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Happiness from altruism is short-lived

18.03.2020

It is believed that altruism makes us happy, and there are a number of psychological studies in support of this. For example, if a person often helps someone, his mood improves, and when stressed, there is less emotional "negativity". Altruistic acts are also said to lower blood pressure and are generally good for health.

However, employees of the University of Bonn and Harvard University believe that happiness from altruism is not so simple: the initial "pluses" from it can turn into "minuses". The researchers invited about three hundred students to participate in two lotteries: one had a good chance of winning 100 euros, the other you did not win anything, but you could donate 350 euros to a fund for helping patients with tuberculosis. The participants in the experiment were free to choose which lottery they wanted to play, and the money in both of them was quite real. About 60% chose the second, altruistic, lottery, in which the money went to charity.

All participants in the lotteries filled out psychological questionnaires showing the level of happiness. Immediately after the lottery, as expected, those who chose the altruistic option were happier. However, the same psychological survey was conducted a month later - and now, after a month, the majority of those who played the altruistic lottery were less happy than those who chose money for themselves. That is, happiness from an altruistic act turned out to be short-lived and in the long run turned into a decrease in mood. Of course, anything could happen to a person in a month, but let's not forget that more than one or even ten people participated in the experiment, and the authors of the work probably took into account the likelihood of some everyday troubles that could happen to students.

The most curious thing happened to a small group of participants in the experiment who did not have to play the lottery: they chose the second, altruistic option, but they were told that the lottery was canceled and they were just given one hundred euros. An article in PNAS says that these people were happier than everyone else after a month. That is, for real happiness, it would be good if the altruistic impulse was reinforced by a reward.

It is possible that other types of altruism provide more stable happiness. After all, you can not only distribute money, you can help others yourself - help the elderly with disabilities, entertain orphans, etc. And it is possible that the altruism that involves direct social contacts will be more long-lasting.

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