PResearch Demonstrates That People Who Help Others Usually Have Healthier, Happier Lives

hilosophers, religious leaders, mystics and poets have for millennia

said, in various oft-quoted phrases, that it is good to be good to others. Call itkarma, call it the boomerang effect, call itthe sea of life; the wisdom of the ages hasit that actions on behalf of others have apayback feature: the benefits of unselfishacts revert back to the giver. Virtue, as thesaying goes, is its own reward.

known as “natural law.” This article will review a sampling of the stud-

ies going back several decades that link a person’sbenevolent actions and his or her personal happi-ness and health.1 The studies look at a variety ofvehicles for doing good, including participationin informal helping networks or self-help groups;serving others while employed in a helping pro-fession or as a volunteer, and even philanthropy— that is, spending one’s money in ways thatbenefit others. What results show is that the ben-efits of benevolence accrue to both mind andbody, promoting higher levels of both psycho-logical and physical functioning, and often con-tributing to a longer life.

The article will briefly note, too, a couple ofcaveats to the thesis that doing good is good forus, such as the potentially negative benefits ofoverdoing good works, and questions related tocausality.

‘HELPER THERAPY’Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., formerCommander of the U.S. Central Command, hasbeen credited with saying, “You can’t help some-one get up a hill without getting closer to the topyourself.” This truism, long understood by peo-ple who successfully participate in self-helpgroups, was first formalized by a psychologist in awidely-cited article by Frank Riessman thatappeared in Social Work.2 Riessman, a distin-guished social psychologist and founding editorof the journal Social Policy, defined the “helpertherapy” principle on the basis of his observationsof numerous self-help groups, in which helpingothers is deemed essential to helping oneself.Riessman observed, in fact, that the act of help-ing another heals the helper more than the personhelped. A bit later, in the early 1970s, the “helpertherapy” principle was noted in a few premierpsychiatry journals, in which professional

BY STEPHEN G. POST, Ph.D.Dr. Post is professor anddirector, Centerfor MedicalHumanities,CompassionateCare, andBioethics, StonyBrook University,Stony Brook, N.Y.

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It’s Good to Be Good:Science Says It’s So

Increasingly, during the past few decades, science has been chiming in, putting this ancientwisdom to the test. In study after study, a strikingamount of evidence demonstrates that, while wemay understand the benefits of benevolence asdevolving chiefly to the well-being of its recipi-ents, doing good nourishes the giver as well.Depending on what a given study sets out tomeasure, the documented benefits may be psy-chological or physical, or both.

Of course there is more to a healthy life thandoing unto others. Many recommendations forstaying healthy are sound. For instance, studiesshow that exercise and diet make a difference, asdoes a wide circle of friends, a happy marriageand a good night’s sleep. But the focus of thisarticle is to demonstrate scientific support for theclaim that efforts on behalf of another’s well-being is an important factor in living both a hap-pier and a healthier life.

The data demonstrating the connectionbetween living a loving and generous life and liv-ing a happier and healthier life have enormousimplications for how we think about humannature, the moral and spiritual life, and well-being in general. The data suggest that thehealth-promoting benefits of doing good is a truism of human nature — an aspect of what is

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researchers reported findings that service to oth-ers was beneficial in a variety of contexts.

Today, “helper therapy” is assumed in numer-ous 12-step programs aimed at helping peoplerecover from addictions that negatively affecttheir lives. Whether the group is focused onweight loss, smoking cessation, substance abuse,alcoholism, mental illness and recovery, or count-less other needs, a defining feature is that peoplemotivated by a desire to heal themselves areengaged in mutual support. The 12-step groupshave adopted the view that people who haveexperienced a problem can help each other moreeffectively than professionals can.

A study involving participants in the oldest ofthe 12-step programs, Alcoholics Anonymous, isamong those that have examined the relationshipbetween helping other alcoholics to recover andincidences of relapse in the year following treat-ment — a component so central to the thinkingof Bill W., founder of the program, that hesummed up the entire 12 steps in terms of sur-render to a higher power and service to others.Data derived from a prospective study calledProject MATCH, by researchers at BrownUniversity Medical School3 suggests that Bill W.’sthinking was right. They found that recoveringalcoholics engaged in helping other alcoholicsachieve sobriety were significantly less likely torelapse in the year following treatment. Amongthose who helped other alcoholics (8 percent ofthe study population), 40 percent successfullyavoided alcohol in the year following treatment,compared to 22 percent of those unengaged inhelping others to recover.

