To arrive at that conclusion, Buchanan and Gillian Sandstrom, a senior lecturer in the psychology of kindness at the University of Sussex, split 1,800 participants into several groups — each of which was shown news clips or articles about a recent catastrophic event in the UK. Some of the groups were solely exposed to upsetting news, while others were subsequently shown a story about a heroic act or a more lighthearted subject.
The group that was strictly shown unsettling news reported increases in negative emotions and decreases in positive feelings. That group also indicated feeling more pessimistic about humanity and society. Meanwhile, participants who were also shown stories of kindness reported feeling fewer negative emotions, coupled with increases in positive emotion. That group reported a more optimistic view of the world.
The researchers also found that "there's something special about kindness in particular," Buchanan said, noting that while amusing stories (such as swearing parrots or classic jokes) diminished the effects of upsetting news, stories about acts of kindness were even more powerful.
"Following news stories that feature others' kindness has a real set of emotional and cognitive benefits for people," Buchanan added. "It serves as a kind of reset button that allows us to have this faith in humanity."
When humans witness an act of kindness, "it gives us a special feeling called elevation," "that warm, fuzzy feeling in the chest," and "an immediate rush of wanting to be a better person."
These findings might sound intuitive, but we consume so much content out of inertia, without stopping to think about why we landed on this particular ragebait clip or that infuriating political speech. Sometimes, we need to remind ourselves that there's more.
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