PROMOTING SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING THROUGH A KINDNESS INTERVENTION

The present study aimed to examine the effects of the character strength of kindness on subjective wellbeing. It was conducted through an online free forum, which was constructed for the present study. The participants (N = 54) were 34 women and 20 men, aged 18-55 years old. They were divided into two groups, an experimental and a control group, matched in age and gender. Participants in the ‘counting kindness’ intervention were asked to keep track of their kind actions every day for a week and write them on the forum along with their feelings and thoughts on those actions. Participants in the control group were asked to write their daily routine also every day for a week. Participants were also asked to complete questionnaires measuring subjective wellbeing before the intervention, a month after, and two months after the intervention (follow-up measurement). The results showed that subjective wellbeing as an overall sense of wellbeing and its specific components was enhanced for participants in the kindness intervention. Possible mechanisms for the effectiveness of the intervention are discussed