13 Nov Kindness is Contagious
Are you one of those people who can’t help crying when you see someone crying? Or start laughing without any reason when you see someone bursts into laughing? You’ve probably realized that our mood affects people around us or is affected by the ones around us. According to the research by Nicholas Christakis, happy people increase the possibility of being happier for their friends around them by 25%, which shows feelings are contagious.
Christakis has studied 5000 inhabitants in a town for over 20 years. He states “Everyday interactions we have with other people are definitely contagious, in terms of happiness. We were able to show that as one person became happy or sad, it rippled through the network.”
Being emotionally affected by the people around us is scientifically proven but what about the effects of the mood on social media that we are exposed to? Research done with over 700.000 users on Facebook shows that we can spread good or bad vibes on social media without any personal interaction. The researchers have observed people are affected by the emotional contagion by the posts in their feed even though there is no face-to-face interaction.
Another study based on the data obtained from millions of Facebook users keeps track of how gloomy weather infects the contents posted by the people living in that area and its contagious effects on the contents posted by people living in an arid area. The study claims the social contagion of emotional expression suggest that there may be large scale spill-overs in online networks. What people feel and say in one place may spread to many parts of the globe on the very same day.
Furthermore, it is obvious that nobody can constantly be happy or in a good mood. The constant and unexceptional happiness on social media platforms is already a controversial topic. However, I believe it is possible to have a compassionate attitude and spread it under any circumstances.
In the light of all these, #WorldkindnessDay is celebrated to spread kindness, the lack of which could be pointed as the root cause of all problems. It is not a very arduous task to nurture and spread kindness around us indeed. Besides, various studies show that kindness has positive effects on our health as well. Being kind reduces anxiety, helps increase longevity and provides a shield against diseases.
Sources: www.siyli.org
www.huffpost.com/entry/kindness-benefits_b_869537
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