Can Kindness Be Contagious, Even At Work?

Attention and productivity usually top the list when organizations consider ways to improve workplace efficiency – and they should be. But so should the social aspects of work, including positive behaviors and connection with others.

Work is, after all, where we spend the majority of our waking lives and how we feel during the daily grind determines a slew of outcomes, including people’s length of employment, number of sick days, job satisfaction, and performance – all factors that can affect an organization’s bottom line.

At the research center I direct, the Center for Healthy Minds at UW–Madison, we are beginning to informally experiment with ways to promote positive connections. We recently installed a “Gratitude Wall” in the kitchenette with the invitation to publicly acknowledge our gratitude for others. Whether it’s a quick thanks to a colleague for bringing in baked goods or a new employee feeling welcomed by others, the idea is to compliment each other’s contributions and acts of kindness and generosity. For us, this speaks to larger goals of instilling our core values – one being the desire to “cultivate a prosocial workplace” ­­– into our daily surroundings, and to remind people to notice the good in others.

But I would argue that any workplace can benefit from promoting kindness at work, and formal studies are beginning to support this.

A fascinating new study in the journal Emotion (which I co-founded) examined the effects of prompting random acts of kindness in the workplace. The study focused on the behaviors of more than 100 employees who were randomly assigned to one of three groups: “givers,” “receivers,” and a “control” group.

The “givers” were instructed to perform five acts of kindness to specific “receivers” over the course of four weeks – neither were in the know about the actual purpose of the study. The “receivers” and “control” were led to believe the study was about workplace morale and were tasked with discretely keeping track of generous behaviors they observed.

Not only did both “givers” and “receivers” feel happier and report higher levels of well-being (less depressed and more satisfied with their jobs) two months later compared to the control, but researchers also discovered that the acts of kindness had a positive ripple effect. People who were “receivers” in the experiment paid it forward by doling out more acts of kindness compared to the control group – 278% more! In addition, “receivers weren't only paying back the acts of kindness to the “givers,” but instead "paying it forward," meaning that others benefited, too. 

This idea that kindness is contagious isn’t new, yet this is the first study I’ve seen that rigorously looks at the spread of kindness in a professional setting. From my perspective as a neuroscientist and emotion researcher, these findings make sense: the quality of our connections and how close we feel to others is a strong contributor to whether we’re flourishing or flailing. There’s evidence that even at an incredibly young age as babies – before we even learn to talk – we prefer helping behaviors compared to hindering or negative behaviors. These findings suggest that kindness is “in our genes” and nurturing it is therefore consistent with our fundamental nature. 

Does your organization recognize kindness and gratitude as vital to success?

I’m curious to hear your thoughts.