Does Volunteering Make Us Happier? (E95)

Happiness for Cynics podcast

International Volunteer Day, 5 Dec, is a great opportunity to remind you that volunteering can have a huge impact on your happiness levels! 

Show notes

4 Ways Volunteering Makes Us Happier 

1. It connects you with other people 

2. It’s great for your mental health 

3. It’s great for your physical health  

4. It can help your career  

Transcript

[Happy intro music -background]  

M: Welcome to happiness for cynics and thanks for joining us as we explore all the things I wish I’d known earlier in life but didn’t. 

P: This podcast is about how to live the good life. Whether we’re talking about a new study or the latest news or eastern philosophy, our show is all about discovering what makes people happy. 

M: So, if you’re like me and you want more out of life, listen in and more importantly, buy in because I guarantee if you do, the science of happiness can change your life.   

P: Plus, sometimes I think we’re kind of funny.

[Intro music fadeout]  

P: …Oh, I’m red-lining. Hello, viewers. …Viewers! Listeners, laugh. I have not had a glass of Rose.

M: I’m not going to say anything. Keep going, Pete.

P: Laugh.

M: Welcome to the show everyone. 😊

P: Hi! Hi hi hi.

M: This is Marie and Pete –

P: Laugh!

M: – and Peanut butter and Jelly, the two cats.

P: Aww, we’ve referenced them, yay. Marie was all worried that her cats were making too much noise. I’m like, ‘It’s fine. Go with it! Run with it, reference it, –

M: Laugh.

P: – it’ll be amusing!’

M: It’s a family show, and I did find out this week that Biden has pardoned the usual turkeys in honour of Thanksgiving, and their names were Peanut butter and Jelly.

P: Laugh! Pardoned them?

M: Yes, so they don’t get killed for Thanksgiving. They go back and live free and happy lives on the farm.

P: He chooses two turkeys?

M: I think it’s normally one.

P: Oh.

M: I don’t know.

P: He’s being generous this year.

M: I don’t know enough; I should have read into this. I really need to research more about the things that I randomly mention on this show.

P: Laugh! Oh god. If we did that, we’d be here forever!

M: Laugh.

P: And I’d never shut up.

M: It would be a very stilted conversation, wouldn’t it?  

P: Laugh, it wouldn’t be good. And I’d be called on all my crap, laugh!

M: Yes, laugh.

P: Yeah so, I’ve been going since eight o’clock this morning.

M: My brain feels fried.

P: Ahh.

M: I’ve put a lot of my brain towards thinking today.

P: Oh.

M: Having said that, we did all of our prep for today’s show before today.

P: Laugh.

M: So, you’ll get solid research.

P: Solid research, very statistical data, very scientific data –

M: Very scientific.

P: – with no vagal tone being mentioned.

M: Laugh, very scientific. We’re moving on from that.

P: Laugh. So, what are we talking about this week, Marie?

M: Well, coming up on the 5th of December is International Volunteer Day.

P: Yay! Everybody go out and do something fun!

M: And that’s the point. Volunteering for a lot of people is something that you do because you have to, because ‘Mum said so.’

P: Oh! It’s so much more than that. And we’ve talked about this before in one of our very early episodes, way back when we were young, and green, and keen, and

M: bright eyed and bushy tailed?

P: Oh, I know! I was like a little squirrel. Squirreling, squirreling up the tree!

M: Mush… mush in our heads right now people.

P: Pootle. I meant to say pootle. Pootle is a good word.

M: …So, I say ‘absolutely’ too much, and you say ‘clock’.

P: I’m not using the C word anymore. Snigger.

M: Well, I don’t agree with the C word.

P: Laugh!

M: It’s quite offensive and sexist.

P: Laugh. So, it’s the ‘P’ word now, pootle-ing.

M: My new favourite verb. Thank you, Pete, for bringing that to our attention.

P: Laugh.

M: We will be doing far more pootle-ing from here on out.

P: Lots of pootle-ing. Pootle-ing and pootle-ing on Volunteering Day.

M: So, I have no idea what we’re talking about. But when we were wide eyed and bushy tailed, we did discuss volunteering. We’re gonna circle back on it because it’s that time of year and it is such an important catch all.

P: Mmm.

M: Really, for mental health and happiness.

P: And it’s also one of those things that you don’t realise how beneficial it is until you actually do it.

