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Kindness and helping others: how it affects you

Updated Six Habits Editorial Team
The short answerDoing good is good for you, not just for others. A meta-analysis found that acts of kindness have a small to moderate positive effect on the well-being of the people who perform them. In an experiment, people who spent money on others became happier than those who spent it on themselves.

Key points

What the research shows

Meta-analysis. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 27 experiments found that performing acts of kindness had a small to medium positive effect on the well-being of the actor (Curry et al., 2018).

Prosocial spending. In a study published in Science, people who were given $5 or $20 and asked to spend it on others or charity reported greater happiness by the end of the day than those asked to spend it on themselves (Dunn et al., 2008).

Volunteering. A systematic review linked volunteering to lower depression, higher life satisfaction and lower mortality (Jenkinson et al., 2013).

Kindness ideas

Caveat

Effects are modest, and most experiments are short-term.

Frequently asked questions

Does it matter how much I give?

In the experiment, even spending $5 on someone else boosted happiness. The act matters more than the amount.

What counts as an act of kindness?

Anything from holding a door to helping a neighbor, writing a thank-you note or donating time.

Sources

  1. Curry et al. (2018). Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 76:320-329. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2018.02.014
  2. Dunn et al. (2008). Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness. Science 319(5870):1687-1688. doi:10.1126/science.1150952
  3. Jenkinson et al. (2013). Is volunteering a public health intervention? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the health and survival of volunteers. BMC Public Health 13(1). doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-773

Prepared according to our evidence methodology and the principles of lifestyle medicine. For education only; it does not replace advice from your doctor.

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