Other researchers have put the principle to the test in studies focusing on illnesses other than addiction. In one, a group of people withmultiple sclerosis were trained to provide com-passionate support by placing monthly supportivetelephone calls, lasting approximately 15 minutes,to other sufferers of the disease. Over two years,the helpers showed “pronounced improvementin self-confidence, self-esteem, depression androle functioning.”4 The helpers especially benefit-ed in terms of protection against depression andanxiety. The researchers posit that providing peersupport, more than receiving peer support, allowsthe helpers to break away from patterns of self-reference, thereby producing a shift in quality oflife and personal meaning.

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Studies of people suffering from cancer, cardiacdisease, chronic pain or AIDS produced similarresults. One study at Stanford University thatimpressed the research community randomlyassigned women with advanced metastatic breastcancer to either routine care, or routine care plusa cancer patient support group, which provided asafe and caring setting for discussion of issues.5

Participation in the support group includedreceiving support as well as listening attentivelyand demonstrating compassion toward eachother. The study’s author expected that the sup-port group would enhance patients’ mood, butnot their survival. As it turned out, the women inthe support group survived twice as long (18months compared with nine months) as thewomen without support.

As noted, the benefits of helping others may be both psychological and physical — aspects ofhealth for which science is demonstrating links.At the Duke University Heart Center PatientSupport Program, researchers concluded that for-

Several studies havedemonstrated thelong-term health benefits associatedwith volunteering.Above: two employeesat Starwood Hotelsmove a desk as part of a painting andcleanup project at aHarlem, N.Y., school.Left: a grandparenthelps a student at aschool in Mankato,Minn.

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mer cardiac patients who make regular visits tosupport inpatient cardiac patients have a height-ened sense of purpose and reduced levels ofdespair and depression, which are linked to mortality.6 (In yet another study, individuals suf-fering from chronic pain experienced decreasedpain intensity, levels of disability, and depressionwhen they began to serve as peer volunteers forothers suffering from chronic pain.7 In a studythat included a religious/spiritual component,researchers at the University of Miami comparedthe characteristics of long-term survivors withAIDS with a control group and found that thelong-term survivors were significantly more likelyto be spiritual or religious, as well as more likelyto reach out to others with a diagnosis of HIV-positive.8 More recently, the Miami research teamhas discovered that altruism as a component ofpersonality, as measured by a personality ques-tionnaire given to persons with HIV, is signifi-cantly related to lower levels of stress hormonesthought to affect progress of the disease.9

Other research builds on the now uncontrover-sial claim that socially connected people in gener-al outlive those who lead more isolated lives. In astudy focusing on informal helping behavior invarious areas of life and seeking the basis for anapparent relationship between social networksand longevity, the author concluded that socialconnectedness results in a 20 percent reductionin risk of death, and that the effects of giving toothers overwhelm the effects of receiving helpfrom others.10

HEALTH THROUGH SERVICEWe know from a recent survey by the NationalOpinion Research Center, in which 27,000 adultswere questioned about job satisfaction and gener-al happiness, that those with jobs that involvehelping or serving others (along with thoseinvolving creative forms of work, such as writingor painting) are more satisfied with their workand express a greater sense of overall happinessthan those whose jobs do not permit altruisticgratification.11 Professions listed among the mostgratifying by those engaged in them includedclergy, physical therapists, special educationteachers and psychologists.

