Kindness Counts: Prompting Prosocial Behavior in Preadolescents Boosts Peer Acceptance and Well-Being

Abstract

At the top of parents’ many wishes is for their children to be happy, to be good, and to be well-liked. Our findings suggest that these goals may not only be compatible but also reciprocal. In a longitudinal experiment conducted in 19 classrooms in Vancouver, 9- to 11-year olds were instructed to perform three acts of kindness (versus visit three places) per week over the course of 4 weeks. Students in both conditions improved in well-being, but students who performed kind acts experienced significantly bigger increases in peer acceptance (or sociometric popularity) than students who visited places. Increasing peer acceptance is a critical goal, as it is related to a variety of important academic and social outcomes, including reduced likelihood of being bullied. Teachers and interventionists can build on this study by introducing intentional prosocial activities into classrooms and recommending that such activities be performed regularly and purposefully.

Kindness in the blood: A randomized controlled trial of the gene regulatory impact of prosocial behavior

“…The present findings are also consistent with literature that links prosocial behavior to favorable social outcomes such as peer acceptance (Layous et al, 2012), feelings of connectedness (Nelson et al, 2015), social adjustment (Crick, 1996), and eudaimonic well-being (Nelson et al, 2016), as well as to favorable health correlates including cardiovascular function and decreased mortality (Brown et al, 2003(Brown et al, , 2009. Our findings extend that literature by providing the first experimental evidence that prosocial behavior can causally impact CTRA gene expression.…”

“…Prosocial behavior can be experimentally manipulated by instructing participants to practice weekly acts of kindness (Layous et al, 2012;Nelson et al, 2016;Weinstein and Ryan, 2010). These studies have documented numerous social benefits of prosocial behavior, including improved social and career skills, social integration, peer acceptance, reciprocity, and social adjustment, as well as favorable psychological outcomes such as increased happiness and psychological flourishing (Crick, 1996;Layous et al, 2012;Nelson et al, 2016;Penner et al, 2005).…”

“…These studies have documented numerous social benefits of prosocial behavior, including improved social and career skills, social integration, peer acceptance, reciprocity, and social adjustment, as well as favorable psychological outcomes such as increased happiness and psychological flourishing (Crick, 1996;Layous et al, 2012;Nelson et al, 2016;Penner et al, 2005). However, the impact of such manipulations on health-relevant biological processes has not yet been examined.…”

Everyday happiness: Gifting and eating as everyday activities that influence general positive affect and discrete positive emotions

“…Kogan et al (2010) showed that making a sacrifice for one's romantic partner was associated with higher levels of positive emotion. Layous et al (2012) showed that performing acts of kindness towards others led to increased wellbeing and also increased quality of peer relationships, while Weinstein and Ryan (2010) showed that when people volitionally help others, they experience enhanced wellbeing. Alden and Trew (2013) showed that these effects held even for socially anxious people, such that Positive Affect was increased in people with social anxiety when they undertook kind acts towards other people.…”

“…There is now a substantial research base empirically demonstrating the wellbeing benefits to be derived from completing intentional cognitive and behavioural activities that include, amongst others, counting one's blessings (Emmons & McCullough, 2003), undertaking a loving-kindness meditation (Cohn & Fredrickson, 2010), and performing acts of kindness (Layous, Nelson, Oberle, Schonert-Reichl, & Lyubomirsky, 2012).…”