The world's largest public study of kindness reported its findings this week. 'The Kindness Test', devised and analysed by University of Sussex psychologists, involved more than 60,000 people from across 144 different countries, ranging in age from 18 to 99.
And the results suggest that being kind could be good for you: people who said they receive, give, or notice more acts of kindness also reported higher levels of well-being.
The home, medical settings, the workplace, green spaces and shops were selected as the places people are most likely to see kind acts taking place. These findings suggest the important role community plays in giving and receiving kindness, over more anonymous spaces like the internet. Interestingly, two thirds thought that the pandemic has made people kinder.
Professor Robin Banerjee, Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex says: '...The Kindness Test has generated tremendous insights into the nature of kindness and the role it plays in our lives. Even very small acts of kindness are related to our well-being, and the results of The Kindness Test raise important questions for us all about how we can promote kindness in our homes, communities, and workplaces.'
The most common barriers to kindness were reported to be concerns about kindness being misinterpreted (65.9%), not having enough time (57.5%), use of social media (52.3%), not having the opportunity (42.1%), or kindness being seen as a weakness (27.6%).
The results from this vast survey of public experience serve to reinforce the feedback we receive regularly from CMP volunteers. Last week, for example, saw our first Annual Volunteering Day at Yateley Industries following which one of our 80 volunteers wrote this:
'I'm sure I speak on behalf of our team of volunteers - what an amazing day! We all found the day exhilarating and humbling to be doing something for the Yateley industries community with the added bonus of team bonding in the fresh air.'
Barrier free volunteering with CMP: improves the health and well-being of staff; benefits the community; builds team work.
If you haven't yet got involved, pass The Kindness Test and contact us today!
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