Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of deliberate acts of kindness (DAKs) plus access to a stress management booklet (intervention), compared to the booklet alone (control) on the stress-related outcomes of resilience, social interaction anxiety, affect, and mood of undergraduate and graduate students. Participants’ study-related experiences were also explored, as were the types of DAKs. This repeated-measures, randomized controlled trial included 112 students (80 undergraduate and 32 graduate) with 56 in each condition. Four previously validated scales were implemented at baseline, immediate post-intervention, and 3-months post-intervention. A linear mixed effects model was utilized with group and time entered as fixed effects. Content analysis of open-ended question responses and DAKs logs was conducted. The KISS of Kindness II had a statistically significant interaction effect on the intervention group participants’ resilience (p = 0.0099), social anxiety (p = 0.0016), and negative affect (p = 0.0033), but had no significant impact on their positive affect or mood. Intervention participants described improvements in mental wellbeing. DAKs were plentiful (1,542 DAKs, 26 types), and show promise for university-based mental health interventions.
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Note ‘Post’ refers to immediate post-intervention and ‘followup’ refers to 3-months post-intervention. Error bars represent ± 1 standard error
Note ‘Post’ refers to immediate post-intervention and ‘followup’ refers to 3-months post-intervention. Error bars represent ± 1 standard error
Note ‘Post’ refers to immediate post-intervention and ‘followup’ refers to 3-months post-intervention. Error bars represent ± 1 standard error
Note Higher scores indicate greater positive affect. ‘Post’ refers to immediate post-intervention and ‘followup’ refers to 3-months post-intervention. Error bars represent ± 1 standard error
Note Higher scores indicate greater negative affect. ‘Post’ refers to immediate post-intervention and ‘followup’ refers to 3-months post-intervention. Error bars represent ± 1 standard error
Note This feedback loop hypothesizes the possible relationship between performing a deliberate act of kindness (DAK) and improved wellbeing via positive empathy. When an individual performs a DAK and observes the receiver’s reaction to be positive, the two individuals share positive affect – this is termed positive empathy. Positive empathy can increase feelings of social connection between the individuals, as well as increase the resilience of the DAK giver, ultimately buffering against stress and improving their overall wellbeing. The DAK giver’s feeling of improved wellbeing might prompt them to continue engaging in DAKs
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Data availability
We, the authors, are willing and able to share the data and materials upon request and in accordance with ethics protocol (HSREB #114,103).
Code Availability
All core statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS version 25 and R version 3.6.1. Script files are available on request.
Notes
DAKs instructions for participants and the Relaxation and Stress Management Booklet can be found in the supplementary material.
Mood was selected as an exploratory outcome given that we were primarily interested in measuring participants’ short-term emotional state (affect) as acts of kindness tend to have more of an immediate impact (Kaufmann et al., 2020). Further, mood has been criticized for reporting bias by the participant (Kaufmann et al., 2020).
The authors of the original validated scale (Mayer & Gaschke, 1988) did not present individual Cronbach’s s for the sub-scales (with the exception of Arousal-Calm). Rather, a range of Cronbach’s s was provided, as presented above.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Katie Shillington, Andrew Johnson, Tara Mantler, Shauna Burke, and Jennifer Irwin. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Katie Shillington and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Shillington, K.J., Johnson, A.M., Mantler, T. et al. Kindness as an Intervention for Student Social Interaction Anxiety, Resilience, Affect, and Mood: The KISS of Kindness Study II. J Happiness Stud 22, 3631–3661 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00379-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00379-0