It’s no secret that giving back feels good, but a new study contends that perhaps it may be vital to living a happier life — but only if you’re being recognized for your efforts.
Gallup found that individuals who receive recognition for their community service report better well-being scores than those whose good deeds go unnoticed. Volunteers receiving praise scored an average Well-Being Index score of 70 out of 100 in contrast of the average score of 58.5 of those who did not.
But the pattern doesn’t stop there. Age and income have long been associated with higher levels of well-being, and Gallup found that even among affluent and older Americans, community service is a constant among happier people.
U.S. citizens who make less than $36,000 but are recognized for community service reported a higher score than wealthier individuals making more than $90,000 but haven’t received recognition for community service, 67.2 and 62.6, respectively.
Elderly individuals also typically score higher on the Well-Being Index. Older Americans, ages 65 and up who identified as participating in community service efforts, reported the highest scores of happiness. However, younger Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 — who’ve been given a shout-out for their volunteer efforts — received the second highest score of well-being, outperforming older age groups.
The survey also discovered a link between community service and reduced levels of stress. Only around 34 percent of respondents who are recognized for giving back said they experience stress in contrast to 42 percent of those who are not. And only 25 percent of active volunteers reported experiencing worry compared to 32 percent of those who are not involved or recognized for their efforts.
But perhaps more interestingly, around two-thirds of respondents contend they have not received recognition for community service, which underscores a greater need to illuminate the social good going on across the country.
Giving back feels great, and it’s time to start promoting that message.
MORE: If You’re Happy And You Know it, You Probably Participate in Arts
Tag: Happiness
If You’re Happy And You Know it, You Probably Participate in Arts
Besides reducing or eliminating a commute to work, what increases Americans’ happiness?
While you may not take our word for it, participating in the arts or appreciating them will help make you happy — and these recent studies back up that claim.
Carol Graham and other researchers of the Brookings Institution analyzed two data sets — the National Endowment of the Art’s Survey of Public Participation in the Arts and the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. Graham writes, “Our results provide moderate support for well-being being positively supported with arts consumption and production.”
People who consume art in its many forms were more likely to indicate a higher sense of well being, while performers of jazz and classical music and participants in plays were “more likely to be satisfied with their standards of living, even though they were not wealthier.”
Along the same line, Steven Tepper and others at Vanderbilt University examined correlations between well-being and participating in a variety of art forms: fine arts, clothing design, video production, playing or composing music, theater, dance, crafts, gardening, artful cooking, and creative writing in the study, “Artful Living: Examining Relationships between Artistic Practice and Subjective Well-Being across Three National Surveys.”
The researchers concluded that there is “strong support that artistic practice is associated with higher levels of life satisfaction, a more positive self-image, less anxiety about change, a more tolerant and open approach to diverse others, and, in some cases, less focus on materialistic values on the acquisition of goods.” Tepper and his colleagues found an even stronger correlation between happiness and artistic participation in women and minorities.
So how much money is the appreciation or production of art worth in terms of happiness? A study out of the United Kingdom entitled “Quantifying and Valuing the Well-Being Impacts of Culture and Sport” asked just that. The findings? The benefits of participating in arts activities was worth about £90 extra per month.
So if you’re feeling glum, it might be time to take up painting, dancing, or guitar playing.
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