Similarly, research shows that people who serveothers as volunteers report greater happiness andbetter health. In one impressive study that began

in 1956, 427 wives and mothers who lived inupstate New York were followed for 30 years byresearchers at Cornell University. The researcherswere able to conclude that, regardless of numberof children, marital status, occupation, education,or social class, those women who engaged in vol-unteer work to help other people at least once aweek lived longer and had better physical func-tioning, even after adjusting for baseline healthstatus.12 In another study, older people who vol-unteered for 100 hours or more in 1998 wereapproximately 30 percent less likely to experiencelimitations in physical functioning when com-pared with non-volunteers or those volunteeringfewer hours per year, even after adjusting forsmoking, exercise, social connections, paidemployment, health status, baseline functionallimitations, socioeconomic status, and demo-graphics.13 In a third example, after making simi-lar adjustments, researchers who analyzed datafrom 1,500 adults between 1986 and 1994 foundthat volunteering predicted less functional dis-ability three to five years later.14

Altruism is associated with substantial reduc-tion in mortality rates. In a large longitudinal sur-vey of older adults (55 or older at the time of thefirst interview), researchers from the Buck Centerfor Research and Aging and Berkeley Universitytested the hypothesis that volunteerism reducesrisk of mortality.15 The median number of hoursvolunteered per week was four, and participantswere divided into those who volunteered lessthan or more than four hours a week. Afteradjusting for a variety of health and socioeco-nomic variables, researchers found a statisticallysignificant association between high volunteerismand decreased mortality rate, which remainedafter correction for health status, resulting in anoverall 44 percent reduction in mortality.

In another study, researchers from the Centerfor Health Care Evaluation and StanfordUniversity, using a large national sample of olderadults from the Longitudinal Study of Aging,found support for their hypothesis that frequentvolunteering is associated with decreased mortali-ty risk when the effects of socio-demographics,medical status, physical activity, and social inte-gration are controlled.16 When health and disabili-ty variables were factored in, those who some-times volunteered had a 25 percent reduction inmortality risk, and those who frequently volun-

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It’s Good to Be Good: Science Says It’s So

“Not every-one can beGandhi, buteach of us has thepower tomake sureour own livescount —and it’s thosemillions oflives that willultimatelybuild a betterworld …”JEFFREY SKOLL, eBAY PRESIDENT

teered had a 33 percent reduction. When physicalactivity variables were included, those who some-times volunteered had a 23 percent reduction inmortality risk, and those who frequently volun-teered had a 31 percent reduction. When socialfunctioning and support variables were included,there was a 19 percent reduction in mortality forthose who volunteered frequently. The authorsconcluded, “We found that more frequent volun-teering is associated with delayed mortality evenwhen the effects of socio-demographics, medicaland disability characteristics, self-ratings of physi-cal activity and social integration and support arecontrolled. The effect of volunteering on mortali-ty appears to be more than a proxy for the well-known effects of social support, health, age, andother variables.”

Although it may appear from the studies abovethat the benefits of volunteering are weightedtoward older adults, studies of younger peopleshow that benefits accrue to them as well. It hasbeen documented, for instance, that volunteeringin adolescence enhances social competence andself-esteem, protects against anti-social behaviorsand substance abuse and protects against teenpregnancies and academic failure.17

Further, the benefits of starting young appearto bring lifelong benefits. Two studies used lon-gitudinal data to address this question: Do gener-ative qualities in adolescents predict better mentaland physical health in adulthood?18 The authorsexamined data gathered from two adolescentresearch cohorts that were first interviewed in

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California in the 1930s and subsequently inter-viewed every 10 years until the late 1990s.Generativity, defined as behavior indicative ofpositive emotions extending to all humanity, wasmeasured in three dimensions: givingness, proso-cial competence and social perspective. Studyresults indicated that generative adolescentsindeed do become healthier adults physically andespecially psychologically. Despite limitations ofthe study noted by the authors themselves — thatis, the sample size and demographic makeup ofrelatively homogeneous subjects living in SanFrancisco’s East Bay Area in the 1930s — thestudy lends crucial support to the notion that it isgood to be good across the lifespan.

Philanthropy — using money to help others —has been shown in at least one study to producepositive health benefits. Researchers at theNational Institute of Neurological Disorders andStroke have worked with the National Instituteon Mental Health and the National Institute onAging on a collaborative project entitled“Cognitive and Emotional Health Project — TheHealthy Brain.”19 The goal was to uncover theneurology of unselfish actions that reach outbeyond kin to strangers. Researchers have discov-ered a physiological basis for what has beentermed “the helper’s high” — the warm glow thatseems to accompany giving — even when thisoccurs only in the form of philanthropy. Nine-teen subjects were each given money and a list ofcauses to which they might contribute. Func-tional magnetic resonance imaging revealed that

Stephen Post, Ph.D., is widely recog-nized as a leader in the study of altru-ism, love and compassion who inte-grates scientific research, philosophyand religious thought in his work. Inaddition to his current responsibilitiesat Stony Brook University, he is a seniorfellow in the Center for the Study ofLaw and Religion at Emory University,and an elected Hastings Center Fellow— that is, an elected member of anassociation of leading researchers influential in the fields in which theHastings Center is engaged.

