World Happiness Report finds higher levels of benevolence in all global regions than before the pandemic.
Interviews with more than 100,000 people across 137 countries found significantly higher levels of benevolence in all global regions than before the pandemic, The Guardian reported.
Things were slightly worse in Western countries and slightly better in the rest of the world, but overall “the undoubted pains were offset by increases in the extent to which respondents had been able to discover and share the capacity to care for each other in difficult times,” the 10th World Happiness Report found.
“It’s amazing,” said John Helliwell, a professor of economics at the University of British Columbia and a co-editor of the report.
“People ended up discovering their neighbours. People were checking in more regularly [with other generations], so that sense of isolation was not as much as you would expect.”
Acts of everyday kindness that have been shown to boost happiness, such as helping a stranger, donating to charity and volunteering – activities spurred by the needs of lockdowns – are now above pre-pandemic levels.
The study found the happiness effect of “having someone to count on in times of trouble” increased during the pandemic and since 80 per cent of people surveyed said they did have someone to count on, that had a significant effect.
The study found the happiness effect of ‘having someone to count on in times of trouble’ increased during the pandemic.