Kindness: a perspective from developmental psychology

ABSTRACT

This article introduces a developmental perspective on kindness. The central goal is to posit a new framework for the study of kindness and its development. From an ethical perspective, kindness can be considered a virtue. It reflects emotions, cognitions, and inner states that convey a particular gentleness and benevolence. These orientations can be directed towards others, such as expressing concern for a needy other, or directed towards the self, such as being gentle with oneself. Therefore, the proposed approach suggests a distinction between self- and other-orientedness and delineates the development of the affective, cognitive, and behavioural components of kindness across the first two decades of life. This developmental model of kindness lays the groundwork for a more complete understanding of the human capacity for prosociality across development. It provides new means for developing interventions that aim to nurture every child’s kindness and help them reach their full potential. The model assumes that intervention efforts will be beneficial at nurturing kindness when they a) acknowledge that the balance between self- and other-oriented tendencies is beneficial to remain healthy and contribute to a greater good, b) are developmentally sensitive, and c) enhance multiple facets of kindness in the child and in the environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Kindness
• benevolence
• compassion
• empathy
• social-emotional development

Acknowledgement

This paper is based, in part, on my keynote lecture given at the 19^th European Conference on Developmental Psychology in Athens, Greece. I thank Danah Elsayed, University of Toronto, for her editorial assistance with the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [n/a] and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [FDN-148389].