Research shows generosity will help you live happier

Every day, we must stand in front of how we should spend our money. Whether considering the payment of the lunch bill for the whole group or wondering about the offer to donate money to a charity, everyone faces a thought that spending money generously ?

Some previous studies suggest that spending on others can improve happiness. However, whether it can improve physical health or not has no answer.

There has been evidence that spending time helping others mentally can improve physical strength but no research has mentioned about helping with money. Therefore, I and my colleagues at the University of British Columbia decided to conduct a test to test whether spending money on people who have difficulty can help lower blood pressure?

This study was published in the Journal of Health Psychology in December 2015.

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1. People who help others may have better health

A study conducted in 1999 surveyed the possible impact of volunteering on mortality has provided some early evidence of the link between helping others and physical health. . In this study, participants were aged 55 years and older and were asked to provide information about the number of organizations they had helped with the amount of time they spent on sexual activities. pray. Then they are transferred to the physical examination process.

Researchers have observed several factors, including the health status of participants before the study begins and their willingness to help people. The results showed that they had a 44% higher probability of surviving after 5 years than those who did not help others.

In a more recent study, experts also performed blood pressure measurement and evaluation of the participants' volunteer activity, once at the gathering of members and the second time it was 4 years later. As a result, they found evidence that older people who volunteered at least 200 hours in the last 12 months of their first blood pressure were less likely to develop high blood pressure four years later than those remaining (not participating in volunteering).

Another additional study also suggests that volunteering is somewhat linked to physical health by helping to combat stress and preventing motor impairment, such as movement speed or muscle strength. can.

2. Giving others money can lower blood pressure

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To find out the answer to this problem, we distributed 128 people aged 65 to 85 years old, each person 40 USD / person / week for 3 weeks. At the same time, randomly selected half of the participants will spend the money just for themselves (spend 1 day and ask to keep the purchase bills), while the other half will spend money to help support others.

We also measured their blood pressure before, during and after spending that amount. The choice of blood pressure criteria because according to the World Health Organization, chronic hypertension is the cause of 7.5 million premature deaths each year. Therefore, it is closely related to healthy manifestations of health.

As a result, we found that participants who had previously been diagnosed with high blood pressure readings (N = 73) showed significant reductions in blood pressure levels after giving to others. during the experiment. The bottom line is that the effects of these effects are comparable to those obtained when taking antihypertensive drugs or regular exercise.

In contrast, participants who were previously diagnosed with high blood pressure and who were required to spend only their initial money did not show any changes in blood pressure.

3. The person you spend money has also important meaning

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What is appealing is a temporary proof that shows how a person who helps others with money makes sense for promoting the benefits of generous spending habits. We seem to be getting the most benefit from spending money for the people that we are closest to. This is also consistent with a previous study that usually, a person feels satisfied when spending money on family and friends in a calculated way.

Such as the first participant in our study is a veteran. He donated money to building a school to honor a friend who had served in the Vietnam War or a woman who supported money for a charity that helped her niece. I get rid of anorexia.

Obviously, there are still many things that do not have an answer, such as how much a person should spend on average and how to get long-term health benefits. In addition, generosity is not always beneficial. It only works when those costs are within your tolerance limits.

About the author : The research results are shared by Ashley Whillans - PhD student at the Department of Health and Social Psychology at the University of British Columbia.