University of Sussex and BBC Radio 4 announce the results of The Kindness Test, the world's largest study on kindness

Two thirds of people who chose to take part in The Kindness Test, the world’s largest public study of kindness, believe the Covid-19 pandemic has made people more kind. Devised and analysed by University of Sussex psychologists, the results from the online questionnaire are being broadcast on BBC Radio 4, who partnered on the study, at 9am this Wednesday 9 March.

The study found that even though most study participants felt that levels of kindness had either remained the same (39%) or declined (36%) during their lifetime, two thirds thought that the pandemic has made people kinder.

Within psychology, a kind act tends to be defined as an act which is carried out in order to benefit others.

The Kindness Test was a detailed online questionnaire which ran from 31 August to 4 October 2021. More than 60,000 people from across 144 different countries chose to take part, and ranged in age from 18 to 99.

The study found that all aspects of kindness (being kind, receiving kindness, and seeing kindness) were more commonly reported by women. 

It also suggests that being kind could be good for you: in the study, people who said they receive, give, or notice more acts of kindness also reported higher levels of well-being, on average. In addition, the study found that people who talk to strangers see and receive more kindness, even when you take different personalities into account.

The home, medical settings, the workplace, green spaces and shops were selected as the places people are most likely to see kind acts taking place. The places selected as least likely to see kindness were the internet, public transport and on the street. These findings suggest the important role community plays in giving and receiving kindness, over more anonymous spaces like the internet.

The most common barriers to kindness were reported to be concerns about kindness being misinterpreted (65.9%), not having enough time (57.5%), use of social media (52.3%), not having the opportunity (42.1%), or kindness being seen as a weakness (27.6%).  

Claudia Hammond, presenter of Radio 4’s All in the Mind and The Anatomy of Kindness and Visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex says: “The fact that such a huge number of people chose to give up their time to take part in The Kindness Test shows how much we value it. It’s encouraging to see just how many kind acts people are giving, receiving and noticing every day. I hope this insight into what’s stopping us from being even kinder might help us to find ways to boost kindness even more.”

Professor Robin Banerjee, Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex says: "Our partnership with the BBC on The Kindness Test has generated tremendous insights into the nature of kindness and the role it plays in our lives. Even very small acts of kindness are related to our well-being, and the results of The Kindness Test raise important questions for us all about how we can promote kindness in our homes, communities, and workplaces.” 

Summary of key results

• Although most people who completed the questionnaire felt that levels of kindness had either remained the same (39%) or declined (36%) during their lifetime, two thirds thought that the pandemic has made people kinder.
• All aspects of kindness (seeing kindness, receiving kindness, and being kind) were more commonly reported by women in the study.  
• The most common barriers to kindness were reported to be concerns about kindness being misinterpreted (65.9%), not having enough time (57.5%), use of social media (52.3%), not having the opportunity (42.1%), or kindness being seen as a weakness (27.6%).  
• Income had zero correlation with overall reports of being kind.  But people were also asked to imagine that had received a windfall of £850 and to ask how much, if any, they would give away. Both the people with the lowest incomes and the people with the highest incomes said they would give away the least.
• People who were older, female or religious said they donated more money and time to charity.
• When asked which causes they donated money to most often, causes benefitting people in their own country came top, followed by causes benefitting people in other countries, the environment and then animals.
• Kind acts are very common, according to The Kindness Test: three-quarters of people said they received kindness from close friends or family quite often or nearly all the time.
• 16% of people said they had received an act of kindness within the last hour and a further 43% received an act of kindness within the last day.
• When it comes to personality, people who scored high on extraversion, openness and agreeableness said they give and receive more kindness.
• People who said they are religious scored slightly higher than average on both giving and receiving kindness.
• Those who said they value benevolence and universalism in the study are kinder on average that those who value achievement and power.

 The University of Sussex is developing a leading specialism in the study of kindness. As well as launching a new interdisciplinary kindness research centre, the Sussex Centre for Research on Kindness, the University has recently appointed a Senior Lecturer in the Psychology of Kindness – the first psychology academic position dedicated to the study of kindness in the UK – Dr Gillian Sandstrom, who helped to analyse the results of The Kindness Test. Dr Sandstrom will be teaching on the new Psychology of Kindness and Wellbeing in Work online distance learning course, the first university course in the UK dedicated to exploring the role of kindness in the workplace.

Dr Sandstrom, who is also Director of the University of Sussex Centre for Research on Kindness, says of the results: “Some of the findings from this rich data set on kindness, such as that kind acts are very common and that 73% of respondents agreed that kindness is valued in their place of work, were very heartening. But it’s also incredibly useful to understand the barriers to kindness, such as concerns about kindness being misinterpreted or being seen as a weakness.

“In our kindness research group at the University of Sussex we will be using the results to inform our teaching – including on our newly launched course on the Psychology of Kindness and Wellbeing in Work – and will be doing further deep-dive analysis, to give us an even greater understanding of how kindness is seen and enacted in different aspects of society.”

Methodology

The Kindness Test was created and analysed by a team of psychologists at the University of Sussex, and provides one of the most detailed sources of insight that we have on contemporary attitudes towards kindness – at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has brought the subject of kindness, community and helping each other out into the heart of everyone’s lives.

People were asked about the acts of kindness they carry out, the acts of kindness they receive, the places they see the most – and the least - kindness around them, and the barriers to behaving more kindly. Scales measuring personality and well-being were also included.

This study had a self-selecting sample where people chose to participate. The online questionnaire was developed and analysed by academics in the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex, led by Professor Robin Banerjee in collaboration with Claudia Hammond, presenter of All in the Mind on Radio 4 and Visiting Professor of The Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex.

The full results will be revealed in a Radio 4 programme, The Anatomy of Kindness Results, on Wednesday 9 March on BBC Radio 4, presented by Claudia Hammond. Guests on the programme will include Raymond Antrobus (Poet, ‘Inventions in Sounds’), Lisa Smosarski (Editor-in-Chief, Stylist Magazine), Elvis McGonagall (Stand-Up Poet and Comedian, ‘Elvis McGonagall Takes A Look On The Bright Side’), Deborah Bowman (Professor of Ethics and Law at St George's, University of London) and Robin Banerjee (Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex).

This is followed by a three-part series, The Anatomy of Kindness, at 9:00 on Wednesdays 16, 23 and 30 March, in which Claudia asks whether there such a thing as pure kindness, whether we are kinder to people like us and whether you can be a kind boss.

The results of the Kindness Test will be announced in The Anatomy of Kindness Results, on Radio 4 at 9am on Wednesday 9 March, and on BBC Sounds

The Anatomy of Kindness series begins 9am on Wednesday 16 March, and on BBC Sounds

The Kindness Test is the fourth in a series of questionnaires carried out in partnership between academic departments and BBC Radio 4, the first three being on the topics of Rest, Loneliness and Touch.  Further analysis will take place using the data and papers will soon be submitted for publication in scientific journals.