70,000 people in over 200 countries have participated in the Big Joy study, conducted by Greater Good Science Center at the American university UC Berkeley. Over the course of a week, the people have shown concrete examples of kindness – for example by picking up trash, helping a friend with a difficult task, or by buying a meal for a homeless person.
Before the study, the participants in a survey had to answer questions about their mental well-being, perceived stress and personality. After then showing kindness for a week, they once again had to answer the questions – and the results showed that they then felt significantly better than before.
26 percent of the participants testified that after performing a series of good deeds they felt happier. 30 percent claim that their relationships have improved.
27 percent of the participants also felt that by having shown kindness they were able to influence their experiences of happiness and that they thus had control over their well-being.
“Measurable changes”
According to Emiliana Simon-Thomas, research director of the Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley University, the results are gratifying, writes NPR.
– They show statistically significant and measurable changes, such as a feeling of greater well-being, less stress and a greater measure of satisfaction in relationships, she says.
The research study is also not the first to show that kindness seems to make us feel better. For example shows a previous report from the Greater Good Science Institute that older people who engage in charity do better psychologically than those who do not.
Deliberately performing a good deed can also make people feel in control of their lives, according to Elissa Epel, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, and one of the researchers behind the study.
– They feel that they are in control of their emotions, she says, and believes that this may be an explanation for the perceived improvements in well-being.
“Something to hold on to”
Showing proof of goodness in everyday life can also be a way to find a bright spot in times that, like those we are experiencing at the moment, look increasingly gloomy.
Judith Moskowitz, a social scientist at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, believes so.
– So many of the things that cause us stress and sadness are out of our control. These brief moments of perceived happiness can give us something to cling to, she tells NPR.