M: It’s the blueberry of happiness.

P: Oh! The blueberry of happiness!

M: It’s the superfood.

P: Wow! Laugh. Can I be broccoli?

M: Broccoli is not a superfood.

P: [Gasp] Oh! How dare you.

M: Because no one likes broccoli.

P: I like broccoli.

M: They like blueberries.

P: I’m going to be on the fence on that one.

M: Ok.

P: Give me a steamed broccoli and I’m good.

M: Right, well volunteering is the broccoli blueberry of food.

P: Laugh!

M: So good for you? And it ticks so many boxes.

P: It does.

M: So today we’re going to talk about four ways of volunteering that make us happier.

P: Oh! What’s number one?

M: Numero uno.

P: Tell me? Tell me? Tell me? Tell me?

M: It connects you with other people.

P: Ah! Good old, social pillar.

M: Yes.

P: What are the three pillars that we stand on? One of them is social connection people.

M: Social connection, meaning and purpose, which volunteering can also give you. And the third is health and happiness, which… [drumroll] guess what we’ll be talking about soon.

P & M: Laugh!

M: But back to social connection.

P: Social connection, because why? Un-social people die!

M & P: Laugh!

M: So, let’s get into the studies because there’s some really cool studies on volunteering.

P: Well, you’ve got quite a number on this one.

M: I have.

P: I’m quite impressed on your study.

M: My research.

P: Yeah.

M: So, let’s go straight to someone who is bound to be credible with the cynics… An economist.

P: Laugh.

M: So, economists Steven Meier and Alois Stutzer released a study way back in 2004 which concluded that

“Volunteering constitutes one of the most important pro-social activities and helping others is the way to higher individual wellbeing.”

P: I like that, higher individual well-being.

M: They found robust evidence, –

P: Ooh!

M: – not just evidence but robust evidence, that volunteers are more satisfied with their life than non-volunteers. 

P: I’ve got an example of this.

M: Enlighten me.

P: The Country Women’s Association.

M: Oh, it is. It is such a… like It’s a tribe. It’s crew. It’s a gang.

P: Laugh!

M: It’s scary.

P: Laugh! So, for our overseas listeners, the CWA is, for those of you in the UK, it’s the Women’s Institute.

M: Oh.

P: I’m not sure of the American Association that is the equivalent of the CWA. It stands for Country Women’s Association.

M: And they have them down south.

P: In America?

M: It is the pearl wearing, cardigan wearing country ladies’ societies. They do fundraising, and they look after the community.

P: Yes.

M: They come together and do bake sales when someone’s sick or you know they’ll, they’ll drop off a lasagne if someone’s in hospital or etcetera.

P: Laugh, yes.

M: They’ll knit booties for the new baby on the block or whatever it is.

P: Mmm.

M: So, they’re the life blood of these communities.

P: Absolutely. I mean, I come from rural Australia and my mum should have been the president of our CWA because CWA, it’s a really good organisation where these women come together, and they literally choose a charity. It’s like, ‘Who can we help this week? Who is in need of assistance?’ And it’s this lovely organisation where they can be quite large.

M: Mmm hmm.

P: I mean in the hundreds.

M: Yeah.

P: To form a community organisation and their powerful. These women hold power, I mean they can influence elections.

M: Mmm.

P: Simply by swapping a lamington recipe.

M & P: Laugh.

P: So, they had this way of being able to bring people together, or organise connections, possibly of their husbands, who one might be a farmer, the other one might be a politician. Bringing those people together because they bring them into the house, or they bring them into the home.

M: They host.

P: Exactly.

M: They’re the social lubrication.

P: Oh! Oh, I just got moist. Laughter!

M: Not that kind of lubrication, Peter!

P: Laugh, sorry.

M: My mum was with an organisation called Quota, which does something very similar.

P: Oh, yeah, yeah.

M: And for a very long time, she used to go down to the local club, the Southern Cross Club in Woden in Canberra, and she used to have conversations with migrants.

P: Ah, perfect.

M: So, they’d come in, have a cup of tea.

P: Yep.

M: It was free tea and coffee down at the local club. Sit down, and for an hour or two they just talk about everything and anything in English.

P: So brilliant!

M: So that they could practise their speaking skills and meet people.

P: Yeah.

M: And get out of the house and form other friendships.

P: Yep.

