Kindness brings more joy than a higher-paying job

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.

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.

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.

What are acts of benevolence?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Doing good feels good

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.