It's a truth universally acknowledged that doing something nice for someone else makes us feel good about ourselves. Like it or not, that’s often why people do altruistic things.
But it is a lesser known fact that being kind to others is actually beneficial for our health. There is evidence for this welcome truth in a number of studies from across the globe.
Some studies show, for example, that volunteering correlates with a 24% lower risk of early death. That’s the same effect as eating six or more portions of fruit and veggies every day.
Correlation does not necessarily mean causation, of course, and it is also true that people who are healthy are more likely to volunteer.
In one randomized experiment in Canada, one group of high school students began tutoring younger children while another group was put on a waiting list to do the same.