Acts of kindness can boost mental wellbeing, new study finds
Major life transitions, from moving to a new town to changing jobs, can be daunting. Recently published research, though, shows that simply everyday acts of kindness can make things feel easier.
The findings, published in Social and Personality Psychology Compass, observed the behaviour of students as they began life at university. Nearly 200 first year students participated in the study during the first six weeks of their first semester.
Regardless of whether or not a specific act involved engaging in a direct way with someone else or not, helping others in any context — even without social interaction — was shown to improve mental wellbeing, with students reporting increased levels of resilience, optimism and happiness, as well as lower levels of anxiety and loneliness, in the weeks that they performed more acts of kindness.
The researchers referred to a detailed checklist of 47 common outward acts of kindness, like holding the door open for someone or sharing notes. Students were asked to report which activities they performed each week, and how frequently.
Study author Tiara Cash, a PHD candidate at Simon Fraser University and founder of Crowned Vitta LLC, started this research in a bid to determine how people could better weather big life transitions.
Speaking to Psypost, Cash said, 'Life transitions can be an exciting but hard time for people. Big life changes are common, people move or start new jobs often. I was interested in how the life transition of beginning university might impact first year students’ well-being, and whether people who helped others during this pivotal time experience better well-being.'
'Helping others may be an effective, yet overlooked way to support your well-being when going through challenging times, like a life transition,' Cash told Psypost. 'In retrospect, this may not be surprising. Humans are a super-social species, so being in community and helping those in your community can be one way to feel connected and find greater happiness!'
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