| Chapter title |
Happy People Become Happier through Kindness: A Counting Kindnesses Intervention
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Happiness Studies, September 2006
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10902-005-3650-z |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Keiko Otake, Satoshi Shimai, Junko Tanaka-Matsumi, Kanako Otsui, Barbara L. Fredrickson |
| Abstract |
We examined the relationship between the character strength of kindness and subjective happiness (Study 1), and the effects of a counting kindnesses intervention on subjective happiness (Study 2). In Study 1, participants were 175 Japanese undergraduate students and in Study 2, participants were 119 Japanese women (71 in the intervention group and 48 in the control group). Results showed that: (a) Happy people scored higher on their motivation to perform, and their recognition and enactment of kind behaviors. (b) Happy people have more happy memories in daily life in terms of both quantity and quality. (c) Subjective happiness was increased simply by counting one's own acts of kindness for one week. (d) Happy people became more kind and grateful through the counting kindnesses intervention. Discussion centers on the importance of kindness in producing subjective happiness. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 80 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 25 | 31% |
| United Kingdom | 7 | 9% |
| Canada | 4 | 5% |
| India | 3 | 4% |
| Australia | 2 | 3% |
| France | 2 | 3% |
| Mexico | 1 | 1% |
| Bolivia, Plurinational State of | 1 | 1% |
| Belgium | 1 | 1% |
| Other | 4 | 5% |
| Unknown | 30 | 38% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 67 | 84% |
| Scientists | 6 | 8% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 6 | 8% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 616 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 8 | 1% |
| United Kingdom | 4 | <1% |
| Switzerland | 2 | <1% |
| South Africa | 2 | <1% |
| Australia | 2 | <1% |
| Ireland | 1 | <1% |
| Brazil | 1 | <1% |
| Germany | 1 | <1% |
| Israel | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 3 | <1% |
| Unknown | 591 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 113 | 18% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 102 | 17% |
| Student > Bachelor | 95 | 15% |
| Researcher | 50 | 8% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 48 | 8% |
| Other | 108 | 18% |
| Unknown | 100 | 16% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 321 | 52% |
| Social Sciences | 57 | 9% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 27 | 4% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 19 | 3% |
| Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 12 | 2% |
| Other | 61 | 10% |
| Unknown | 119 | 19% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 362. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 29 November 2023.
All research outputs
#89,521
of 25,715,849 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Happiness Studies
#15
of 1,034 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#100
of 90,275 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Happiness Studies
#1
of 12 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,715,849 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,034 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 30.3. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 90,275 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 12 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 91% of its contemporaries.