Top 10 Benefits of Kindness

Discover the many ways kindness has a positive impact on your brain and body… it’s even good for your heart.

Kindness Produces Many Benefits for the Body, Mind, and Spirit

Have you ever noticed that kindness is one of those strange paradoxes where we are happier when we make others happy? The old saying goes something like this: “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” And while it is something we learn from a very young age, did you know that there are many real benefits associated with how we treat others?

Being Kind to Others is Being Kind to Yourself

Studies have shown that we are biologically predisposed to be kind as children, and we can develop this trait through practice and repetition. However, due to external influences and the pressures of daily life, we may sometimes lose this inherent ability. Kindness and empathy help us connect with others and have more positive relationships with friends, family, and even strangers we encounter in our daily lives. In addition to improving personal relationships, kindness can make us healthier. Discover how being kind to others has a series of positive effects on both your own health and the people you are kind to. Here are 10 ways to improve your own health and happiness through kindness.

1. Kindness Makes Us Happier

When we do something kind for someone else, we feel good. Spiritually, many people believe this is because it is the right thing to do and we are tapping into something deep within us that says, “This is who I am”.

On a biochemical level, it is believed that the good feeling we have is due to the elevated levels of the brain’s natural versions of morphine and heroin, known as endogenous opioids. They trigger elevated levels of dopamine in the brain, giving us a natural high, often referred to as the “helper’s high”.

2. Kindness is Good for the Heart

Acts of kindness are often accompanied by emotional warmth. Emotional warmth produces the hormone oxytocin in the brain and throughout the body. Recently, its important role in the cardiovascular system has been highlighted.

Oxytocin causes the release of a chemical called nitric oxide in the blood vessels, which dilates (expands) them. This reduces blood pressure, and therefore, oxytocin is known as a “cardioprotective” hormone because it protects the heart (by reducing blood pressure). The key is that acts of kindness can produce oxytocin and, therefore, kindness can be said to be cardioprotective.

3. Kindness Slows Aging

Aging at a biochemical level is a combination of many things, but two culprits that speed up the process are free radicals and inflammation, both of which result from unhealthy lifestyle choices.

However, the most significant research shows that oxytocin (which we produce through emotional warmth) reduces levels of free radicals and inflammation in the cardiovascular system, thus slowing aging at its source. By the way, these two culprits also play a significant role in heart disease, so this is another reason why kindness is good for the heart.

There has also been strong speculation in scientific journals about the strong link between compassion and vagal nerve activity. The vagal nerve, in addition to regulating heart rate, also controls inflammation levels in the body. A study using Tibetan Buddhist loving-kindness meditation found that kindness and compassion reduced the body’s inflammation, likely due to its effects on the vagal nerve.

4. Kindness Improves Relationships

This is one of the most obvious points. We all know that we like people who show us kindness. This is because kindness reduces the emotional distance between two people, making us feel more “connected”. It is something so strong within us that it is actually genetic. We are wired for kindness.

Our evolutionary ancestors had to learn to cooperate with each other. The stronger the emotional bonds within groups, the greater the chances of survival, and that’s why the “genes for kindness” were imprinted in the human genome.

So today, when we are kind to others, we feel a connection, and new relationships are forged or existing ones strengthened.

5. Kindness is Contagious

When we are kind, we inspire others to be kind, and studies show that this creates a ripple effect that extends to friends of friends of our friends, up to 3 degrees of separation. Just like a pebble creates ripples when dropped into a pond, acts of kindness spread outward, touching the lives of others and inspiring kindness wherever the wave passes.

A study reported that an anonymous 28-year-old person walked into a clinic and donated a kidney. This triggered a “pay-it-forward” type of ripple effect, where the spouses or other family members of kidney recipients donated one of their kidneys to another person in need. The “ripple effect,” as it was called in the New England Journal of Medicine report, spread far and wide across the United States, where 10 people received a new kidney as a result of that anonymous donor.

6. Kindness Boosts the Immune System

Research shows that kindness (due to how it feels to be kind) increases levels of an important antibody of the immune system known as “secretory immunoglobulin A” (s-IgA for short). One of the most surprising findings of this research is that the effect is activated by simply observing kindness. Yes, “observing” kindness. It works because the immune-boosting effect is due to the feeling of kindness, which is the same whether you perform kindness or observe kindness. Conversely, this is how stress suppresses immune function, and similarly, that is because of how stress feels, whether you experience something stressful or feel stressed by seeing negative content online.

