6 of Diamonds - Surprise Others
What is it?
Random acts of kindness are selfless acts performed by an individual desiring to either help or positively affect the emotions of another individual (Passmore and Oades 2015).
Go above and beyond this week by surprising three lucky people with random acts of kindness. It could be anything, small or large. The science behind this is undeniable – sharing the love makes you and others happier with the help of serotonin and dopamine release.
If you’d like a starting point with an act of kindness, you can give the Gift of Wellness, or a Wellness Bundle to a friend or family member! Our programmes focus on the holistic model of wellbeing – four pillars, four experts, all working as a team for you and your goals – did someone say Christmas present?!
How to do it?
Perform one random act of kindness a day for one week or by surprising three lucky people in one week with random acts of kindness.
Why do it?
Psychological research evidence overwhelmingly confirms performing random acts of kindness generates positive benefits to the individual contributor. These include both mental and physical health gains and will also provide psychological benefits to the contributor and to the receiver (Passmore and Oades 2015).
What’s the science behind it?
Curry et al. 2018, in their results from a systematic review and meta-analysis of the experimental kindness literature, suggested performing acts of kindness improves the well-being of the contributor.
A key idea is kindness establishes supportive and meaningful social connections and, therefore, reduces the response to stressors along with meeting basic, inherent needs critical to health and longevity. Kindness includes connected emotions and behaviours intended to help society or individuals such as caring, generosity, altruism, empathy, gratitude, and compassion. The promotion of kindness on a population level can supplement these important individual methods as well as strengthen social cohesion and mutual respect. The indications are through practising kindness, including kindness to oneself, people can be encouraged to participate more in these self-help efforts (Fryburg 2022).
Small changes CAN make a big difference – that’s what The 1% Club is all about!
Do you want to know more?
This website is filled with helpful suggestions for different random acts of kindness:
https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-ideas
References
Fryburg, D. A. (2022). Kindness as a stress reduction–health promotion intervention: a review of the psychobiology of caring. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 16(1), 89-100.
Curry, O. S., Rowland, L. A., Van Lissa, C. J., Zlotowitz, S., McAlaney, J., and Whitehouse, H. (2018). Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 76, 320-329.
Passmore, J., and Oades, L. G. (2015). Positive psychology techniques: random acts of kindness and consistent acts of kindness and empathy. The Coaching Psychologist, 11(2), 90-92.
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