The Session: The Impact of Kindness

Who knew?  Random acts of kindness help people feel BETTER!  Well, as Jesus followers, WE knew.  Let's talk about it today on The Session!The Session: Kindness Can Have Unexpectedly Positive ConsequencesAmit Kumar on December 12, 2022 (Scientific American)Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Both performers and recipients of the acts of kindness were in more positive moods than normal after these exchanges. For another, it was clear that performers undervalued their impact: recipients felt significantly better than the kind actors expected. The recipients also reliably rated these acts as “bigger” than the people performing them did. We wanted to understand how valuable people perceived these acts to be, so both the performer and recipient had to rate how “big” the act seemed. For one, both performers and recipients of the acts of kindness were in more positive moods than normal after these exchanges. For another, it was clear that performers undervalued their impact: recipients felt significantly better than the kind actors expected. The recipients also reliably rated these acts as “bigger” than the people performing them did.We initially studied acts of kindness done for familiar people, such as friends, classmates or family. But we found that participants underestimated their positive impact on strangers as well. In one experiment, participants at an ice-skating rink in a public park gave away hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day. Again the experience was more positive than the givers anticipated for the recipients, who were people that just happened to be nearby. While the people giving the hot chocolate saw the act as relatively inconsequential, it really mattered to the recipients. When people received cupcakes through a random act of kindness, the cupcake givers underestimated how positive their recipients would feel. Recipients of these unexpected actions tend to focus more on warmth than performers do. But our data suggests that underestimating the impact of one’s actions may reduce the likelihood of kindness. If people undervalue this impact, they might not bother to carry out these warm, prosocial behaviors. kindness can be contagious. In another experiment, we had people play an economic game that allowed us to examine what are sometimes called “effects. In this game, participants allocated money between themselves and a person whom they would never meet. People who had just been on the receiving end of a kind act gave substantially more to an anonymous person than those who had not. Meanwhile the person who performed the initial act did not recognize that their generosity would spill over in these downstream interactions.Examples of Christian acts of kindness,· Leave money on a vending machine for someone.· Bake cookies for the elderly.· Serve at a homeless shelter.· Do a 5k for a good cause.· Help at a veterinarian office.· Pick up litter on the beach.· Let someone go in front of you in line.· Give a stranger a compliment.  Orly Wahba, Kindness Boomerang: How to Save the World (and Yourself) Through 365 Daily Acts writes:“It’s the ultimate expression of your love for God. It’s how we tell Him that we are choosing Him in as much as He chose us.Proverbs 11:17 also tells us that a man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself. Indeed, kindness not only makes others happy. It uplifts your spirit too.”  To reach Tom Russell, please call 419-709-8447, email Tom at [email protected], or visit his website at https://www.heritagechristiancounselingofmansfield.com