Angelina Jolie believes visiting war zones has made her a ''happier'' person.

The 38-year-old actress - who raises children Maddox , 12, Pax, 10, Zahara, nine, Shiloh, eight, and five-year-old Knox and Vivienne with fiance Brad Pitt - says the travelling she does in her work with the United Nations has stopped her worrying about her own problems and made her appreciate the things she has.

She said: ''I'd been through a period where I was more concerned with my own problems and pain. Then I travelled to places where there were landmine victims, I went to my first war zone, to places where you see people in real need.

''You meet people who don't even know where their parents are, or their children, and they haven't got enough food.

''And you wake up in a moment, you realise how fortunate you are that your concerns are nothing in comparison.

''You don't worry about yourself, you worry about other people and you just grow up. It helped me get out of my own head. And it's a happier life. To be of service to others creates a happier life.''

The 'Maleficent' actress believes people are not born evil and their personalities are determined by the choices they make in life.

She told Psychologies magazine: ''We have a choice about how we take what happens to us in our life and whether or not we allow it to turn us.

''We can become consumed by hate and darkness, or we're able to regain our humanity somehow, or come to terms with things and learn something about ourselves.''