friend, three degrees away from their friend’s friend’s friend, and so on). If a person is one degree away from someone happy, they are 15 per cent more likely to be happy themselves. At two and three degrees of separation, the chances of happiness contagion are nearly 10 per cent and 5.6 per cent, respectively.13 As happiness expert Daniel Gilbert points out, “We are happy when we have family, we are happy when we have friends and almost all the other things we think make us happy are actually just ways of getting more family and friends.” confused by the contemporary model of happiness. If happiness has only 10 per cent to do with our circumstances and four times as much to do with our behaviour, then at its core it remains a verb. We just have to choose our verb wisely. We can’t wait for it to appear out of nowhere, we can’t hunt it down in all the places we think it might be—we must build it. Day by day, we allow those around us to bask in its light, while we drip kindness and care over the troubled moments of someone less fortunate than ourselves. doing good makes us feel good 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Ibid. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. <80000hours.org/2012/08/should-we-sacrifice-doingwhat-we-love-to-make-a-difference-part-1/> FREEPIK.COM Researcher Elizabeth Dunn points out that studies have shown that people who donate are happier than those who don’t, regardless of their financial situation. In fact, the act of giving has the same effect on happiness as doubling your salary.14 While depression, anxiety or stress are associated with a degree of self-centredness, focusing on the needs of others removes negative emotions.15 When we help another person, we enter a positive feedback loop: doing good makes us feel good, and that good feeling makes us more likely to do good. Professor Seligman says out of all the activities scientists have tested so far, altruistic acts have produced the most significant increase in wellbeing.16 This is good news for happiness seekers, who are both fascinated and Carmen Lăiu is an editor at the Romanian edition of Signs of the Times, as well as ST Network. MARCH 2025 • SIGNSMAG.COM 31