What act of kindness makes you the happiest?
Is it an doing something for someone that is close to us, like family and friends; towards a stranger or an acquaintance; to ourselves or an act of kindness that we observe?
An article published in the Journal of Social Psychology just answered the question: there is no difference. Acts of kindness, regardless of the recipient all make you equally happy!
If you are surprised, rest assured that the researchers were surprised too. Initially, they thought that acts of kindness would be more effective in increasing happiness if they were performed for those who are closer to us, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. However, what we do know is that the increase in happiness in a person from just one act of kindness a week was significant, compared to those who didn’t engage in acts of kindness.
Would you challenge yourself to perform ONE act of kindness a day for a week?
From paying for someone’s coffee, to making a “thank you” note, it all counts!
Let’s start today for just one week and see what is the effect.
Thanks to science, we now know increased happiness is one of them.
