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Path to happiness -

What would make you happier: helping someone, or earning more money? In a world that feels increasingly individualistic and divisive, it's unfortunate that choosing the latter is often the most common answer.

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As the saying goes... -

However, as cliché as it may sound, the old adage "money doesn't buy happiness" might actually hold true, according to a new report.

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World Happiness Report -

Released annually on the International Day of Happiness (March 20), the World Happiness Report examines global well-being. It is produced by Gallup, the University of Oxford, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

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Global happiness -

To analyze global happiness trends, the recently released 2025 report focused particularly on acts of benevolence and people's expectations of their communities.

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What are acts of benevolence? -

The report categorized these acts into three groups: monetary donations, volunteering, and acts of kindness towards strangers.

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Kindness statistics -

The report found that 70% of the world's population performed at least one kind act in the past month.

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Positive results -

"That's a really, really high number," said Dr. Felix Cheung, co-author of the report and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, as well as Canada Research Chair in Population Well-Being.

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Positive results -

As he put it, despite the world sometimes feeling dark, the data shows that, recently, seven in 10 people around us have done something nice. "We should look at that number and feel really good," he says.

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Keeping it up -

According to the report, while the kindness  trend has decreased from the peak experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, it still represents an improvement over pre-lockdown levels.

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Contagious energy -

Even awareness of kindness can inspire hope and happiness. "Even though the world feels like a difficult place right now, it’s reassuring to know that people are engaging in kind and generous acts," said Dr. Lara Aknin, professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, and an editor of the World Happiness Report.

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Goes both ways -

Acts of kindness have the potential to make both the recipient and the doer feel happier, according to studies, suggesting that benevolence may be key to improving not only individual happiness but also overall happiness in a country or community.

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America grinning again -

Ilana Ron-Levey, managing director of the public sector at Gallup, highlighted how incorporating more acts of kindness into people's lives could boost happiness levels in the United States, which continues to decline on the list of the happiest countries.

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Sad US? -

The US ranked no. 24 on this year’s list of happiest countries — its lowest ranking yet, after dropping out of the top 20 for the first time in 2024.

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Why the decline? -

This decline in the US was at least partly due to Americans under age 30 feeling worse about their lives, said Ron-Levey. “Today’s young people report feeling less supported by friends and family, less free to make life choices, and less optimistic about their living standards.”

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Happiness boost -

While these factors are shaped by larger issues like government policies and the global economy, the researchers emphasize that the data shows acts of kindness can significantly boost happiness.

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Every little bit helps -

Making a donation, volunteering for an hour, or performing other small acts of kindness may seem insignificant compared to the bigger factors that contribute to a happy life, but the data suggests otherwise, according to Ron-Levey.

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Doing good feels good -

Ron-Levey goes so far as to say, “Acts of generosity predict happiness even more than earning a higher salary.”

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Investigating happiness -

Other studies have also highlighted the impact of benevolence. In one 2008 experiment, researchers recruited university students to report their baseline happiness.

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Investing choice -

They were then given a small amount of money—about US$2 to $5—and instructed to spend it either on themselves or on someone else.

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Pay it forward -

Researchers then measured participants' immediate emotional reactions. Aknin, one of the study's authors, explained that they found "in almost all of our studies, people randomly assigned to spend generously reported feeling higher levels of happiness than those who spent on themselves."

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Prosocial spending -

The pattern was similar in other countries, including South Africa, Uganda, and India. In a 2013 study, Aknin and a team of researchers provided the first evidence for a possible psychological universal: people worldwide experience emotional benefits from using their financial resources to help others.

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Seeking connection -

As Aknin highlights, "we’re a super social species," supporting the argument that acts of generosity help build and sustain connections among people.

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Pessimistic vibes -

Given the number of people who perform kind acts, according to the World Happiness Report, expectations of benevolence are generally low, meaning people tend to be "overly pessimistic," Aknin said.

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Expecting the worst? -

To understand how people perceive the levels of kindness around them, researchers asked whether people expected a lost wallet to be returned, Cheung explained.

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Who would it be? -

The researchers then broke down the responses to see if people expected the wallet to be returned by a neighbor, the police, or a stranger.

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Trust meter -

Americans were more likely to believe a neighbor or police officer would return a lost wallet, with the belief that a stranger would do so falling far behind on the list.

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Each to their own -

"The US ranks 17th in the world in believing a neighbor would return a lost wallet, 25th in believing the same about the police, but ranks only 52nd in believing that a stranger would return a wallet, which suggests a fraying of social cohesion," Ron-Levey said.

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Global trend -

This sense of distrust, or the disparity between what people believe about others and actual reality—referred to by researchers as "the empathy gap"—negatively impacts happiness, Aknin added.

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Community matters -

The report shows that people’s perceptions of others' kindness improve when they take social risks. By building connections, trust begins to blossom, closing the empathy gap and boosting feelings of happiness.

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Happiness formula -

Combining the elements proven to boost happiness (social interaction and helping others), Aknin suggests implementing what she calls the "three Cs": connection, choice, and a clear sense of positive impact.

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Connection -

She highlights that even when performing acts of kindness like donating, doing it face-to-face is more likely to make you feel happier and more fulfilled, rather than just making an online donation or shipping goods.

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Choice -

Choosing something you truly care about and doing it in a genuinely generous way—because you want to, not because you feel obligated—makes all the difference, according to Aknin.

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Clear sense of positive impact -

Witnessing the impact of your acts of kindness or donating to a cause whose benefits you can clearly see unfold is likely to bring you the most fulfillment, Aknin said.

Sources: (CNN)

See also: The world's happiest countries in 2025

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