TED Talks

Helping others makes us happier — but it matters how we do it | Elizabeth Dunn

Research shows that helping others makes us happier. But in her groundbreaking work on generosity and joy, social psychologist Elizabeth Dunn found that there’s a catch: it matters how we help. Learn how we can make a greater impact — and boost our own happiness along the way — if we make one key shift…

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Research shows that helping others makes us happier. But in her groundbreaking work on generosity and joy, social psychologist Elizabeth Dunn found that there’s a catch: it matters how we help. Learn how we can make a greater impact — and boost our own happiness along the way — if we make one key shift in how we help others. “Let’s stop thinking about giving as just this moral obligation and start thinking of it as a source of pleasure,” Dunn says.

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32 Comments

  1. Ultramarine Waters

    May 21, 2019 at 11:29 am

    This story is beautiful!

  2. Bogdan-Vladimir D

    May 21, 2019 at 11:30 am

    🙂

  3. Amanda Anderson

    May 21, 2019 at 11:51 am

    We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
    Life, our own existence. That was given to us by our parents and not to be taken from by another.
    Liberty, the ability to live your life unmolested or constrained by government or tyranny.
    Pursuit of happiness, the pursuit-verb, to be in search of or to actively go after that which -might- create happiness in your life.
    Only you are responsible for your happiness and for finding what it is that fits you. No one is entitled to or has the automatic right to just be made happy nor should we expect others to carry that obligation.

  4. Artem Kuzmin

    May 21, 2019 at 12:49 pm

    every 3rd talk includes refugees

  5. Abdullah Elmi

    May 21, 2019 at 1:03 pm

    Well done thank you for this amazing show and wonderful ideas about helping people alot of our brothers are struggling in Africa as a refugeea and maybe we’ could help them . That’s how we can make big different for them ane make change to the world

  6. Michael Harig Jr

    May 21, 2019 at 1:12 pm

    I affirm that charity is nice, but why couldn’t those efforts go into preventing the need for charity? Otherwise we’re covering up the problems & call them out of sight, out of mind, & fixed…?

  7. M N

    May 21, 2019 at 2:01 pm

    Her mouth looks the same as the mouth from the smiles ??

  8. 027christy

    May 21, 2019 at 2:07 pm

    This is good, but taking refugees isn’t a good long term solution for these countries or our own. London is now no longer english and multiculturalism has failed. Help your own people first.

  9. Dharmendra Singh

    May 21, 2019 at 5:13 pm

    Amazing job being done by people around the world which goes unknown however even it makes difference in once life, that’s better than any publicity

  10. Mayank Singh

    May 21, 2019 at 5:31 pm

    Canadians … oh the Canadian

  11. Rachel Soderlund

    May 21, 2019 at 5:56 pm

    I just watched the whole mattress pad ad. Wtf that was good af.

  12. Sunny Day

    May 21, 2019 at 8:12 pm

    Group if five to help fix her teeth

  13. Abigail Ball

    May 21, 2019 at 9:58 pm

    The best philanthropy that one can do is securing abortion, birth control and family planning for all animals (humans included) throughout the world.

  14. wallace sansanoski

    May 21, 2019 at 10:04 pm

    Your research fail about that , bible said about that almost 2000 years ago .

  15. Erik de Jong

    May 21, 2019 at 11:59 pm

    Wait until ur in Western Europe where there are African immigrants everywhere destroying countries

  16. Sydneyyyyyy

    May 22, 2019 at 4:05 am

    UBC Prof!! <3

    - proud UBC psychology alum

  17. King Aloush

    May 22, 2019 at 11:30 am

    giving is blessing

  18. staceyb372

    May 22, 2019 at 11:56 am

    Help crowd fund student loans and mortgages with me! #givlingcode SB588132

  19. watch Votos

    May 22, 2019 at 4:35 pm

    .23 it might almost seem not seen

  20. Deepam Minda

    May 22, 2019 at 5:13 pm

    Amazing??

  21. Nathan Darval

    May 22, 2019 at 6:06 pm

    Great video

  22. Genius by Design

    May 23, 2019 at 1:21 am

    SO WHO WANTS TO HELP ME ?

  23. Lacthu Hoang

    May 23, 2019 at 4:19 am

  24. Максим Карпук

    May 23, 2019 at 8:53 am

    Maybe before you start helping refugees your countries government will stop to spawn refugees by interfering and destroying their own countries?

  25. Noukz37

    May 23, 2019 at 12:16 pm

    Seemed like another, “I have the most interesting job ever” speech, but ended up being deeply profound. Thanks TED for a proper title!

  26. BoBo Mill Tv

    May 23, 2019 at 10:34 pm

    -yes, it is the very true! I do it every day.. 🙂

  27. ElbiDraws

    May 24, 2019 at 11:18 am

    Canada keeping up the reputation of being awesome, I see.

  28. No Dreams

    May 25, 2019 at 1:21 am

    Well, they didn’t sponsored Christian refugees, who are being persecuted around the world….that’s the Canadian government’s policy. The ISIS murderers and rapists are being invited to and given everything in Canada. Trudeaus’s Syrian refugee has murdered a young girl. This is called goodness….Giving must be discreet not blind. It may hurt innocent people.

  29. Kai Elvin

    May 25, 2019 at 5:23 pm

    This sounds a lot like charity tourism… I mean, why not, but that should complement and not replace cold money donations (which are more effective and practical). We generally don’t donate because we haven’t made it a collective duty (our surrounding does not expect us to donate). Conspicuous compassion (donating as a display of moral and economical success) could be a way of encouraging donations.

  30. Leonidas666

    May 25, 2019 at 9:58 pm

    I have a problem with people that are ALWAYS happy.
    I mean, they DO live on planet Earth, right?

  31. Wile G

    May 26, 2019 at 2:56 am

    TED talk about: “Thingsss why I am a good perssson”.

  32. Nguyễn Thị Khánh Thiện

    May 27, 2019 at 2:19 pm

    She is amazing!!!

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