Is kindness really contagious? Does the science back that up?
Yes and yes, said psychologist and TC alumna in an appearance last week on of NBC鈥檚 鈥淭ODAY鈥� titled 鈥淚n Search of Kindness.鈥�
鈥淲e have changes in our brain when we do a kind act,鈥� Atkins (M.A. 鈥�72), coauthor with Amanda Salzhauer of (2018, Health Communications, Inc.), told co-hosts Willie Geist and Whitney Cummings. 鈥淲e鈥檙e flooded with endorphins, these wonderful feel-good chemicals that are actually pain killers,鈥� and so is the recipient of our kindness. In fact, even witnessing or reading about a kind act can produce the same effect.
Atkins added that 鈥測ou don鈥檛 have to start a nonprofit to be kind.鈥� Engaging in one small act of kindness every day can be life-changing, she said, and being kind is something that everyone has the capacity to do 鈥� even babies (鈥渆xcept when they鈥檙e on airplanes,鈥� joked Cummings).
"You don't have to start a nonprofit to be kind," Atkins says. In fact, engaging in one small act of kindness each day can be life-changing.
鈥淎s young as three months, we see children with the capacity for empathy,鈥� Atkins said. 鈥淭hey respond when they hear someone in distress, and when they鈥檙e a little bit older, they prefer to give treats rather than get them.鈥� The takeaway: We need to think about how we can 鈥渘ourish and nurture what鈥檚 in every one of us.鈥