MMost of us are familiar with the steps we can take to increase our well-being. For our physical health, our diet, exercise, sleep and fasting are prescribed. Add in a mindfulness course, a shiny new bullet journal, and the occasional digital detox, and you might think you’re all set for a year of health, happiness, and productivity.
There is nothing inherently wrong with these lifestyle changes, but they are usually self-centered. So why not break with tradition and look outward to a cause that matters to you? A research body shows that doing good not only helps others, but can also benefit the brain and body. The tricky part seems to be dedicating yourself to the right activity for the right reasons.
Evidence for this altruistic health benefits built for decades. Consider just a few dazzling results from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, which began tracking the fortunes of 10,000 high school graduates in 1957. As part of the ongoing research, participants were asked to record their involvement with organizations such as parent-teacher associations, youth groups, community centers and charities. or welfare groups.
Analysis of data up to 2004, Prof. Jane Allyn Piliavin and her colleague, Erica Siegl, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that people who regularly engaged in these activities tended to report better physical and mental health. Here’s what you might expect: When you feel good, you’re more likely to help others.
Importantly, though, Piliavin and Siegl found that the apparent benefits persisted when they controlled for people’s existing fitness. The well-being boost has taken place after they had started their volunteer work. They also found evidence of a “dose-dependent relationship”. “Working for three or more types of organizations provided more benefit than working for two, which was more impactful than working for one or no organizations,” they concluded. The same connection could be seen with the duration of their commitment: people who had volunteered for a longer period tended to be better off than those who had started recently.
Later studies have done just that confirmed these benefits. For example, in 2013, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University reported that people who regularly volunteered did so 40% less chance of developing hypertension over four years of follow-up, compared with those who did not. Meanwhile, a team of researchers at Harvard University has examined the health of almost 13,000 people aged 50. Those who volunteered an average of two or more hours per week were significantly less likely to experience depressive symptoms over the next four years. They were also less likely to die.
Why would this be? It may be that volunteering increases our overall physical activity: instead of sitting on the couch, we will have to leave our homes to do good. This is certainly true – volunteers tend to exercise more – but some studies have found that this cannot fully explain the benefits, suggesting that other mechanisms may be at play.
The answer may come from a growing understanding of the mind-body connection. Volunteering increases the number of people we see and makes us feel more embedded in our community. It is now well known that social relationships not only promote our mental health, but also reduce biological risk factors for disease. such as inflammation.
Crucially, altruism and generosity appear to be a particularly powerful means of gaining these benefits, with research showing that helping others can help us mitigate our own stress response. This is counterintuitive. You would expect that an additional responsibility, such as volunteer work, would increase rather than alleviate your sense of burden Sae Hwang Hannow an assistant professor of human ecology at the University of Texas at Austin, has done just that shown that the opposite is true.
To do this, Han and his colleagues used data from the US National Study of Daily Experiences, which used telephone interviews to record the activities and feelings of 1,320 people over eight consecutive days. Quite surprisingly, they found that volunteering protected them from the effects of their life stress: on the days they helped others, their mood was less likely to be affected by their other worries and frustrations – such as deadlines at work or disagreements with colleagues. their partner.
This effect is also clearly visible in objective markers of stress. For example, Han and his colleagues also analyzed the levels of the hormone cortisol in participants’ saliva, which tends to rise when we feel anxious or angry. among the volunteers this was significantly less likely to happen – suggesting that they were physiologically less reactive to the stresses of life.
The stress buffer response may have done that evolved to help us care for our friends and relatives. When we help someone, the brain appears to regulate the negative feelings that can keep us from approaching the other person and from providing the support he or she needs. This would have increased the survival of our group in prehistoric times, and given the known effects of stress on our mental and physical health, it’s easy to see how long-term volunteer work could still lead to longer, happier lives in the modern world.
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Today’s individualism may have isolated us from this age-old reaction. We have been brainwashed by our culture to think that all our efforts should be focused on our own self-improvement, when we would all do well to think about how we can better serve others.
If you decide to put this into practice, you may want to consider it the purity of your motivesas selfish intentions can unfortunately backfire. In one follow-up to the Wisconsin Longitudinal Studyparticipants were asked to explain why they had chosen their charity activity. Some described pro-social values and an interest in connection – endorsing statements such as ‘I think it is important to help others’, ‘I feel compassion for those in need’. Others seemed to be out for personal gain. They were more likely to agree with statements such as “I can discover my own strengths” or “Volunteering makes me feel needed.”
The researchers replicated the previous findings and found that volunteers were less likely to die over the next four years. However, a deeper analysis revealed that this only applied to those who were genuinely motivated to support other people. The volunteers who had acted out of self-interest showed little benefit. “Respondents who volunteered for more self-focused reasons had similar mortality risk as non-volunteers,” the study authors concluded.
If you have little interest in others and are only looking for self-improvement, then volunteering is clearly not for you. But most people will have a cause that fuels their altruistic instincts, through a genuine desire to help the group in need. If you have the will and the means, the new year can be an excellent opportunity to act on those wishes – and enjoy better health and happiness as a welcome side effect of your benevolence.
David Robson is the author of The Laws of Connection: 13 Social Strategies That Will Transform Your Life, published by Canongate (£18.99). To support The Guardian and Observer, order your copy at Guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply