As long as acts of kindness don’t become obligatory or overwhelming, they can enrich the giver and the whole community.
Altruism in all its forms—kindness, generosity, compassion, volunteering, and donating money—has the potential to reward the giver as much or more than the recipient.
Altruism—including kindness, generosity, and compassion—are keys to the social connections that are so important to our happiness. Research finds that acts of kindness—especially spontaneous, out-of-the ordinary ones—can boost happiness in the person doing the good deed.
Reasons why acts of kindness make people happier:
Volunteers see greater benefits than those they are serving
One study followed women with multiple sclerosis (MS) who volunteered as peer supporters to other patients. They received training in compassionate listening techniques and called the patients to talk and listen for 15 minutes at a time. The study followed the volunteers for three years and found that they had increased self-esteem, self-acceptance, satisfaction, self-efficacy, social activity, and feelings of mastery. The positive outcomes for the volunteers were even greater than for the patients they were helping.
Compassion fosters happiness, but being sacrificial reduces well-being
Being kind and compassionate is linked to greater happiness, greater levels of physical activity well into old age, and longevity. One important caveat: if people get overextended and overwhelmed by helping tasks, as can happen with people who are caregivers to family members, their health and quality of life can rapidly decline. It seems being generous from an abundance of time, money, and energy can promote well-being; but being sacrificial quickly lowers well-being. This seems to be a good argument for communities sharing the burden for everyone’s benefit.
Sources:
The How of Happiness, by Sonja Lyubormirsky
Wealthy people are the most generous.
Not as a percentage of income. Many wealthy people have made tremendous contributions to philanthropy. However, poorer people consistently give a larger percentage of their income—about twice as large—compared to wealthier households. And they are less likely than wealthy people to cut back on their giving in tough economic times.
Being kind and generous always makes you feel better.
There is plenty of evidence that kindness promotes happiness in the person doing the good deed. However, if kindness becomes an obligation, a routine, or becomes overwhelming (as in providing care to a chronically ill family member), it can actually erode well-being. Kindness works best when it is freely given.
People with time on their hands are the most likely to volunteer.
This doesn’t seem to be the case. Working women and women with children have the highest volunteer rates. Students also volunteer at high rates. And people who don’t volunteer have enough time on their hands to watch an average of 23 hours of television a week.
Bonnie Benjamin-Phariss
Vulcan Productions
(206) 342-2197
bonnieb@vulcan.com
Hilary Sparrow
Vulcan Productions
(206) 342-2579
hilarys@vulcan.com
