I agree with the article that activism does build the person up and I think more is in the process.
The give and take of the activitist business makes one feel a better person. I also think the process works like a spiritual or psychic or emotional cleanser for the person. The process of believing in something, experiencing it, doing things for and about it makes a person feel enlightened. Politics is not the only thing that makes one feel such. Any kind of non-material belief system should work similarly.
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from BPS Research Digest by Digest
Aristotle argued that we’re political animals at heart and that active involvement in society fulfils a basic human need. It’s an idea that’s been rediscovered recently by psychologists interested in well-being and human flourishing. Now the positive psychologists Malte Klar and Tim Kasser have provided some tentative evidence that activists are happier than non-activists. Moreover, they’ve shown that a brief activist task boosted participants’ vitality levels compared to a group of controls.
Read the Post
http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2009/09/political-activism-is-good-for-you.html