M: Such a simple, simple thing. And it led my mum to making friendships with people as well that she wouldn’t have otherwise met.

P: Mmm, yep.

M: That was really poor grammar or whatever I said just then.

P: Laugh.

M: But you get my point.

P: Absolutely. Like you see Mammut down at the local supermarket and you’re like, ‘Oh hi Mammut, remember me I’m Beryl’, that connection is really important.

M: Mmm, absolutely.

P: And if someone is struggling, it’s like I know this person. I can help. I have a connection with them already. It’s something good about integration, I fully support the CWA, they are a burgeoning society.

M: So, back to volunteering.

P: Sorry.

M: It does connect you with other people.

P: Yes.

M: And so, whether you’re in an organisation like CWA or Quota, or whether you volunteer at the RSPCA and pets are more your style, not people.

P: Yeah, exactly. Laugh, socially awkward.

M: There is still also something that gets you out of the house and speaking to other people.

P: Precisely.

M: And there’s so much value in that.

P: Absolutely.

M: All right. Number two.

P: Tell me?

M: It is great for your mental health.

P: Another pillar of our…

M: Mmm hmm. Half of pillar three.

P: Well, we can’t call it a house, ‘cause that need four pillars, four supports? Trapezoidal?

M: Well now they’ve got, like, buses that are houses.

P: On three legs?

M: What about tents and Tepees? That could be threes.

P: Yeah, that could be threes. The yurt.

M: And we digress again.

P & M: Laugh!

M: We will revert back to yurts another time.

P: Laugh!

M: So mental health.

P: Still laughing!

M: So, our brains are wired for social connection and whenever we help others, our brains release the pleasure hormones.

P: Whoo! Where’s some Barry White.

M & P: Laugh!

P: Let’s get it on!

M: So, I love this study that was done in 2018 by Sonja Lyubomirsky and her colleagues.

P: Oh! We love Sonja.

M: I’m sorry, Sonja’s colleagues, but I know Sonja’s name.

P: Laugh! We’ve practised Sonja’s name a few times.

M: So, they published in the American Psychological Association Journal about a study they did on workers in a Spanish company, and they assigned them different roles. Some of them had to give out acts of kindness.

P: I remember this one, yeah.

M: Yep, And the results show that practising everyday pro-sociality is what they call it. So being nice and kind is both emotionally reinforcing and contagious, and it inspires kindness in others.

P: Absolutely.

M: But not only that, they found that not only the people receiving it get a benefit, but the people giving get a benefit too.

P: They get more of a benefit apparently.

M: Absolutely. So that’s the first thing. So, volunteering comes back to you two fold.

P: Yep.

M: And then there was another study in the UK that found that volunteering leads to a positive change in mental well-being, so people who volunteer become happier over time. And then a Harvard study showed that volunteering at least once a week yields improvements to well-being equivalent to your annual salary doubling.

P: Now that speaking to the money man.

M: Mmm hmm.

P: Who doesn’t want more money? Laugh.

M: Could you imagine how happy you’d be if they doubled your income tomorrow?

P: Absolutely, you’d be like, ‘Oh, my goodness, that’s amazing. What can I do?’

M: But we now know that you would adjust to that level and expect more the next year.

P: Laugh!

M: But volunteering is an increase to your happiness levels that’s maintained over time. This is what we talk about when we talk about the difference between getting a pay rise, getting a bigger car being on that hedonic treadmill.

P: Yeah, laugh.

M: Versus, doing the things that day in, day out they contribute to higher sustained levels of happiness.

P: Yep.

M: So volunteering is in that second bucket.

P: And the sustainability of volunteering is actually larger than giving someone $20 or something. Just donating. Like actually, volunteering has a longer effect from the studies that we’ve done previously. That effect of happiness is much more longer lasting.

M: Yep, absolutely. Particularly if you do something like this, Harvard study said.

P: Yep.

M: Once a week, go volunteer for Little League training or coach at your local club or mentor a disadvantaged youth for become a Big Brother.

P: Mmm, yes.

M: There are so many different organisations out there that are doing amazing work and a lot of the times they will help to train you up as well.

P: Yes.

M: And give you real skills.

P: Which leads to, oh I jumped in there! I pre-empted, laugh.

M: You could see where I was going.

P: Laugh!

M: It’s like we’ve done this before, Pete.