Post is president of the Institute forResearch on Unlimited Love, a not-for-profit organization established in July2001 with support from the JohnTempleton Foundation. The Institute

has supportedhigh-level empiri-cal research atmore than 50 uni-versities on topicsrelated to unself-ish love and itseffects. Postworked in biologi-cal researchbefore completing

his Ph.D. on the relationship betweenother-regarding love and happiness atthe University of Chicago.

He has more than 150 articles to hiscredit and has written seven scholarlybooks on altruism and love. He is theeditor of eight other books. His mostrecent book, co-authored with Jill

Neimark, is titled Why Good ThingsHappen to Good People: How to Live a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life by the Simple Act of Giving. Learn more about the book at www.whygoodthingshappen.com.

In addition to his work in altruismand love, Post has focused on ethicaland social issues surrounding personswith developmental cognitive disabili-ties and dementia. He is an electedmember of the medical and scientificadvisory panel of Alzheimer’s DiseaseInternational. He also authored TheMoral Challenge of Alzheimer Disease:Ethical Issues from Diagnosis to Dying (The Johns Hopkins UniversityPress). Contact the author atpost@stephengpost.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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making a donation activated the mesolimbicpathway, the brain’s reward center that is respon-sible for dopamine-mediated euphoria. In short,research shows that when people do “unto oth-ers” in kindness, it lights up the primitive part ofthe brain that lets us also experience pleasurethrough eating and having sex. This is goodnews: Giving “unto others” goes with, ratherthan against, the evolved social nature of thehuman.

It is worth noting, that just thinking aboutgiving seems to have a physiological impact. Inthe 1980s, the renowned Harvard behavioral psy-chologist David McClelland discovered thatHarvard students who were asked to watch a filmabout Mother Teresa’s work tending to orphansin Calcutta showed significant increases in theprotective antibody salivary immunoglobulin A(S-IgA) over those watching a neutral film.McClelland termed this the “Mother TeresaEffect.” Moreover, S-IgA remained high for anhour after the film in those subjects who wereasked to focus their minds on times when theyhad loved or been loved. Thus, researchers con-

cluded that “dwelling on love” strengthened theimmune system.20

THE PROTECTIVE FUNCTIONWhat is it about giving that is so protective? Thisbecomes easier to understand when we acknowl-edge the destructive effects of negative emotionsand self-centeredness on health. In a study thatgoes back to 1983, researchers at the Universityof California analyzed the speech patterns of 160“type A” personality subjects. The study showedthat high numbers of self-references in speechsignificantly correlated with heart disease, aftercontrolling for age, blood pressure, and choles-terol.21 The researchers suggested that a healthierheart can result when a person is more giving, lis-tens attentively when others talk, and engages inunselfish acts.

Further research on hostility and coronary dis-ease was conducted by Redford B. Williams, thedistinguished cardiologist at Duke University.22

Williams used 50 questions pertaining to hostileemotions, attitudes, and actions from the “hostil-ity scale.” Colleagues studied 255 doctors whohad taken the inventory in the late 1950s while in medical school at the University of NorthCarolina. As they aged from 25 to 50, the doc-tors whose hostility scores were in the upper halfwere four to five times more likely than thosewith lower scores to develop coronary disease,and nearly seven times more likely to die of anydisease. Similar results were found with manyothers groups, including employees of WesternElectric, who showed increased cancer deaths as well. Among a group of law students atUniversity of North Carolina took the MinnesotaMultiphasic Personality Inventory in the 1950s,fully 20 percent with hostility scores in the high-est quarter of their class had died by age 50, incontrast with only 4 percent of those in the low-est quarter. Roughly the same outcome wasfound among medical students.

