Volunteering
One of the best ways to do a little good for yourself is to help others. But only if your motives are pure.
A study published in the journal Health Psychology found that volunteering does indeed extend life — but with a strange caveat, according to the American Psychological Association:
“Volunteers lived longer than people who didn’t volunteer if they reported altruistic values or a desire for social connections as the main reasons for wanting to volunteer, according to the study. People who said they volunteered for their own personal satisfaction had the same mortality rate four years later as people who did not volunteer at all, according to the study.”
Researchers speculated that proper motivation is key to getting the most out of volunteering because it buffers volunteers from stressors — such as impingement on the volunteer’s time and lack of pay — associated with doing good works.