The Anatomy of Kindness

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Using evidence from the BBC Kindness Test, Claudia Hammond asks what it means to be kind.

Broadcaster, author and psychologist Claudia Hammond interrogates what it means to be kind, who we are kind to and the benefits of being a kind boss.

Using evidence from the BBC Kindness Test, neuroscientists and evolutionary psychologists, broadcaster, author and psychologist Claudia Hammond interrogates what it means to be kind, who we are kind to and the benefits of being a kind boss.

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The Anatomy of Kindness: Is there such thing as a pure act of kindness?

Is there such thing as a pure act of kindness?

BBC Radio 4 - The Anatomy of Kindness, Is there such thing as a pure act of kindness?

Claudia Hammond asks: can we ever be purely kind and do our motivations matter?

Using evidence from the BBC Kindness Test, neuroscientists and evolutionary psychologists, Claudia Hammond asks if we can ever be purely kind and if our motivations matter.

In the Anatomy of Kindness, a three part documentary series, broadcaster, author and psychologist Claudia Hammond interrogates what it means to be kind, who we are kind to and the benefits of being a kind boss.
 
For the first of the three programmes Claudia examines our motivations and decision making around kindness. She meets  a super altruist who  risked his life for a stranger, his motivation, he says, is to  make the world a better place. A car accident left neuroscientist  Professor Abigail Marsh stranded on the outside lane of  an American freeway facing the  oncoming traffic. In a split second a stranger made the  decision to run into the oncoming traffic and save her, without thinking of the danger.  This act of heroism shaped  Abigail’s  research.  She looks at  such extreme altruists and  her work  explores the relationship  between psychopathy and extraordinary altruism. 
Professor of Philanthropy Sara Konrath was surprised to discover that narcissists are just as likely to give to charity as very empathic people, but  a remarkable act of empathy was her inspiration to research this topic and we discover what she owes to a very kind person who entered her life at a pivotal time.
 
But what about the everyday acts of kindness? Can we ever say  we do something for someone else  without expecting something in return?  Psychologist  Jo Cutler says that we  weigh up the effort to do something  for someone else every time we act, even when it’s as  simple as holding the door open. Nichola Raihani, Professor of Evolution and Behaviour and author of "The Social Instinct, how cooperation saved the world" thinks we've evolved to be altruistic, it’s the reason why we have been so successful as a species and altruism brings  reputational and status benefits.  But how cynically do we act when we are kind? 
Claudia examines the evidence and decides whether you can ever carry out an act of pure kindness.

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The Anatomy of Kindness

Is there such thing as a pure act of kindness?

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