Rhesus monkey photo by Ed Jones
Charles Darwin argued that "communities which included the greatest number of the most sympathetic members would flourish best." Are kindness and compassion natural responses rooted in biology? In 1964, The American Journal of Psychiatry published a study of altruistic behavior in rhesus monkeys. Researchers found that monkeys refused to pull a food delivery chain when they realized doing so caused a companion to receive an electric shock. Those who had been shocked previously were even less willing to pull the chain. The monkeys preferred to go hungry rather than inflict pain on each other.
Emerging scientific studies seem to show that practicing kindness and compassion is an important factor in the well-being of humans. In a study led by Elizabeth Dunn and published in the journal Science, participants were given a sum of money. Half were asked to spend it on themselves, and the other half to spend it on others. The results of the research showed that those who spent money on others felt significantly happier than the group who spent it on themselves. Another study led by Lara Aknin across 136 countries found a similar outcome, regardless of a person's level of income or social support. UCLA medical researchers studying cellular inflammation discovered that it was not connected simply to one's level of happiness. Instead, participants whose happiness was based on a life of pleasure-seeking had high levels of inflammation while those who lives focused on purpose and acts of selflessness had low levels. It appears that these principles help the giver just as much or even more as the receiver.
For more information on kindness and compassion, see this post.
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