CONNECTED Columbus Magazine - Fall 2022

WHY GIVING IS GOOD FOR YOU

by Kathy Binner

Anyone can tell that giving helps others. Your gift can offer emotional, financial, and other forms of support to your friends and family or any other recipient when you give. But giving can boost your happiness too.

Studies show that charitable actions can positively affect your health and happiness. Giving to others makes you feel good about yourself and helps you feel like you belong in the community. How else is giving good for you? Consider these reasons:

1. It makes you feel happy. A Harvard Business School professor observed that giving other people money lifted respondents and increased their happiness more than spending it.

This conclusion is interesting because you'd think people would be happier spending money on themselves. But giving, instead, gives people greater happiness.

Another professor at the University of California observed similar results when she asked participants to do five acts of love a week for a month and a half.

These two studies teach us that giving positively affects our mood.

2. Giving gets you more -- and better -- relationships. The best proof that giving is good for us comes from a 2008 study by researchers from Harvard and the University of British Columbia.

The findings showed that those who reported spending more on others, what the team called “prosocial” spending, also reported a greater level of happiness, while how much they spent on themselves had no impact on happiness.

What does this mean? That giving makes us happier -- and more social. That's true. But it probably comes from the mindset you get because when you give to someone, it changes your perspective. Your focus changes from what they can do for you to what you can do for them.

As a result, you develop more empathy, and that, in turn, can help you build more meaningful friendships.

3. You get a greater sense of meaning. Giving also helps us better understand ourselves and our relationship with the world. When you give, you find out what you are truly capable of. You find out you can make a real difference.

It can make life more meaningful when we know we're contributing to something bigger than ourselves by giving.

4. It can increase your lifespan. Elderly folks who have tapped into their generosity tend to be healthier than those who don't. So, donating your time, money, or skills can help you live longer.

Recent research shows that people over 55 years who give to charity are more likely to live five years longer than those who don't.

That even accounts for other age-related health concerns and habits like smoking and drinking.

5. The act of giving encourages social connection and cooperation. When you give to someone in need, you're more likely to feel closer to that person. That closeness can help you develop deeper relationships, so giving can bring you some relief if you're feeling lonely or isolated.

Also, when you give, there's a good chance that you'll get back in return. A lot of research -- including those from sociologists like Brent Simpson and Robb Willer -- concludes that what you give will get rewarded in time.

You may get it back from the person who received the gift, but more often, you'll receive it in other forms.

So, giving doesn’t just help others, it can be good for your health, help you build stronger relationships, and increase the quality of your life.

You may not have the financial resources to give as much as you'd like, but you can choose to provide in other ways, like your time or energy. Volunteering also helps the community and gives you the feeling that you're making a tangible difference.

Kathy Binner