At Time for Kindness we have 3 core beliefs about kindness:
- It’s powerful – it unites people and makes us stronger together
- It’s important – it makes us feel and perform better, individually and collectively
- It’s all around us – we just don’t talk about it enough yet
But you don’t just need to take our word for it. There’s a growing body of academic research and evidence, that proves why kindness matters and tells us more about the impact it has: on workplaces and on individuals.
On this page we’re sharing just some of the research that we talk about in the kindness and wellbeing workshops and talks that we carry out with our clients.
Kindness impact in a work setting
- A study by the Harvard Business Review showed that leaders who expressed kindness found difficult conversations and providing uncomfortable feedback easier (due to the relationships they’d built up)
- A study in Canada found that kind behaviours being encouraged at work led to a 20% performance improvement compared to organisations where this wasn’t happening
- 77% of respondents were more likely to apply for a job posting that listed kindness as an important value of the company according to a Born This Way Foundation study on workers aged 18-29
Impact of unkindness
The Harvard Business Review Price of Incivility study found that unkind behaviour in a workplace led to:
- 48% of people intentionally decreased their work effort
- 47% of people intentionally decreased the time they spent at work
- 78% said their commitment to the organisation declined
Kindness impact on individual wellbeing
- Dr. David R. Hamilton’s research shows acts of kindness create emotional warmth, which releases a hormone known as oxytocin. Oxytocin causes the release of a chemical called nitric oxide, which dilates the blood vessels. This reduces blood pressure.
- A study reported by kindness.org suggests that acts of kindness can reduce social anxiety. Participants were asked to engage in acts of kindness like doing a roommate’s dishes or donating to a charity. Being kind lessened the urge to avoid social situations, compared to the group who didn’t carry out the kind acts.
Impact of noticing kindness
- The University of Sussex Kindness Test, the biggest ever public science project on kindness, found a direct correlation between people who said they gave, received or noticed acts of kindness with higher levels of wellbeing and happiness.
- Dr Kathryn Buchannan at the University of Essex, carried out a study that looked at the difference made when people saw acts of kindness related to a bad news story (the helpers) and not just the bad news itself – they reported fewer negative emotions and were more positive about the world.
Work with me
If research into kindness intrigues you, why not book me to give a talk or run a workshop? Talking about what counts as kindness and why it matters is a central theme in the work that I do. Take a look at the services I offer and get in touch to get started.
Explore the research
The research shared here comes from a number of sources where you can find out more:
- The kindness.org website
- Graham Allcott’s book ‘Kind. The quiet power of kindness at work‘
- The Kindness Test from the Sussex Centre for Research on Kindness
- Born This Way Foundation research
- University of Essex news article