Survey Reveals The Power Of Good Thriving In Tough Times

Media Release
30 March 2011

Survey Reveals The Power Of Good Thriving In Tough Times

Random acts of kindness may be more significant than we realise, suggests a survey commissioned by Reader’s Digest magazine. In fact, kindness may be more important than intelligence, status and wealth in creating relationships with others.

More than 800 Australians were interviewed by an independent research company over the course of a year on their attitudes towards being kind and compassionate.

Four out of five respondents acknowledged that making someone else feel good makes them feel better too, while 98% said it was extremely or very important to them how we treat others. Interestingly, 93% of respondents said they wanted to see more positive news stories in the media.

While the survey may have focussed on our trans-Tasman neighbours, it’s no surprise that the results are also relevant to New Zealanders. Television news reporter, Mike McRoberts, who features in the Reader’s Digest article, has seen the power of good firsthand throughout his international travels.

“I’ve done a lot of reporting from overseas in the past decade, often in the most challenging circumstances, including war zones and natural disasters. I’m constantly amazed at how often in that kind of environment I witness or am the recipient of a random act of kindness,” says McRoberts.

The survey also revealed that respondents appreciated kindness in others, with ‘how a person treats others’ voted the number one personal attribute valued in other people (98%). Following this were a person’s outlook on life (89%), intelligence (59%), how articulate a person is (54%), appearance (28%), success or status (21%) and wealth (13%).

The results indicate that people want to be known for their big-hearted acts and are motivated to spread more kindness by the positive feeling gained when doing good. 81% of respondents claimed that they get a kick out of giving a thank you gift, while 80% want to be remembered for their service to others.

Australians are also generous when it comes to helping strangers, with 94% saying they help out people they don’t know either regularly or occasionally. At least 77% of respondents have helped a stranger onto the bus or across the road, 74% have helped out in an emergency and 56% have comforted a stranger in their time of need.

The results support the idea that the power of good is alive and well across the globe. According to the survey analysis, the respondent’s good deeds outweighed their bad deeds by an astounding ratio of 38:1.

ENDS

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