The Science Behind Kindness

What is the true impact of a random act of kindness?

For the unemployed man who can dry clean his suit for free, it helps him land the job interview that keeps his family off the streets. For the mother leaving the hospital to find her parking ticket has been paid, it’s the boost she needs to nurse her baby back to health.

The very nature of a random act of kindness, often exchanged between strangers on a whim, makes it difficult to measure the final outcome. Each time we release kindness out into the world, no matter how small, a powerful surge of energy pulses through humanity uplifting everyone in its path.Yet, this chain reaction serves a purpose that extends far beyond just a feel good factor. In fact, to fully understand the true impact of a compassionate act, we need to take a look at the power of kindness through a scientific lens.

Did you feel any sensation when reading the above story, perhaps a warmth in your chest or maybe you even got the chills? That right there is called moral elevation — a natural high triggered by a unique pattern of neurophysiological events in the central and peripheral nervous systems that occurs when you witness an act of kindness. It compels people to imitate the act that instigates this reaction and continue to seek this rewarding sensation. Essentially, moral elevation is why kindness is a positive contagion that cascades through humanity, proving that not all conformity is bad.

In an age of social media where acts of kindness go viral, could the digital world be the vehicle to intensify the kindness phenomenon and magnify the impact of our single actions?

We reap powerful mental and physical health benefits as a result of the chemicals released whenever we are kind. Simply smiling at someone, produces oxytocin which reduces stress, boosts our immune system and slows aging. This effect is further augmented, as the gains have been shown on both sides of an act of kindness. In this study, it was found that a patient of a kind doctor receives a greater positive reduction in their risk of heart attack than taking a daily aspirin.

The “halo effect” is a cognitive bias where positive traits like kindness influence the overall impression of a person, explaining why displaying kindness makes you more desirable.

Researchers asked three groups to rate photos of faces and found no significant difference in their judgement of attractiveness. They then repeated the process two weeks later after providing personality descriptions for each of the faces. The group that received the positive descriptors rated the faces as being significantly more attractive than the other groups. Proving that a person’s character is an important factor in reproduction and key to the evolution of our species.

Kindness is considered to be both an innate and learned behavior. Although there’s no doubt that many of us are born with a natural sense of compassion, observing and receiving kindness first hand are the most effective way to guarantee it’s continuation. This concept is of particular relevance when raising the next generation, and one that sparked the interest of the Dalai Lama. In 2017, the Dalai Lama and the Center for Healthy Minds launched the Kindness Curriculum to promote the teaching of emotional intelligence within schools. The integration of this content alongside traditional academics has already shown positive results. Nurturing mindful children by cultivating kind behavior emboldens them to grow into socially conscious adults who will carry forth the kindness mission.

“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.” — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

We possess a powerful privilege to choose kindness. By adopting more intentional actions we can power an ongoing wave of compassionate energy. Actively volunteering your skills to help a nonprofit in need, is one way to fully embrace the capacity you have within to help others.

Be it random or intentional, free or extravagant, the way we choose to express acts of kindness is as unique as our fingerprints, but ultimately it all converges into one, collective impact — that of making the world a more compassionate and just place.

Tell us about the acts of kindness you have experienced at #bethespark.