You’ve Got To Try A Little Kindness

They used to say "look sharp, be sharp".  Now they might say "do happy, be happy."

A new study recently published in the journal "Emotion" found being nice to your colleagues can actually make you feel good. I guess that could be along the lines of "what goes around comes around" only with a positive spin!

Researchers had test subjects on the job fill out weekly surveys on their happiness levels, noting in each how often they had been on the receiving end of nice or not-so-nice gestures.

A group of control subjects were given special instructions to be extra-nice to their colleagues through little gestures and as might be expected the kindness didn't go unnoticed.

The receivers of a little extra kindness observed more prosocial behaviors in the office and by the end of the study, they were reporting ten times more prosocial behaviors than the controls.

An interesting side benefit of random acts of kindness--those on the receiving end felt more in-control of their days at work. (Business Insider)