Honesty is good for your health. According to a recent study by researchers from Harvard University in the United States, lives based on high moral standards are less likely to suffer from depression.
Posted yesterday at 5:00 am
First, how do you measure integrity?
For the purposes of their study, lead researcher Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska and her colleagues set out to construct a scale based on seven indicators to assess the ethical values of 1,209 randomly selected participants at a single large service organization in the United States. These subjects were asked to indicate the extent to which they subscribed (from 0 to 10) to various statements: “My strength comes from helping others. “I always treat others with kindness, fairness and respect. “I am ready to face some difficulties if necessary to do good. »
Health examination
The researchers asked people in their sample to describe their physical and mental health. They also have access to claims submitted by these individuals to their insurance company, as well as diagnoses of depression, anxiety and cardiovascular disease.
Very little depression
Results? People who base their lives on high moral values have a lower risk of depression, with the incidence decreasing from 21% to 51%. Individuals with higher integrity scores tended to have better self-rated physical and general health. The results suggest that high moral standards have a protective effect against anxiety and cardiovascular disease, although less dramatically than depression.
Researchers’ hypotheses
The researchers believe that the lower risk of depression is related to “brain responses associated with the moral aspect of the decision-making process.”
According to the study authors, their findings support “evolutionary theories that altruistic behaviors and generosity contribute to better social cooperation and improve adaptation to a changing environment.”
Such behaviors, as opposed to strong law – seem to be “favorable to the survival of humanity in the process of evolution.”
Follow-ups should be done
As the researchers say, like any study, it has its limitations. One of these stems from the fact, they write, that their cohort is largely white-collar and not representative of the population as a whole.
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