So, in addition to being kind, why not reduce your exposure to negative content online or even reduce the amount of news you consume? Instead, increase the amount of inspiring content you see. Watch and share videos and clips that show acts of kindness and compassion. Follow social media accounts that uplift you.

This is not just a psychological sense of well-being. It has immune-boosting consequences.

7. Kindness Releases Feel-Good Hormones

Have you noticed that when you do something good for someone else, you also feel better? This is not a random occurrence, but rather has to do with the pleasure centers of the brain.

Doing good things for others increases serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of satisfaction and well-being. Just like exercise, altruism also releases endorphins, a phenomenon known as the “helper’s high”.

So go ahead and volunteer, help someone in need, invite someone for coffee or a meal, or try one of these ideas – it might be just the boost you need.

8. Kindness Benefits Mental Health

Many studies show that kindness increases happiness. Studies comparing people who are asked to be kinder with those who act normally show that those who perform more acts of kindness tend to feel happier as a result. Other research shows that kindness offers some protection against depression. Studies comparing people who regularly volunteer with those who do not show much lower rates of depression in volunteers.

The effects of increased happiness and countering depression seem to have their roots in the neurological effects of the feeling of kindness, but kindness also draws from something deep and spiritual within us.

Brain imaging studies indicate that feelings of kindness and compassion cause physical changes in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which tilts to the left. It is the portion of the brain that is behind and above the eyes. This left-hand portion is known to be associated with positive emotion. With the practice of kindness and compassion, the area grows like a muscle when exercised. The result is that anything that area is used for becomes easier to access, just like anything a muscle is used for becomes easier if it has been strengthened through exercise. And so, kindness and compassion strengthen this region of the brain, facilitating access to positive emotions.

But kindness can also be a spiritual act. Kindness taps into something very deep within us, the certainty that what we are doing is right. Perhaps that is the true root of why kindness makes us feel good, and perhaps, on some deep level, the physical effects in the body are nature’s reward for expressing the best of ourselves.

References: All studies mentioned from 1 to 8 can be found in two books about kindness by Dr. David R. Hamilton, “The Five Side Effects of Kindness” and “The Little Book of Kindness”.

9. Kindness Reduces Anxiety

Anxiety, whether it’s mild nervousness or severe panic, is an extremely common human experience. While there are various ways to reduce anxiety, such as meditation, exercise, prescription medications, and natural remedies, it turns out that being kind to others can be one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to keep anxiety at bay.

As noted in a University of British Columbia (UBC) study on happiness, “social anxiety is associated with low positive affect (PA), a factor that can significantly affect psychological well-being and adaptive functioning”. Positive affect refers to an individual’s experience of positive moods, such as joy, interest, and alertness.

UBC researchers found that participants who performed kind acts showed a significant increase in PA that was sustained throughout the four weeks of the study.

So, the next time you’re feeling a bit anxious, look for opportunities to help others. It can range from smiling at someone or calling a friend to volunteering or dedicating your time to an organization. Even a small gesture can make a big difference.

10. Kindness Reduces Stress

In our busy, constantly moving lives, we are constantly seeking ways to reduce stress. It can be easier than we think.

Helping others allows us to step outside of ourselves and take a break from the stressors of our own lives, and this behavior can also make us better equipped to handle stressful situations.

Affiliative behavior is any behavior that fosters your relationships with others. According to a study on the effects of prosocial behavior on stress, “affiliative behaviors can be an important component of stress coping and indicate that engaging in prosocial behavior (action intended to help others) might be an effective strategy for reducing the impact of stress on emotional functioning”.

11. (Extra) Kindness Prevents Illnesses

Inflammation in the body is associated with all kinds of health problems, such as diabetes, cancer, chronic pain, obesity, and migraines. According to a study of adults aged 57 to 85, “volunteering showed the strongest association with lower levels of inflammation”. Oxytocin also reduces inflammation, and even small acts of kindness can trigger the release of oxytocin.

Being kind to others is not only good for them, but it is also good for you! Although we are not suggesting that you be kind for what you get out of it, it is good to know these things. Whether you are naturally kind or working on it, we all win. Being kind to others is being kind to yourself!

References: Studies 1 to 8 can be found in two books about kindness by Dr. David R. Hamilton, “The Five Side Effects of Kindness” and “The Little Book of Kindness”. Studies 9 to 11 can be found on QueitRev.com.

More Information:

• Stefan Klein, Survival of the Nicest: How Altruism Made Us Humans and Why It Pays to Get Along
• Kristin Neff, Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind
• Week 3 of “The Science of Happiness” on edX
• Alex Dixon, “Sweet Charity,” Greater Good magazine