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The many benefits of giving: Prosocial spending and happiness

A new study that shows the benefits to both adults and children of prosocial spending By Elizabeth W. Dunn, Lara B. Aknin, and Michael I. Norton3 Reprint of the article in Current Directions in Psychological Science February 2014 vol. 23 no. 141-47 Abstract: Although a great deal of research has shown that people with more money are somewhat […]

Getting active can help boost mentors’ and mentees’ happiness: New research

Written by Justin Preston The benefits of exercise in helping serve as one piece of the puzzle in combating depression and anxiety have been well-documented. Less attention has been paid to the ways in which people who are not depressed may be helped by physical activity. In a recent review of studies on exercise in […]

Here’s How 8-year-olds Around The World Feel About Their Lives

UNIVERSITY OF YORK Posted by David Garner-York on February 17, 2016 A new study of 8-year-old children in 16 countries shows that most are happy with lives—but some, most notably in Ethiopia, South Korea, and England—report having low self-esteem. The Children’s Worlds study, coordinated in England by the Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the […]

Teens with lots of friends stay healthy longer

Posted by Thania Benios-UNC o The more social ties people have at an early age, the better their health is at the beginnings and ends of their lives, a new study suggests. Researchers say the study is the first to definitively link social relationships with concrete measures of physical well-being such as abdominal obesity, inflammation, […]

How volunteering and charitable giving benefit both young and old

By Terri Yablonsky Stat/Chicago Tribune If there’s a magic pill for happiness and longevity, we may have found it. Countless studies have found that generosity, both volunteering and charitable donations, benefits young and old physically and psychologically. The benefits of giving are significant, according to those studies: lower blood pressure, lower risk of dementia, less […]

Social 20-year-olds are more satisfied at 50

Posted by Monique Patenaude-U. Rochester on July 24, 2015 The quantity of social interactions a person has at 20—and the quality of social relationships that person has at age 30—may increase well-being later in life and perhaps help people live longer. “In fact,” says Cheryl Carmichael, the study’s lead author, who conducted the research as a […]