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Acts of kindness can spread surprisingly easily between people — just by observing someone else being generous.

They activate parts of the brain involved in motivating action and of social engagement, a new study finds. In turn we are also more likely to ‘pay it forward’. Scientists call this the ‘moral elevation’ effect.

The first evidence from the lab of this effect was found in 2010.

 

 

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego and Harvard demonstrated moral elevation by having people playing a simple ‘giving’ game in the lab.

When people gave selflessly to others, researchers could see this act of kindness spreading from person to person.

One act of kindness was ultimately tripled  in value by people subsequently giving more and more.

Now neuroscience has given us an insight into what is happening in the brain when we see an act of kindness.

Researchers scanned people’s brains while they watched videos showing heroic acts of kindness.

They found that areas of the brain involved in arousal and those involved in social engagement were activated at the same time.

Research reveals that doing good deeds, or kind acts, can make socially-anxious people feel better. 

 

For four weeks, the University of British Columbia researchers assigned people with high levels of anxiety to do kind acts for other people at least six times a week.

 

The acts of kindness included things like holding the door open for someone, doing chores for other people, donating to charity, and buying lunch for a friend.

 

The researchers found that doing nice things for people led to a significant increase in people's positive moods. It also led to an increase in relationship satisfaction and a decrease in social avoidance in socially anxious individuals.

 

 

Research shows kindness leads to happiness

Here’s a good reason for you to make time to extend a little more kindness to those around you.

Researchers have found a positive correlation between happiness and kindness. And it’s not just that happier people are kinder, or kinder people are happier.

 One of the studies shows that engaging in a random act of kindness — even if you’re told by a researcher to do so — improves your happiness level.

 

Kindness is a win-win-win scenario which produces beneficial effects in the giver, the recipient and the observer.


 

 

 

The original study was published in:PNAS ; journalBiological Psychology;huffingtonpost.com; bbc.com/news;thehappymovie.com; undergroundhealthreporter.com
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