This week’s Better You, Backed by Science is a little different from usual. It’s not so much just for you, but for others too. It’s about how to create a positive ripple effect in the world.
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Want to make a difference?
Be kind.
That’s not just a platitude.
Research shows that kindness is contagious. It spreads through social networks, creating ripple effects that can travel outwards to three degrees of separation.
What does that mean?
The Ripple Effect
Suppose you’re kind to someone.
Because of how you made them feel, that person is more likely to be kind to someone else. That person is one degree of separation from you.
But the ripple continues.
The person who receives kindness from them is at two degrees of separation from you.
And if that person then passes kindness on to someone else, that’s three degrees of separation.
But it’s rarely just one person at each stage.
It depends on things like how socially connected people are, where they live or work, and how many interactions they have each day. On average, people influence several others.
A Bigger Ripple
Let’s use five people as an example to illustrate the idea, which is a fairly realistic number.
If you show kindness to one person today, that person may pass kindness on to five others over the next day or two. Those five people are at one degree of separation from you.
If each of those five then passes kindness on to five more, that becomes 25 people at two degrees of separation.
And if each of those does the same, that becomes 125 people at three degrees of separation.
All from a single act of kindness.
Of course, real life isn’t quite that neat. Sometimes the ripple is smaller, sometimes larger. But the principle remains powerful.
There are no isolated acts of kindness.
Life doesn’t stay neutral when kindness appears.
Kindness spreads.
It lifts people.
It creates smiles.
It helps those who are struggling.
And it means you make far more impact on the world than you may ever realise.
I say this because kindness can sometimes feel small in the moment, so small even that few people even notice. But it’s ripples usually travel much father than you realise.
If you ever feel small or that you don’t make a difference, you really do. More than you realise.
Through all the seemingly small ways you’re kind.
If you want to change the world… or at least your corner of it…
Start a ripple.
Be kind.
Try this
The 7-Day Kindness Challenge
For the next week, do one act of kindness each day.
To make it more interesting (and powerful), follow these three guidelines:
1) Do something different each day
2) Stretch outside your comfort zone at least once
3) Make one act of kindness anonymous
Small actions can create surprisingly large ripples.
Science Box – references
Science Insight
Research by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler analysed how cooperative behaviour spreads through social networks. Their work showed that when one person acts generously or cooperatively, the effect can cascade through social connections, influencing people up to three degrees removed from the original act.
Reference
Fowler & Christakis, Cooperative Behaviour Cascades In Human Social Networks, 2010. Link here.
I always make a YouTube video based on these Better You, Backed by Science emails.
If you’d like to view this one, where I dive a little deeper into the ripple effect, here’s the direct link.
And here’s a link to my entire Better You, Backed by Science playlist, with a video on every single previous email going back to the middle of last year.
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