocial spending" framing is an extension of the financial research; attentional presence and relationship quality have observational support but the generosity-mechanism framing is theoretical.

Common mistake

Being physically present but mentally elsewhere — a phone on the table or a background to-do list runs the same depletion as constant interruption. Full presence means a genuine commitment, not just physical proximity.