People who participate in charity work are happier

[First compiled by New Sancai] Many companies in the UK provide employees with free physical and mental health counseling to help employees cultivate their character, guide their lives, and resolve sleep disorders and other problems. Sadly, a study of British workers found that most of them don't actually make themselves happier as a result.

The study found that of nearly 100 different workplace wellness coaching options, only one seemed to improve people's well-being: getting employees involved in charity work or volunteering.

The authors of the study found that the popularity and effectiveness of the above-mentioned free employee health coaching program on personal health-related auxiliary courses and measures on mindfulness, mental recovery, stress management, and relaxation are questionable.

The research was conducted on employees in more than two hundred and thirty different units across the UK's healthiest workplaces in 2017 and 2018. The study plans to compare pairs of participating employees from each company, with one person using a wellness coaching program and the other not. The study found that, with the exception of those involved in charity or volunteer projects, employees' mental health and well-being did not appear to change whether they participated in various coaching programs or not.

The study author told the newspaper that he believes that if companies truly want their employees to be happier, improving working conditions such as work arrangements, increasing pay and improving job performance reviews may be the best approach.

Others, however, questioned the study. An assistant professor of psychology at Yale University in the United States conducted a study in 2022 covering more than 1,100 American employees who used similar physical and mental health services. It was found that the mental health of most people has indeed improved, and employees The number of absentee days has also decreased and work productivity has increased.

These two studies were conducted by researchers from the United Kingdom and the United States respectively, but the results are different. This may be due to the different social conditions and cultures of the two countries, or other factors in the research content. But a study conducted by British researchers raises an interesting question: Why do people who participate in charity work or volunteer services have higher levels of happiness? Is it because they have more human kindness, are more compassionate, are content and willing to help others, so they live happier lives? Or conversely, because such people are born with more blessings, they feel that their lives are happier and they are willing to help others? So why are they born with more blessings?

The authors of the British study believe that improving working conditions, such as increasing wages and adjusting work, is the best way to make employees happier, and it makes sense. But the human heart can never be satisfied. If employees feel satisfied and happy now, in a few years their desires may increase and they may no longer feel happy enough. Didn’t you see that workers in some advanced countries or employees in some high-paying industries are enviable compared to others, but they still go on strike to demand higher wages? Isn’t that why?

(Compiled by: Mulian)

(Editor: Jiang Qiming)

(Source of the article: Compiled and published by New Sancai)