An article by Margaret Echelbarger, an assistant professor of marketing in the College of Business, has been published in The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization that provides informative articles written by academic experts for the general public.
“Children, like adults, tend to underestimate how welcome their random acts of kindness will be” is a short piece that discusses her lengthier research, along with partner Nicholas Epley, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. Their findings contribute to a growing body of research which suggests that people may be reluctant to do good deeds because they don’t realize how welcome these acts of kindness are.
Read more about what happened when they gave 101 kids (ages 4-17 years old) and 99 adults who were visiting a museum in Chicago an opportunity to perform a random act of kindness.
Echelbarger studies consumer behavior, focusing on children’s early economic experiences, beliefs and competencies. Her primary areas of interest include financial decision making, variety seeking and product evaluations. She is also committed to public science and shares research findings and tips with parents on how to “raise good consumers” via social media.
There are other studies that focus on the positive impacts of kindness involving adults, both for the giver and the receiver.
I particularly liked Margaret Echelbarger’s and Nicholas Epley’s research since it includes a large sampling of children. The results suggest the opportunity for showing children the positive impact they can have on others through their acts of kindness, no matter how small.
In the work that I publish on kindness, I like to emphasize that doing kind things for others is like giving them a gift. It’s a concept that children can easily grasp and enjoy.
Thank you for both the research and publishing your findings. Another ripple of kindness.