Doing good deeds for their own sake seems somehow to increase our happiness, according to a couple of New Year-related articles. [1] Earlier this week, we had Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right [2] by U.Va. psychology professor Timothy D. Wilson, in the Dec. 29 New York Times:
What
can we do to improve ourselves and feel happier? Numerous social
psychological studies have confirmed Aristotle’s observation that "We
become just by the practice of just actions, self-controlled by
exercising self-control, and courageous by performing acts of
courage." If we are dissatisfied
with some aspect of our lives, one of the best approaches is to act
more like the person we want to be, rather than sitting around
analyzing ourselves.Social psychologist Daniel Batson
and colleagues at the University of Kansas found that participants who
were given an opportunity to do a favor for another person ended up
viewing themselves as kind, considerate people – unless, that is, they
were asked to reflect on why they had done the favor. People in that
group tended in the end to not view themselves as being especially kind. The
trick is to go out of our way to be kind to others without thinking too
much about why we’re doing it. As a bonus, our kindnesses will make us
happier.A study by University of California, Riverside,
social psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky and colleagues found that college
students instructed to do a few acts of kindness one day a week ended
up being happier than a control group of students who received no
special instructions.As the new year begins, then, reach out
and help others. If that sounds suspiciously like an old Motown song or
like simplistic advice from one of those do-gooder college professors,
well, it is. But the fact is that being good to others will ultimately make us kinder, happier people – just so long as we don’t think too much about it.
And in this morning’s Houston Chronicle we find Of Mirth and Myth: Perpetual Happiness Is No Birthright — And That Is More Than OK, by Florida State University history professor Darrin M. McMahon:
[Carlyle’s] central insight — that the new doctrine of happiness tended
to raise expectations that could never possibly be fulfilled — remains
as relevant today as it was in 1843. * * *Carlyle’s sometime
friend and long-time rival, the philosopher John Stuart Mill, came to a
similar conclusion. … "Those only are happy," he came to believe, "who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness;
on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some
art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way." …So
I say to you, "Don’t have a happy new year!" Have dinner with your
family or walk in the park with friends. If you’re so inclined, put in
some good hours at the office or at your favorite charity, temple or church. Work on your jump shot or your child’s model trains. With luck, you’ll find happiness by the by. If not, your time won’t be wasted. You may even bring a little joy to the world.
Sounds quite a bit like the teachings of a certain itinerant Galilean preacher, no?
Notes:
[1] In both of the above quotes, paragraphing has been edited and emphasis added.
[2] The Wilson article title alludes to Bob Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right, popularized by Peter, Paul & Mary in one of the great singles of the ’60s folk-music revival, from their 1963 album In the Wind.
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