“There is research suggesting that people who are in better health are more likely to volunteer, but because scientists are very well aware of that, in our studies we statistically control for that,” says Sara Konrath
Few as an example:
1. Individuals who do high risk activities might be less likely to do volunteer work.
2. Individuals who simply have bad habits in life might be less likely to volunteer.
3. People who die earlier won't even make it far enough to be in position to donate.
4. Poor people are less likely to be able to donate and can get less care for medicine, have worse conditions generally.
I see thousands of such examples, I don't think it's possible to control for all of that, is it? You would have to
1) List all of those things that should be controlled. I imagine already this to be an amazing feat.
2) Somehow gather all this data from people.
What is meant by wait-listing? Does it mean their future is unclear and for this reason could their stress levels be higher?
Was maybe tutoring itself the activity that worked well not the kindness part in particular?
But anyway intuitively I believe volunteering and kindness do have health benefits, definitely reduces stress, feelings of guilt and just in general makes you feel better about yourself. So from this mental state there might be health benefits.
And while chemical levels differed it is still unclear what health effects there were. Being "linked" doesn't say much.
Think about it, if you are volunteering you are likely to not just have good health, but afford good health care, have plenty of free time for various activities, less stress in life, enjoy and seek social activities, outdoor activities, etc. All those things could impact health, but not volunteering itself.
My health is in shambles. So these days I have to take pride in just making sure kids have food.
Horrible feeling when people ask for help, and I know I’ll just be a burden.