It’s not exactly news, that kindness is good for us. And yet it does seem important that a new study validates the fact. The Kindness Test is a major new study devised by the university of Sussex and launched by BBC Radio 4 involving more than 60,000 people from 144 countries. They have been asking questions about what makes people be kind. The short answer is that it is because it makes people feel good. Some might even say it is not altruistic at all. They wanted to know if religion was a factor, and in a way it is, in the sense that kindness tends to be an expectation for those who are from religious households. But what is much more of a predictor is personality. Kindness involves being outward, reaching out to people, and extroverts are more likely to do that. In some cases, people may refrain from acts of kindness because they fear their action might be misunderstood. What seems to run across the board is that for those who receive an act of kindness as for those who initiate it, it increases a sense of well being and life satisfaction. Claudia Hammond visiting professor of the public understanding of psychology at the University of Sussex says “it’s a win-win because we like receiving kindness but we also like being kind.” The results of the study are being aired on BBC Radio 4 in a program called The Anatomy of Kindness and Hammond is the presenter. 60% of those who participated in the study said they had received an act of kindness in the previous 24hours. Hammond says that being kind may even stem from ulterior motives, making it a selfish act in a way, because we know from brain research that being kind straight away creates a warm fuzzy feeling. It also makes one feel that we are someone who cares about people and we want to be good. Regardless of all the particulars, the point is that kindness is much more prevalent than we might think.
May 2022
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Help Walking Home
As is often the case a simple answer makes us go, Wow, why didn’t we think of this before. In this case it has to so with Strut Safe a telephone service for young women walking alone at night. It was started by Alice Jackson and her friend Rachel Chung after they had attended a vigil for a young woman killed while walking home. It is based in Edinburgh, but given that the dangers of young women walking alone at night applies to so many towns and cities in so many countries, the idea deserves airing. Perhaps it will be copied and help others too. Sometimes the callers are out of breath because they have run or are scared, or even think they have heard someone following them. The trained volunteers reassure them, reminding them that they are right there with them and will be until they are safe at their destination. The callers are asked personal information, the kind that might be needed if there was to be a problem, so that police or ambulance could find them, not only name, address and birth date but also what they are wearing so that they can be easily identified. And the calls last until callers reach home or wherever. Right now the service which is funded through donations operates weekends only and is usually used by people walking home from a club, after having left a boyfriend, or going home from work. While the service has been publicized, most find the number through social media.
Although many young people may have cars, many don’t. Even in big cities where public transportation and services like Uber exist, services if they are in operation at night can be very slow, pointing to the need for this idea even if it is adapted to local conditions and local needs.