A study at Ohio State University’s Institute forBehavioral Medicine Research using the hostilityscale with 42 married couples showed that nega-tive emotional states also affect wound healing.Wounds took a day longer to heal after an argu-ment than after supportive discussion, and twodays longer in persons demonstrating high levelsof hostility when compared to their low hostilitycounterparts.23

Many studies using the hostility scale have con-

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It’s Good to Be Good: Science Says It’s So

This 20-year-old Xavier University student changes alightbulb as part of an energy-saving program in NewOrleans. Volunteering regularly at a young age mayoffer health benefits in the long run.

New

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cluded that hostility is truly a health-damagingpersonality trait. Most researchers explain theincreased mortality in hostile individuals fromcoronary disease and cancer on elevated stresshormones cortisol and adrenaline (also known asepinephrine), and a related lowering of theimmune response, perhaps mediated by loweredserotonin levels.

Although some studies have shown that certainkinds of stress, at relatively low levels, may bebeneficial to human health, the relationshipbetween excessive stress and disease has been welldocumented. In response to stressful emotionssuch as rage or anger, the body secretes hor-mones that prepare it for physical exertion; stresshormones make the heart and lungs work faster,tighten muscles, slow digestion, and elevateblood pressure. Perpetual stressful emotions arelike acid searing metal, while positive emotionshave a marked physiological impact, if only byvirtue of displacing negative ones, that promoteshealth and healing.

When people reach out to others, negativeemotions, such as hostility, rumination, resent-ment, and fear are displaced by positive emotionsin a phenomenon sometimes referred to as theaforementioned “helper’s high”: a pleasurableand euphoric emotional sensation of energy andwarmth. The “helper’s high” was first describedby Allan Luks,24 who surveyed thousands of vol-unteers across the United States and found thatpeople who helped other people consistently stat-ed that their health improved when they startedto volunteer. About half reported experiencing a“high” feeling; 43 percent felt stronger and moreenergetic; 28 percent experienced a sensation ofinner warmth; 22 percent felt calmer and lessdepressed; 21 percent experienced greater feel-ings of self-worth, and 13 percent experiencedfewer aches and pains. A researcher who has stud-ied informal helping behavior in various areas oflife argues that giving buffers stress, and involvesa brain-emotion-immune nexus and complexhormones, such as oxytoxin and vasopressin.25

Some studies suggest that when volunteering iscombined with religious involvement, the benefi-cial results are enhanced. For instance, a decade-long study that focused on volunteering througha formal organization noted that the benefits ofvolunteering are consistently complemented by areframing of life’s purposes, and that among peo-

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ple in whom volunteering is combined with reli-gious involvement, a related synergy providesmore health benefits than either alone.26

SOME CAVEATSOne significant caveat should be noted in regardto the thesis on which this article is based. Whilesolid evidence exists to show that it’s good for usto be good to others — and many other articlesbeyond those listed here could be cited — it isimportant to recognize that, just as excessivefocus on self may be unhealthy, an excessive focuson others may be unhealthy as well.

It is important to recognize that, just as excessivefocus on self may be unhealthy, an excessive focus onothers may be unhealthy as well.

Although just a few hours a week of volunteerwork makes a difference in self-reported happi-ness and mood, “doing unto others” to over-whelming degrees can become stressful in itselfand can have adverse health consequences. Aproblem described by psychologist Martin L.Hoffman as “empathic overarousal” may occurfor those locked into situations requiring intenseempathy and generous actions: health care work-ers who interact daily with trauma survivors, RedCross workers who are involved in helping thevictims of major catastrophes, activists who workwith the poorest of the poor, and pastors who areproviding love and support for needy congre-gants around the clock.27 Charles Figley termedthe phenomenon “compassion fatigue.28 Resultscan include severe stress, disrupted cognitivefunctioning, distancing from close relationships,professional attrition, and depression. When care-givers are dealing with suffering on an ongoingbasis, it is essential that they step back for replen-ishment. Care of self must be managed to assurethat we do “unto others” in ways that allow us toflourish over the long run. Balance, rhythm, timeaway, recreation, and perhaps spiritual practicesare vital to keeping one’s perspective fresh.

