People who volunteer live longer than those who don't. Of course, as long as their motives are to help others, according to a study published recently in the journal Health Psychology that also revealed that volunteers who choose to help for "personal satisfaction" or to "feel better about themselves" do not get no benefit to your health.
Sara Konrath and her colleagues at the University of Michigan (USA) reached these conclusions after working with 10,000 subjects of different ages and verifying that within 4 years the chances of survival were 3% higher among those who practiced volunteering . Konrath attributes this increased longevity to the fact that caring for others "deactivates the body's stress responses and releases hormones such as oxytocin that restore normal physiological function."