P: No, never. Laugh. [Whisper] We haven’t rehearsed a thing.

M: So, number three; Can help your career.

P: Yes, I can fully support this one. I had years of volunteering at my local volleyball club, which is where I met a rather fabulous woman sitting to my right. Laugh.

M: I thought you were gonna say where you met Wally.

P: Laugh. Oh Wally! Good old Wally. Wally the big, muscly, German.

M: Laugh.

P: He was a very impressive man when I first met him, I was like ‘Oh, my God. Who are you?’ Umm… Hi, Wal if you’re listening.

M: Giggle.

P: But, it really does have a huge impact on your work. I volunteered for the volleyball club and all of a sudden, I was writing spreadsheets and I was arranging events and I’ve never done any of this before.

M: Oh, you took it all in stride.

P: And then totally jumped in. And then all of a sudden, that boiled over into my career and I started arranging schedules and spreadsheets and calculations and so forth for my business, and it wasn’t even a conscious decision. It just happened because I knew how to do it. That skill set is still serving me today on so many different levels of being able to arrange my study schedule for university. I’m waiting for the Physio Socks Society to actually grab me.

M: Laugh.

P: I’m like, ‘No, I don’t know anything. I can’t do anything to help. You’re not going to pick me up.’

M: Laugh.

P: And if any of my physio students are listening to this go away.

M & P: Laugh.

P: I don’t have time. Laugh. But it is. It’s so beneficial in terms of developing your skill set.

M: And a lot of organisations will also put serious energy into training volunteers. So, I know organisations like Lifeline that do over the phone counselling will put many, many hours’ worth of training and effort into up-skilling their volunteers.

P: Yeah, mmm.

M: And a lot of those volunteers stay with them for decades.

P: Yeah, and it leads to a lot of other opportunities within organisations as well.

M: Yep.

P: I’ve got someone in mind that I know that wants to get into support counselling and so forth and that’s…

M: A perfect way.

P: A perfect avenue, yeah.

M: So, it’s not only perfectly to gain skills, it’s also a perfect way to test out a potential career switch as well.

P: Yeah, yeah. Totally.

M: It’s like an unpaid internship.

P: Mmm.

M: Not only do you gain new skills or the skills that you might need in a new role if you’re considering that, but you also get to network with people in your industry and it might be your future boss or put you in touch with your future boss.

P: Yep, yep. Yeah, I fully support that one it’s such, uh, if your feelings stayed and board in your job, volunteer and be open to those of your opportunities. That’s the other aspect of that equation, making sure that you will remain open. I digress.

M: It also. No, you don’t digress that was right on topic.

P: Oh, yay. Good!

M: I’ll finish this one out. So, it’s also back to foundation number two. It’s also a huge source of meaning and purpose and life satisfaction.

P: Mmm.

M: And a lot of us were promised these amazing lives and were told to chase our dreams. Or we’re just simply told to go for the career and the degree that would give you the most –

P: The recipe for a good life?

M: – give you the most money.

P: Yep.

M: You know. Go be a lawyer or an accountant or an actuary.

P: Stability, yep.

M: And then you’re bored out of your mind in your job. But you’ve got a mortgage and a family, and it’s a good income. And so, a lot of the ways that we can bring that, that passion for life back again is via these other commitments that aren’t work.

P: Mmm, yes.

M: Any attempts to bring you closer to a job you’re passionate about are well worth the effort. Or even if it’s just Saturday afternoons and you’re finding your passion there, that can really lift your wellbeing overall.

P: Mmm, mmm.

M: And lastly, in this category, the research shows that volunteers have higher incomes. So, according to Professor Stijn Baert,

“This finding corroborates with previous research showing that volunteering activities on ones CV yield higher employment opportunities, especially for non-natives.”

P: Ahh.

M: So, if you’re a migrant, go in and volunteer straight away.

P: That’s interesting.

M: Start building that CV out and show that you’re contributing to community. You’re more likely to get jobs out of it, and you’re more likely to get higher pay out of it.

P: Mmm.

M: And all right, we’ll move to the last one, which is the second half of the third pillar. So, back to healthy mind and body. We’ve jumped around a bit.

P: Laugh.

M: It’s great for your physical health.

P: Yes.

M: So, let’s.

P: Laugh. Well, it sparks off a physicality within us. I mean, it’s sparks off a certain…

M: It gets you out of the house.

