Kindness

"Niceness" redirects here. For the concept in general, see Pleasure. For "niceness" in Unix and Linux, see nice (Unix).

For other uses, see Kindness (disambiguation).

Kindness is a type of behavior marked by acts of generosity, consideration, or concern for others, without expecting praise or reward in return. It is a subject of interest in philosophy, religion, and psychology.

Placard for kindness, at the People's Climate March (2017)

It can be directed towards one's self or other people, and is present across multiple different species and cultures.

History

In English, the word kindness dates from approximately 1300, though the word's sense evolved to its current meanings in the late 1300s.^[1]

In society

Human mate choice studies suggest that both men and women value kindness in their prospective mates, along with intelligence, physical appearance, attractiveness, and age.^[2]

In psychology

Studies at Yale University used games with babies to conclude that kindness is inherent to human beings.^[3] There are similar studies about the root of empathy in infancy^[4] – with motor mirroring developing in the early months of life,^[5] and leading (optimally) to the concern shown by children for their peers in distress.^[6]: 112

Barbara Taylor and Adam Phillips stressed the element of necessary realism^[jargon] in adult kindness, as well as the way "real kindness changes people in the doing of it, often in unpredictable ways".^{[6]: 96 & 12}

Behaving kindly may improve a person's measurable well-being. Many studies have tried to test the hypothesis that doing something kind makes a person better off. A meta-analysis of 27 such studies found that the interventions studied (usually measuring short-term effects after brief acts of kindness, in WEIRD research subjects) supported the hypothesis that acting more kindly improves your well-being.^[7]

Teaching kindness

Two children sharing a soft drink at the White House, 1922.

Kindness is most often taught by parents to children and is learned through observation and some direct teaching. Studies have shown that through programs and interventions kindness can be taught and encouraged during the first 20 years of life.^[8] Further studies show that kindness interventions can help improve well-being with comparable results as teaching gratitude.^[9] Similar findings have shown that organizational level teaching of kindness can improve the well-being of adults in college.^[10]

See also

2018 Women's March in Missoula, Montana

• Altruism – Concern for the well-being of others
• Compassion – Movement or motivation to help others
• Empathy – Capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing
• Generosity – Liberality in giving
• Good – Concept in religion, ethics, and philosophy
• Good faith – Intention to be fair, open, and honest
• Kindness Day UK
• Moral character – Steady moral qualities in people
• Moral emotions – Variety of social emotions
• Reciprocity – Repayment in kind
• Pay it forward – Expression for describing the beneficiary of a good deed repaying the kindness to others
• Random act of kindness – Nonpremeditated act to cheer up another
• Random Acts of Kindness Day – A day to celebrate kindlness
• r/K selection theory – Ecological theory concerning the selection of life history traits
• The Kindness Offensive – North London group known for random acts of kindness
• World Kindness Day – International observance on 13 November
• Greatness – Concept of superiority