Editing Kindness

{{Short description|Behavior marked by generosity, consideration, assistance, or concern for others}}
{{Redirect|Niceness|the concept in general|Pleasure|"niceness" in Unix and Linux|nice (Unix)}}
{{Other uses|Kindness (disambiguation)}}
{{Emotion}}
{{missing|the philosophical and religious aspects of kindness|date=May 2025}}
[[File: People's Climate March 2017 in Washington DC 35.jpg|thumb|Placard for kindness, at the [[People's Climate March (2017)]]]]
'''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]].

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/kindness|title = kindness |website=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref>

==In society==
Human [[Mate choice#Mate choice in humans|mate choice]] studies suggest that both men and women value kindness in their prospective mates, along with [[Human intelligence|intelligence]], [[physical appearance|physical appearance, attractiveness]], and [[Ageing|age]].<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite journal|last=Buss|first=David M.|display-authors=etal|title=Sex differences in jealousy: Evolution, physiology, and psychology|journal=Psychological Science|volume=3|number=4|year=1992|pages=251–255|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.1992.tb00038.x |s2cid=27388562 }}
|2={{cite book|title=Psychology|first1= Henry |last1= Gleitman|first2=James |last2= Gross|first3=Daniel |last3= Reisberg|edition=8th|isbn=9780393932508|publisher=W.W. Norton & co.|year=2011}} }}</ref>

==In psychology==
Studies at Yale University used games with babies to conclude that kindness is inherent to human beings.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/video/magazine/1247467772000/can-babies-tell-right-from-wrong-.html|url-status=dead|title=Can Babies Tell Right From Wrong?, Babies at Yale University's Infant Cognition Center respond to "naughty" and "nice" puppets|work=New York Times (TimesVideo)|date=May 5, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712065555/https://www.nytimes.com/video/magazine/1247467772000/can-babies-tell-right-from-wrong-.html|archive-date=2015-07-12}}</ref> There are similar studies about the root of empathy in infancy<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/28/science/researchers-trace-empathy-s-roots-to-infancy.html?pagewanted=all|url-access=subscription|title=Researchers Trace Empathy's Roots to Infancy|first=Daniel|last=Goleman|date=1989-03-28|page=C1|newspaper=New York Times}}</ref> – with motor [[Mirroring (psychology)|mirroring]] developing in the early months of life,<ref>{{cite book|first=Daniel|last=Goleman|title=Emotional Intelligence|location=London|year=1996|publisher=Bloomsbury|pages=98–99}}</ref> and leading (optimally) to the concern shown by children for their peers in distress.<ref name=OK>{{cite book|first1=Adam|last1=
Phillips|first2=Barbara|last2=Taylor|title=On Kindness|location=London|year=2009}}</ref>{{rp|112}}

[[Barbara Taylor (historian)|Barbara Taylor]] and [[Adam Phillips (psychologist)|Adam Phillips]] stressed the element of necessary realism{{jargon inline|reason=what is "necessary realism"?|date=August 2023}} in adult kindness, as well as the way "real kindness changes people in the doing of it, often in unpredictable ways".{{r|OK|pages=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 [[Psychology#WEIRD_bias|WEIRD]] research subjects) supported the [[hypothesis]] that acting more kindly improves your well-being.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Oliver Scott|last1=Curry|first2=Lee A.|last2=Rowland|first3=Caspar J.|last3=Van Lissa|first4=Sally|last4=Zlotowitz|first5=John|last5=McAlaney|first6=Harvey|last6=Whitehouse|title=Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor|journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology|volume=76|year=2018|pages=320–329 |doi=10.1016/j.jesp.2018.02.014|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Teaching kindness==
[[File: Fifty-fifty - something better than rolling Easter eggs (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Malti |first=Tina |date=2021-09-03 |title=Kindness: a perspective from developmental psychology |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17405629.2020.1837617 |journal=European Journal of Developmental Psychology |language=en |volume=18 |issue=5 |pages=629–657 |doi=10.1080/17405629.2020.1837617 |s2cid=228970189 |issn=1740-5629|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Further studies show that kindness interventions can help improve well-being with comparable results as teaching gratitude.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Datu |first1=Jesus Alfonso D. |last2=Valdez |first2=Jana Patricia M. |last3=McInerney |first3=Dennis M. |last4=Cayubit |first4=Ryan Francis |date=May 2022 |title=The effects of gratitude and kindness on life satisfaction, positive emotions, negative emotions, and COVID-19 anxiety: An online pilot experimental study  |journal=Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being |language=en |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=347–361 |doi=10.1111/aphw.12306 |issn=1758-0846 |pmc=8652666 |pmid=34668323}}</ref> Similar findings have shown that organizational level teaching of kindness can improve the well-being of adults in college.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Datu |first1=Jesus Alfonso D. |last2=Lin |first2=Xunyi |date=June 2022 |title=The Mental Health Benefits of kind University Climate: Perception of Kindness at University Relates to Longitudinal Increases in Well-Being |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11482-021-09981-z |journal=Applied Research in Quality of Life |language=en |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=1663–1680 |doi=10.1007/s11482-021-09981-z |s2cid=255275797 |issn=1871-2584|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
{{clear|left}}
==See also==
[[File:2018_Women's_March_in_Missoula,_Montana_97.jpg|thumb|2018 Women's March in Missoula, Montana]]
*{{annotated link|[[Altruism]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[Compassion]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[Empathy]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[Generosity]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[Good]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[Good faith]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[Kindness Day UK]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[Moral character]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[Moral emotions]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[Norm of reciprocity|Reciprocity]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[Pay it forward]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[Random act of kindness]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[Random Acts of Kindness Day]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[r/K selection theory]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[The Kindness Offensive]]}}
*{{annotated link|[[World Kindness Day]]}}

*{{annotated link|[[Greatness]]}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Brownlie, Julie (2024). "[[doi:10.1111/1468-4446.13128|How kindness took a hold: A sociology of emotions, attachment and everyday enchantment]]". ''The British Journal of Sociology''.
*{{cite web|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/kindness-emotions-psychology/#|title=Forget Survival of the Fittest: It Is Kindness That Counts|date=January 2017|website=[[Scientific American]]|quote=A psychologist probes how altruism, Darwinism, and neurobiology mean that we can succeed by not being cutthroat.|first1=Dacher|last1=Keltner|first2=David|last2=DiSalvo}}

== External links ==
{{Commonscat|Kindness}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{wiktionary inline|kindness}}
* [http://www.kindnessuk.com/ A UK independent, not-for-profit organisation]
* [https://www.randomactsofkindness.org Random Acts of Kindness Foundation]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Z-yU999LQ Video with quotes about Kindness], from [[Wikiquote]]

{{Catholic virtue ethics}}
{{emotion-footer}}
{{Virtues}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Kindness| ]]
[[Category:Giving]]
[[Category:Virtue]]
[[Category:Concepts in ethics]]
[[Category:Seven virtues]]
[[Category:Fruit of the Holy Spirit]]
[[Category:Emotions]]
[[Category:Moral psychology]]
[[Category:Empathy]]