P: Yeah, it’s an energy. You feel engaged, and that has so much to do with our brain activity and stimulating the different areas of our brain and getting that motivation to actually, ‘Oh, maybe I will go through a little jog or something, because I’m focused and I’m engaged’, and there are so many other things that are going on that it helps to propel you forward into so many other avenues.

M: Once you’ve dealt with the mental health, positive mental health aspects, it definitely does improve your motivation.

P: Mmm.

M: As we all know, when things like Covid hit and make it very apparent. There’s this thing called incidental movement.

P: Yes, Aarghh.

M: And before Covid hit, a lot of us would get up in the morning, shower, dress, walk out the house, get on the bus or get in the car, get to a train, walk between car parks or bus stops, etcetera.

P: Mmm hmm.

M: Up into the office. And then we’d go into the kitchen at some point mid-morning, we’d walk over to the bathroom.

P: Yep.

M: All of that’s incidental movement.

P: Mmm.

M: And when Covid hit are incidental movement dropped to a five-metre radius.

P & M: Laugh.

P: Yep.

M: Right, and a lot of people had negative health impacts from that.

P: Hugely.

M: And that also again, tightly linked with mental health. Right?

P: Definitely.

M: And what we find, particularly with retirees, is when you take away that morning reason to get up and get out of the house. They do what a lot of us did in covid.

P: Yep.

M: And again, unless you’re really aware of it and in tune to it, you can end up experiencing the exact same mental health implications and physical health implications as covid when you retire.

P: Yep.

M: So, you don’t have a reason to get up, you start sleeping in more. You might start drinking a little bit more or not looking after yourself as much, not moving all of that.

P: Yep.

M: So, volunteering gets you up and out of the house. It gives you a reason to move and put even just that basic, minimal level of daily movement back into your day. So that’s the first thing.

P: Yep.

M: So not only that, but then the science shows that the movement and volunteering in general has also been shown to help lessen symptoms of chronic pain and reduce risk of heart disease. So, all of this is interlinked as well, just getting that movement into your day.

P: Mmm.

M: But also, depending on what the volunteering activity is, you might be adding even more movement into your day as well. Not just the getting to and from.

P: Yeah, well, it’s things like volunteering for an organisation that might put housing opportunities together so you might be moving a couch for someone or going and doing someone’s windows or –

M: Mowing lawns.

P: – yeah, all that sort of stuff. Yeah, it does have a certain physicality to it. The heart disease one is an interesting one. I mean, that comes from –

M: – lower stress, better mental health outcomes, all tied to heart disease as well. So, there is again the cross links in here.

P: Yeah.

M: Everything is connected.

P: Yeah.

M: And then we’re nearly finished. So, last study in 2017 researchers looked at data on volunteering, employment, and health of more than 40,000 European citizens, and they found that volunteers are as healthy as non-volunteers who are five years younger.

P: Five years younger!

M: So, if you want to look five years younger.

P: No need for the Botox. Go and get a little dosage of volunteering.

M & P: Laugh.

M: So obviously, there’s so much in here about causality and all of that. So, I will say that the researchers controlled for other determinants of health, like gender, age, education level, et cetera. And they found, still, despite all of that, the volunteers were still in substantially better health than non-volunteers.

P: Mmm, yeah.

M: Now it is fair to say, and it is true to say that people with higher incomes tend to volunteer more often, and people with higher incomes have better health outcomes. More often, however, they looked at all of that and conclusively volunteering has a positive impact on our health.

P: Thank you randomised control trials.

M: Laugh. They did it all proper.

P: Yeah.

M: Alright, I’m not going to do this last quote because we are well over time. But as always, it’s been a pleasure.

P: Laugh. It’s been emotional.

M & P: Laugh!

M: And on that note. We’ll see you next week. Have a happy week.

P: Bye!

[Happy exit music – background]  

M: Thanks for joining us today if you want to hear more, please remember to subscribe and like this podcast and remember you can find us at www.marieskelton.com, where you can also send in questions or propose a topic.

P: And if you like our little show, we would absolutely love for you to leave a comment or rating to help us out.

M: Until next time.

M & P: Choose happiness.

[Exit music fadeout]  

Please note that I get a small commission if you buy something from my site. Your support helps to keep this site going at no additional cost to you. Thanks!