I call this website Happy Nation, not because it’s about a particular country, but because nationhood implies citizenship. Citizenship is a way of belonging that includes loyalty and duty towards the group to which you belong. Just like nations, social groups – households, communities and workplaces – all thrive when their citizens are active contributors.
In our individualistic society it’s easy to forget how interdependent we all are, and to focus more on what we can get than on what we can contribute. Most happiness research focusses on individual happiness, but even this research shows clearly that people who engage in volunteering and community service are happier than those who focus on themselves.
A survey of overworked GPs showed that a common response to impending burnout was to increase personal income by cramming in even more patients. However, those GPs who instead cut down their patient load and offered longer appointments began to enjoy their work again. Increasing the quality of patient care rather than personal earnings brought greater job satisfaction.
In Positive Psychology programmes, students are asked to do something nice for themselves and report back. Results show that the things people do for themselves make them happy at the time, but the feeling doesn’t last. On the other hand, when students are asked to do something for someone else, they glow with emotion as they share how uplifting it felt to help another person. The happy feeling continues long after the activity.
The value of willingly contributing to the household, workplace or group to which you belong is vastly underappreciated as a source of happiness. In fact, Martin Seligman, father of Positive Psychology, claims that our greatest fulfilment comes from using our unique strengths in the service of something greater than ourselves.
Stephanie Hills ©