Benefits of kindness
Research suggests that a relationship has been found between pro-social behaviour and increased wellbeing for people who are both ‘psychologically healthy’ as well as people who have recently experienced a traumatic event. Performing kind acts has been shown to boost happiness, and in turn increases the likelihood of having positive experiences which have been related to putting in more effort when carrying out future pro-social behaviour (Layous et al, 2016).
The TED talk below is about exploring how acts of kindness are prevalent but under reported, they are often just a part of who we are. It also discusses what we can do to change our perspective of the world as an inherently bad place and the issues that can arise when we inundate ourselves with bad news.
Video
Greatest Benefits of Kindness Research into kindness suggests how much people benefit depends on the following things:
1) How often? – Carrying out several random acts of kindness in one day rather than spread over the week leads to a greater boost to wellbeing (Lyubomirsky, 2005).
2) What acts of kindness? – People demonstrate greater improvements to wellbeing when left to choose which acts of kindness they carry out rather than having them prescribed (Sheldon et al, 2012).
3) Autonomy – Feelings of autonomy, the freedom to do as you please, about carrying out random acts of kindness leads to greater increases in wellbeing.
Consider more:
1) What big or small acts of kindness do you do on a daily basis?rn2) What benefits do you feel when you carry out an act of kindness?
You might want to make notes at this point. These may help you remember things, work out what you want or see how much you’ve changed if you read them again in a few years’ time.