The humble and helpful are happy

We know that some personality types are more generous than others. A recent scientific study, reported in LiveScience, suggests that humble people are more willing to lend a helping hand than their arrogant counterparts.
The study showed that humble people “may be more down- to-earth than arrogant people, but, that doesn’t mean they think poorly of themselves”. The lead researcher Jordan LaBouff, of the University of Maine, elaborated: “In fact, rather than being insecure or reserved, humble people seem to be characterised by an accurate view of themselves, understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and are comfort[able] with them.”
The study, published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, emphasises the positive side of humility. It is generally assumed that humble people make more effective and better-liked leaders than those who wear their achievements on their sleeve. Even so, very few studies have shown any effect of personality on helpfulness, said LaBouff, a psychologist. “The only other personality trait that has shown any effect (on helpful behaviour) is agreeableness, but, we found that humility predicted helping over and above that,” LaBouff said.
In the first of three studies, 117 participants indicated their level of humbleness and helpfulness. They also completed a questionnaire on the ‘Big Five’ personality traits, which are five basic attributes that describe the spectrum of human personality. Some scholarly works refer to the Big Five as the ‘Five-Factor Model’. The model comprises five personality dimensions: Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism (ocean). Each dimension consists of a number of more specific traits. For example, extraversion includes related qualities like sociability, excitement-seeking and positive emotions.
Those in the study who indicated they were humble also tended to say they were helpful. The results were true even when the researchers accounted for personality factors, such as agreeableness, which could impact helpfulness. In order to make sure these results were accurate and that volunteers weren’t either exaggerating or underreporting their humbleness, the team ran other studies using an implicit measure of humility.
For instance, in another related but different study, 90 students listened to a recording about an injured student who couldn’t always make it to classes, which they were told might be broadcast later on the campus radio station. Each participant then indicated how many hours over the next three weeks they would be willing to meet with the injured student to help him or her out. Those who scored higher on humility offered more helping time than other students.
Next, 103 participants completed both implicit and self-report measures of humility. For instance, students had to associate as quickly as possible traits that applied to themselves: Humble, modest, tolerant, down-to-earth, respectful and open-minded. Words associated with its opposite, which is arrogance, included: Immodest, egotistical and conceited. Here too, the researchers found more humility was linked to more helpfulness.
“One aspect of humility is relatively low self-focus; humble people may have more time, resources and attention to direct towards peers in need,” said LaBouff.
We can, thus, assert that humble people tend to be more helpful and open, thus, making them more pro-social and happy.

(The writer is a professor of science and religion)