Starting from the time of humans living in social groups, the importance of relying on each other for support has been instrumental to their survival. Moreover, such cooperation and support with one another can also reflect kindness. Research (Curry, et al., 2018) finds that various features can lead to engaging in kindness behavior. For example, being kind to:

Given that our lifestyle and expectations have changed, partly because of innovative technological, social, and communication advances, there is far more interaction, affiliation, and dependency on others than ever before. Consequently, kindness can be very important by adding to one’s reputation or status (Curry, et al., 2018).

Generally, people are more motivated to help and be kind to others they know than to strangers. Exline et al., (2011) identify this as “ingroup favoritism.” It’s understandable that a person would be more inclined to perform an act of kindness for someone close to them than to a stranger because their existing bond is the catalyst for providing this assistance. Not surprisingly, there is a tendency among many people to pay more attention to the needs of close family and friends than to strangers or even oneself.

There is a distinction as to whether the “acts of kindness,” are “normative” or “non-normative.” Normative acts are in line with social norms and thus result in expected emotional responses. Non-normative acts are those that go against following expected social norms of kindness. For example, an individual may go out of her way to help a person who obviously appears to be........

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