UBCO professor uncovers science behind acts of kindness

Photo: UBCO

UBC Okanagan researcher John-Tyler Binfet with his new rescue dog.

Nov. 13 marks World Kindness Day, a day to celebrate both acts of kindness by friends, family, and strangers. 

UBC Okanagan associate professor John-Tyler Binfet has spent the last eight years researching how children and adolescents understand and practice kindness, especially within the context of school. 

With the help of two UBC colleagues, he developed the five-point School Kindness Scale to measure how evident kindness is within school environments. 

After conducting more than 2,500 interviews with kindergarten to Grade 8 students, Binfet concluded there are different types of kindness, including intentional, random and quiet. 

Intentional kindness is based on making a plan and following through. Random acts of kindness are done spontaneously without prior planning, and quiet kindness is when the act doesn't draw attention to the initiator, such as leaving change in the vending machine, or paying forward someone's coffee order. 

Parents and teachers increasingly tend to have high expectations children will be kind, says Binfet, but it is a concept that needs to be taught and demonstrated. 

"Being kind doesn’t necessarily come easily to all students, however, and there are some who need extra support to understand the concept. When asked, some students struggled with defining kindness and generating examples of what they could do to show it.

"Ask yourself, ‘how am I kind? How do I show that I’m thoughtful, courteous or compassionate?’ Parents, educators and community members can all help children and adolescents develop strong social and emotional skills by modeling pro-social behaviour – basically, the type of behaviour they wish to see exhibited by others."

He hopes his research and findings will help to counteract bullying and elevate discussion. 

"I’m a big proponent of intentional kindness – planning kind acts, mentoring young people in planning and being kind, and being intentionally kind to both those we know and to those we don’t yet know! Kindness has a way of bringing people together – it’s a great bridge, and the more bridges we build, the better off we’ll all be."