Giving is Good for Us
“Giving; providing love or other emotional support, caring”
Helping others is good for our physical and mental health. It helps to reduce stress, improve our emotional wellbeing and general health. Giving helps promote social connection and makes us more grateful for the lives we live. Helping others is contagious and has ripple effects throughout our community. Whether it be a random act of kindness or incorporating giving into our everyday life, together we can make a difference to make the world we live in a happier place.
Here are five reasons we think giving makes the world a better place:
1. Giving makes us feel happy
There is a strong relationship between wellbeing, happiness and longevity of those of us who are compassionate. Studies funded by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute found that giving is positively related to life satisfaction. A 2008 study from Harvard found that giving money to someone else lifted participants' happiness more than spending it on ourselves. A Professor of Psychology from the University of California found that when people were asked to perform five acts of kindness each week for six weeks their happiness increased.
2. Giving is good for our health
Taking time to be kind to other people can make you feel good, help reduce stress and be beneficial for your own emotional wellbeing. Being kind can often get pushed to the side in our busy lives - making time for it is important for both ourselves and others. A Professor of preventive medicine at Stony Brook University suggests that giving is just as important to maintain our health as avoiding tobacco and obesity.
3. Giving promotes cooperation and social connection
When you give you’re more likely to get back. These exchanges with others promote a sense of trust and cooperation which strengthens our ties to one another. Having positive social interaction is important in being healthy. When we give, we feel closer to ourselves and others. It helps others feel good and can improve our support networks while encouraging us to be more active members of our community. Giving can create a sense of belonging and reduces feelings of isolation and loneliness.
“Being kind and generous leads you to perceive others more positively and charitably.”
4. Giving evokes gratitude and keeps things in perspective
Whether you are on the giving or receiving end of an act of kindness or a gift it can elicit feelings of gratitude. Researchers found that teaching university students to ‘count their blessings’ and cultivate gratitude caused them to exercise more, be more optimistic and feel better about their lives overall. A 2006 study from the National Institute of Health found that when people give to charities it activates a region in their brain associated with pleasure and trust, creating a warm ‘glow effect.’ Helping people can create different perspectives on their outlook on life. Helping others can help you feel more positive. Being aware of your own acts of kindness and things you are grateful for can increase happiness, optimism and satisfaction.
5. Giving is contagious
When we give it doesn’t only benefit those who we are giving to, a ripple effect of generosity is felt in our wider circle. Giving has been linked to the release of oxytocin, a hormone that induces feelings for warmth, euphoria and connection to others. Giving helps make the world a happier place. Acts of kindness not only improves the world around us, but it also encourages others to repeat the good they have experienced contributing to a more positive and kind community.
Helping others makes the world a better place. Whether it is through random acts of kindness or donating or volunteering with a charity, together we can make a difference to make the world we live in a better place.