It should be further noted that, based on thedata, there is not a linear relationship between theextent of volunteering and health benefits — i.e.,more volunteering does not necessarily translateinto greater benefits. Rather, there is a “volun-

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teering threshold” that does bring health bene-fits, and once that threshold is reached (perhapsas little as a couple of hours a week), no addition-al benefits are acquired.

A second note related to causality must beadded. Skeptics will appropriately raise the ques-tion of cause and effect — i.e., are psychologicaland physical benefits produced by doing unto oth-ers, or is it rather the case that healthier people arebetter able to engage in helping behaviors? In par-tial response, with a nod to the 18th century Scot-tish philosopher David Hume, it is fair to say thatperfect causality can never be proven perfectly.

Nevertheless, we can say with certainty that itis good to be good. Not only ancient wisdom,but also science says it is so. Nobel Peace Prizewinner Dr. Albert Schweitzer once said, “Theonly ones among you who will be really happy arethose who have sought and found how to serve.”The right dose, method, and context will varyfrom person to person, but the principle has beenscientifically established. The welfare of oneself(self-fulfillment) and of others (self-sacrifice) areinseparable and interrelated components of thehealthy human personality in a healthy environ-ment. Or, put another way, we must aim atsomething higher than happiness in order toreceive it.

Comment on this articleat www.chausa.org/hp.

N O T E S

11. The studies cited in this article are based on U.S.research. It should be noted, however, that the con-nections between working for the well-being of oth-ers and achieving well-being for oneself are captur-ing attention worldwide. For example, on Oct. 22,2008, the leading British governmental scientific“think tank,” Foresight, headed by the government’schief scientist, Professor John Beddington, and com-prised of more than 400 distinguished researchers,issued a major report in which they cited “giving toneighbors and communities” as one of the five keyelements of enhanced well-being and prevention ofmental illness. See Foresight Project on MentalCapital and Wellbeing, Mental Capital and Wellbeing:Making the Most of Ourselves in the 21st century —final project report (London: Government Office ofScience, 2008), available online atwww.foresight.gov.uk.

12. Frank Riessman, “The ‘Helper’ Therapy Principle,”Social Work, 10, no. 2 (1965): 27-32.

13. Maria Pagano et al., “Helping Other Alcoholics in

Alcoholics Anonymous and Drinking Outcomes:Findings from Project MATCH,” Journal of Studies onAlcohol, 65, no. 6 (2004): 766-773.

14. Carolyn Schwartz, “Teaching Coping Skills EnhancesQuality of Life More Than Peer Support: Results of aRandomized Clinical Trial with Multiple SclerosisPatients.” Health Psychology, 18, no. 3 (1999): 211-220.

15. David Spiegel et al., “Effect of PsychosocialTreatment on Survival of Cancer Patients withMetastatic Breast Cancer,” Lancet 2 (1989): 888-890.

16. Gwynn Sullivan and Martin Sullivan, “PromotingWellness in Cardiac Rehabilitation: Exploring theRole of Altruism Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing,11, no. 3 (1997): 43-52.

17. Paul Arnstein, et al., “From Chronic Pain Patient toPeer: Benefits and Risks of Volunteering,” PainManagement Nurses, 3, no. 3 (2002): 94-103.

18. Gail Ironson, G. F. Solomon and E.G. Balbin,“Spirituality and Religiousness Are Associated withLong Survival, Health Behaviors, Less Distress, andLower Cortisol in People Living with HIV/AIDS,”Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24 (2002): 34-40.

19. Gail Ironson, “Altruism and Health in HIV,” inAltruism and Health: Perspectives from EmpiricalResearch, ed. S.G. Post (New York: Oxford UniversityPress, 2007): 70-81.

10. Stephanie Brown et al., “Providing Social SupportMay Be More Beneficial Than Receiving It: Resultsfrom a Prospective Study of Mortality,” PsychologicalScience, 14, no. 4 (2003): 320-327.

11. Tom Smith, Job Satisfaction in the United States(Chicago: National Opinion ResearchCenter/University of Chicago, 2007). Available onlineat www.news.uchicago.edu.

