Editing Happiness (section)

===Ethics===
[[Ethics|Ethicists]] have made arguments for how humans should behave, either individually or collectively, based on the resulting happiness of such behavior. [[Utilitarian]]s, such as [[John Stuart Mill]] and [[Jeremy Bentham]], advocated the [[greatest happiness principle]] as a guide for ethical behavior. This principle states that actions are proportionately right or wrong by how much happiness or unhappiness they bring. Mill defines happiness as that which brings about an intended pleasure and avoids an unnecessary pain, and he defines unhappiness as the reverse, namely an action that brings about pain and not pleasure. He is quick to specify that pleasure and pain are to be understood in an [[Epicureanism|Epicurean]] light, referring chiefly to the higher human pleasures of increased intellect, feelings, and moral sentiments not what one might call beastly pleasures of mere animal appetites.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mill |first1=John Stuart |title=Utilitarianism |date=1879 |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11224/11224-h/11224-h.htm |access-date=10 April 2020 |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415023633/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11224/11224-h/11224-h.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Critics of this view include [[Thomas Carlyle]], [[Ferdinand Tönnies]] and others within the German philosophical tradition. They posit that a greater happiness is to be found in choosing to suffer for others, rather than allowing others to suffer for them, declaring this to be a form of satisfying, and heroic, nobility.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bond |first=Niall |title=Trust and Happiness in Ferdinand Tönnies' Community and Society |date=22 November 2017 |url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004353671/B9789004353671_012.xml |work=Trust and Happiness in the History of European Political Thought |pages=221–235 |editor-last=Kontler |editor-first=Laszlo |publisher=BRILL |doi=10.1163/9789004353671_012 |isbn=978-90-04-35366-4 |access-date=16 February 2023 |editor2-last=Somos |editor2-first=Mark |archive-date=20 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420033901/https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004353671/B9789004353671_012.xml |url-status=live }}</ref>

Many studies have observed the effects of [[Volunteering|volunteerism]] (as a form of altruism) on happiness and health and have consistently found that those who exhibit volunteerism also have better current and future health and well-being.<ref name="volunteer12">{{cite journal |last1=Musick |first1=M. A. |last2=Wilson |first2=J. |year=2003 |title=Volunteering and depression: The role of psychological and social resources in different age groups |journal=Social Science & Medicine |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=259–269 |doi=10.1016/S0277-9536(02)00025-4 |pmid=12473312}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Koenig |first1=L. B. |last2=McGue |first2=M. |last3=Krueger |first3=R. F. |last4=Bouchard |year=2007 |title=Religiousness, antisocial behavior, and altruism: Genetic and environmental mediation |journal=Journal of Personality |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=265–290 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00439.x |pmid=17359239}}</ref> In a study of older adults, those who volunteered had higher life satisfaction and will to live, and less [[Depression (mood)|depression]], [[Anxiety (mood)|anxiety]], and [[somatization]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hunter |first1=K. I. |last2=Hunter |first2=M. W. |year=1980 |title=Psychosocial differences between elderly volunteers and non-volunteers |journal=The International Journal of Aging & Human Development |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=205–213 |doi=10.2190/0H6V-QPPP-7JK4-LR38 |pmid=7216525 |s2cid=42991434}}</ref> Volunteerism and helping behavior have not only been shown to improve mental health but physical health and longevity as well, attributable to the activity and social integration it encourages.<ref name="volunteer12" /><ref>{{multiref2|{{cite journal | last1 = Kayloe | first1 = J. C. | last2 = Krause | first2 = M. | year = 1985 | title = RARE FIND: or The value of volunteerism | journal = Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal | volume = 8 | issue = 4| pages = 49–56 | doi=10.1037/h0099659}}|{{cite journal|last1=Brown|first1=S. L.|last2=Brown|first2=R.|last3=House|first3=J. S.|last4=Smith|first4=D. M.|year=2008|title=Coping with spousal loss: Potential buffering effects of self-reported helping behavior|journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin|volume=34|issue=6|pages=849–861|doi=10.1177/0146167208314972|pmid=18344495|s2cid=42983453}}
}}</ref><ref name="volunteer52">{{cite journal |last1=Post |first1=S. G. |year=2005 |title=Altruism, Happiness, and Health: It's Good to Be Good |journal=International Journal of Behavioral Medicine |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=66–77 |citeseerx=10.1.1.485.8406 |doi=10.1207/s15327558ijbm1202_4 |pmid=15901215 |s2cid=12544814}}</ref> One study examined the physical health of mothers who volunteered over 30 years and found that 52% of those who did not belong to a volunteer organization experienced a major illness while only 36% of those who did volunteer experienced one.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moen |first1=P. |last2=Dempster-Mcclain |first2=D. |last3=Williams |first3=R. M. |year=1992 |title=Successful aging: A life-course perspective on women's multiple roles and health |journal=American Journal of Sociology |volume=97 |issue=6 |pages=1612–1638 |doi=10.1086/229941 |s2cid=4828775}}</ref> A study on adults aged 55 and older found that during the four-year study period, people who volunteered for two or more organizations had a 63% lower likelihood of dying. After controlling for prior health status, it was determined that volunteerism accounted for a 44% reduction in mortality.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Oman |first1=D. |last2=Thoresen |first2=C. E. |last3=McMahon |first3=K. |year=1999 |title=Volunteerism and mortality among the community-dwelling elderly |journal=Journal of Health Psychology |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=301–316 |doi=10.1177/135910539900400301 |pmid=22021599 |doi-access=free}}</ref>