"The Helpers High"
Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope... and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. ~Robert F. Kennedy
The time is always right to do what is right. ~Martin Luther King Jr.
More reason to do good:
ABC News story:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2685717&page=1
Research on the "helpers high"
http://www.actsofkindness.org/inspiration/health/detail.asp?id=1
More on "helpers high"
http://www.smm.org/buzz/buzz_tags/helpers_high
Christian Science Monitor Article:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0725/p13s02-lire.htm
Boston Globe Article:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/11/28/for_good_health_it_is_better_to_give_science_suggests?mode=PF
MSN Article:
http://health.msn.com/centers/depression/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100167285&page=1
Take the "Compassion Quiz"
http://www.whygoodthingshappen.com/main.php?section=quiz
Why Good Things Happen to Good People
http://www.whygoodthingshappen.com/home.php
Extra Credit: Read one of the articles above. Write a brief reflection. What did you learn?
The time is always right to do what is right. ~Martin Luther King Jr.
More reason to do good:
ABC News story:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2685717&page=1
Research on the "helpers high"
http://www.actsofkindness.org/inspiration/health/detail.asp?id=1
More on "helpers high"
http://www.smm.org/buzz/buzz_tags/helpers_high
Christian Science Monitor Article:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0725/p13s02-lire.htm
Boston Globe Article:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/11/28/for_good_health_it_is_better_to_give_science_suggests?mode=PF
MSN Article:
http://health.msn.com/centers/depression/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100167285&page=1
Take the "Compassion Quiz"
http://www.whygoodthingshappen.com/main.php?section=quiz
Why Good Things Happen to Good People
http://www.whygoodthingshappen.com/home.php
Extra Credit: Read one of the articles above. Write a brief reflection. What did you learn?
Comments
and
http://www.actsofkindness.org/inspiration/health/detail.asp?id=1
The first article I read about the helper's high, the ABC one, did not seem to be entirely scientific. Their experiment consisted of 4 people, which I do not feel to be a large enough test group to use for this sort of experiment.
However, I read the article about Random Acts of Kindness. This multiple scientific studies and surveys of a large group of people. For example, they measured the amount of an immune system agent present in a person's saliva when they were watching a movie on Mother Teresa and again during the airing of a Nazi film. The test subjects showed a rise of the agent during the movie about Mother Teresa, and no effect when they were watching the Nazi film. They also surveyed a much larger sample of people (3000+) in their study, as well as long term studies.
This insurmountable evidence leads me to conclude that The "Helpers high" is a sound piece of psychological research, because it used random sampling and the use of surveys (longitudinal studying).
On a personal note, I found it interesting that they said that giving is the most powerful force on earth. I also found it interesting when they said that we have a raised ability for kindness during catastrophic situations.
http://dev.smm.org/buzz/buzz_tags/helpers_high
In my opinion, this site used study information form the other sites I looked at, distilling them into a more user freindly format. I believe that since this article is a combination of the other articles I have posted on,and those articles were good psychological studies, this study followes the same suit.