New research by London South Bank University (LSBU) and an international consortium of researchers around the world has uncovered new insights into cultural differences in ‘social mindfulness’.
Social mindfulness is defined as everyday acts of kindness towards strangers which have little cost or no cost to the individual, but matter greatly for the collective. Social mindfulness measures the extent to which someone is considering the impact of one’s own behaviour on others. It includes small things like deciding to wear a face mask when shopping because it protects others from Covid-19 or a person not dropping litter in a park because they consider the feelings of other park users.
The research compared 31 countries on all six continents and how social mindfulness relates to national differences such as environmental protection, economic competitiveness, education levels and power distance. The research reported results of a global study of 8,354 people from 31 countries around the world who live in modern, industrialised, and digitalised societies and found:
The full results of the research were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and are freely available.
Karin Moser, LSBU Professor of Organisational Behaviour, said, “Our global study is the first of its kind about low cost everyday acts of kindness between people. It provides clear indications about how social mindfulness could contribute to reducing the risks we face from global issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change.
“Higher social mindfulness means people are more likely to consider the impact on others when making their choices and change their behaviour, for example cutting carbon emissions or reducing the chance of infecting others with Covid-19. As the government prepares to host the leaders of 200 countries at COP26, they should do everything within their power to encourage higher levels of social mindfulness.”