The human brain is imbued with the importance of connecting with others.

*Doing good deeds releases happy hormones.

Lara B. Akunin et al. at the University of British Columbia[1] studied how subjects in Canada and Uganda were affected when they "spend money for themselves" versus when they "spend money for others."

They found that in both countries, where the cultural and economic contexts were very different, both subjects had higher levels of happiness when spending money for others.

While some of this is simply the satisfaction of having done something good, evolutionary psychology suggests that there is a great deal of positive sentiment toward the formation of communication.

We also know that communication releases the happy hormone serotonin. Humans cannot live alone.

At least, it would be impossible in the Paleolithic, if not in modern society.
The power of group living is behind the dominance of the biological world in societies where humans have enemies and prey such as ravenous beasts that could easily kill us one-on-one.

The importance of connecting with others is ingrained in our brains as we have survived the struggle for survival through the power of community.

That is why we feel a sense of well-being when we come into contact with others, and when we communicate, our reward system is stimulated and we feel a sense of well-being.

People are willing to do what makes them feel good and happy. Spending money for others is a higher level, social communication, if you will.

Regardless of how conscious we actually are of it, at least to our gullible, simple brains, it is felt as an opportunity to deepen our relationship with the person we spend money on.

*Give your actions a positive "cause".

Another possible reason is the "resolution of cognitive dissonance"[2] proposed by American psychologist Leon Festinger.

Cognitive dissonance is when the mind is bothered by a mismatch between what we think and the actual situation.

Normally, we would not want to spend money for others, but we actually do. This is where the bewilderment arises. Spending money on others takes courage and is painful, but by giving a positive "cause" for your actions, because you like them or because you like this kind of behavior, you are resolving the blurring.

As a result, they feel satisfied, which can be thought of as an increase in happiness.

*The key to working for others is "specificity.

There are many studies of the same kind. For example, a study by Melanie Rudd et al. at the University of Houston[3] found that people feel happier when they perform and accomplish pro-social behaviors than when they do things for themselves.

Incidentally, Ladd et al. state that the key to increasing happiness is to take "actions that are specifically for the benefit of others.

If you simply make it abstract, such as "for the happiness of mankind" or "for the global environment," it will be difficult to know whether you have "achieved your goal" with your actions, because the criteria for judging this may not be within you or the target may be too large.

The results show that it is difficult to increase happiness when such actions are not clearly defined in terms of their degree of achievement.

What is interesting about these studies is that it is not uncommon for events that are supported by science to have been handed down from generation to generation.

There is a proverb that says, "Mercy is not good for others. Our ancestors realized somewhere that "doing what is good for others (prosocial behavior) is good for oneself," and passed this down to us as an important lesson.
Given these facts, the research of Akunin. may make sense.

Spending money for the sake of others is a particularly simple and straightforward form of prosocial behavior, with a clear purpose and means. In other words, at the moment you "spend money for others," you are doing something clear that your brain understands that your purpose has been achieved, and your level of happiness will also increase.

*Create a "do something for others day," even if it's just once a week.

In addition to paying others, there are other methodologies for doing good things for others. Sonya Lyubomirsky and colleagues[4] at the University of California compared subjects who did nothing in particular with subjects who did five prosocial actions per week for six weeks, such as paying a stranger's coin parking fee, donating blood, solving a friend's problem, or writing a thank-you letter to a teacher who helped them in the past.

In other words, they compared subjects who did "one good deed a day" or "five good deeds a week" with those who did nothing in particular. First of all, the results of the comparison of the level of happiness were higher in the subjects who did "five good deeds a week.

This is what you would expect, but what is interesting is how the "five good things a week" were done.

The methods varied among the groups, but the highest level of happiness was achieved by those who performed the five social actions in one day.

In other words, if you are going to do "five good things a week," then "five good things a day, once a week" is the best way to do "five good things a week.

This is because the brain, which seeks new experiences and changes, finds it more stimulating to do this kind of action once in a while than on a daily basis.

However, even one good deed a day can bring a little happiness, so it is okay to do it. In fact, it may be better for some people to have a life in which they can find such small happiness every day.

If everyone practices one good deed a day, we will have a caring, kind, and happy society. Why don't we start with us?

Last May Good Things Come in Your Life.