How our aspirations affect mental health
Scientific litsketch on boosting mental health
We have different aspirations in life. Some people aspire to be rich, famous, grow and learn new things, to have deep, enduring relationships or a physically healthy lifestyle. Others aspire to work to make the world a better place, helping people in need and improving other people’s lives. What kind of aspirations contribute most to our happiness?
A survey of more than 11,000 people across three countries (Hungary, Australia and the US) found that those who aspire to make the world a better place have the highest levels of happiness and wellbeing (Bradshaw et al., 2020). We can aspire for different things in life but if happiness is what we want in the end, aspiring to work to help others will pay dividend.
When we look not only to our own interest, but also to the interests of others, we will be rewarded with greater happiness.
Bradshaw, E.L., Sahdra, B.K., Ciarrochi, J., Parker, P.D., Martos, T. and Ryan, R.M., 2020. A configural approach to aspirations: The social breadth of aspiration profiles predicts well-being over and above the intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations that comprise the profiles. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.