Effect of Altruism on Happiness and Meaning in Life

Abstract

Altruism is often linked to sentiments of happiness and satisfaction, such as compassion and empathy. The pleasure and happiness that comes from helping others is a common reason given for engaging in acts of altruism. In fact, studies have linked acts of kindness to higher levels of meaning in life and happiness. The aim of this study is to study the effect of altruism on happiness and meaning of life among young adults. The sample consists of 120 individuals and the sampling design used is purposive sampling and both male and female participants were asked to take initiative. The sample mainly consists of people in the age group of 18-25 years who are young adults. The data in this study has been obtained with the help of the scales named “Self-Report Altruism scale”, “Oxford happiness questionnaire” and “Meaning in life questionnaire” as well as a demographic information form. Important insights into the connections between altruism, happiness, and meaning in life of young people were uncovered by analyzing data from the Self-Report Altruism scale, the Oxford Happiness questionnaire, and the Meaning in Life questionnaire. All three variables were shown to have strong positive connections based on correlation. Significant positive correlations were found between altruism and both happiness and meaning in life (r =.280, p =.005) and between altruism and happiness (r =.316, p =.001). Meaning in life and happiness also had a significant positive relationship (r =.541, p=.001).