12. Phyllis Moen et al., “Social Integration and Longevity:An Event History Analysis of Women’s Roles andResilience,” American Sociological Review, 54,(1989): 635-647.

13. Ming-Ching Luoh and A. Regula Herzog, “IndividualConsequences of Volunteer and Paid Work in OldAge: Health and Mortality,” Journal of Health andSocial Behavior, 43 (2002): 490-509.

14. Nancy Morrow-Howell et al., “Effects of Volunteeringon the Well-being of Older Adults,” Journals ofGerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences: SocialSciences, 58, no. 3 (2003): 137-145.

15. Doug Oman, Carl Thoresen and Kay McMahon,“Volunteerism and Mortality among the Community-dwelling Elderly,” Journal of Health Psychology 4(1999): 301-316.

16. Alex Harris and Carl Thoresen, “Volunteering isAssociated with Delayed Mortality in Older People:Analysis of the Longitudinal Study of Aging,” Journalof Health Psychology, 10, no. 6 (2005).739-752.

17. Joseph Allen et al., “Preventing Teen Pregnancy andAcademic Failure: Experimental Evaluation of aDevelopmentally Based Approach,” Child Develop-ment 68, (1997): 729-742.

18. Michelle Dillon and Paul Wink, In the Course of aLifetime: Tracing Religious Belief, Practice, andChange (Berkeley, Calif.: University of CaliforniaPress, 2007).

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It’s Good to Be Good: Science Says It’s So

“Nothing will ever beattemptedif all possibleobjectionsmust firstbe overcome.”SAMUEL JOHNSON,ENGLISH AUTHOR

19. Jorge Moll et al., “Human Fronto-MesolimbicNetworks Guide Decisions about CharitableDonation,” Proceedings of the National Academy ofSciences, 103, no. 42 (2006): 15623-15628. Forrelated findings, see Rachel Bachner-Melman et al.,“Dopaminergic Polymorphisms Associated with Self-Report Measures of Human Altruism: A FreshPhenotype for the Dopamine D4 Receptor,”Molecular Psychiatry, 10 (2005): 333-335; andWilliam T. Harbaugh et al., “Neural Responses toTaxation and Voluntary Giving Reveal Motives forCharitable Donations,” Science, 316, no. 5831, 15(June 2007): 1622-1625.

20. David McClelland and Carol Kirchnit, “The Effect ofMotivational Arousal Through Films on SalivaryImmunoglobulin A,” Psychology and Health 2(1988): 31-52.

21. Larry Scherwitz et al., “Type A Behavior, Self-Involvement, and Coronary Atherosclerosis,”Psychosomatic Medicine, 45, vol. 1 (1983): 47-57.

22. Redford Williams and Virginia Williams, Anger Kills:Seventeen Strategies for Controlling the HostilityThat Can Harm Your Health (New York: Harper-Perennial, 1994).

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23. Janice Kiecolt-Glaser et al., “Hostile MaritalInteractions, Proinflammatory Cytokine Production,and Wound Healing,” Archives of General Psychiatry,2 (2005): 1377-1384.

24. Allan Luks, “Helper’s High: Volunteering MakesPeople Feel Good, Physically and Emotionally,”Psychology Today, 22, no. 10 (October 1988): 34-42.

25. Stephanie Brown et al., “Close Relationships andHealth Through the Lens of Selective InvestmentTheory,” in Altruism and Health: Perspectives fromEmpirical Research, ed. Stephen Post (New York:Oxford University Press, 2007), 299-313.

26. Doug Oman, “Does Volunteering Foster PhysicalHealth and Longevity?” in Altruism and Health:Perspectives from Empirical Research, ed. S.G. Post(New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 15-32.

27. Martin Hoffman, “Empathy and Prosocial Behavior,”in Handbook of Emotions, 3rd edition, eds. MichaelLewis, Jeannette Haviland-Jones and Lisa Feldman-Barrett (New York: Guilford Press, 2008), 440-455.

28. Charles Figley, Compassion Fatigue: Coping withSecondary Traumatic Stress Disorder in Those WhoTreat the Traumatized (New York: Brunner/Mazael,1995).

Reprinted from Health Progress, July - August 2009.Copyright © 2009 by The Catholic Health Association of the United States

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