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Jiang, X.; Wang, Y.; Green, A.B. Kindness in Children and Adolescents: Conceptualization and Interventions. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/59367 (accessed on 09 February 2026).
Jiang X, Wang Y, Green AB. Kindness in Children and Adolescents: Conceptualization and Interventions. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/59367. Accessed February 09, 2026.
Jiang, Xu, Yating Wang, Alyssa B. Green. "Kindness in Children and Adolescents: Conceptualization and Interventions" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/59367 (accessed February 09, 2026).
Jiang, X., Wang, Y., & Green, A.B. (2025, December 19). Kindness in Children and Adolescents: Conceptualization and Interventions. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/59367
Jiang, Xu, et al. "Kindness in Children and Adolescents: Conceptualization and Interventions." Encyclopedia. Web. 19 December, 2025.
Kindness in Children and Adolescents: Conceptualization and Interventions
This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/encyclopedia5040213

Kindness, from the perspective of positive psychology and character strengths, is a virtue that supports others’ emotional and practical needs, strengthens relationships, and fosters a positive, inclusive social environment. Kindness can be defined as characterized by a set of behaviors, attitudes, and dispositions rooted in care, empathy, respect, and prosocial motivation. Kindness is a multidimensional, prosocial construct that developmentally evolves, shaped by cognitive development, personal and interpersonal factors, and social contexts. As individuals mature across childhood and adolescence, their understanding and expression of kindness become more complex, reflecting growing social and relational awareness and competency.

kindness prosocial empathy children adolescents school intervention
There are divergent perspectives on how to conceptualize kindness in the existing literature, as well as a lack of conceptual clarity and theoretical integration. This entry paper centers on the conceptual framework of positive psychology, within which kindness is considered a psychological strength in a prosocial relational context. According to the Values in Action (VIA) model [1], kindness is within the virtue of humanity and is among the “interpersonal strengths that involve tending and befriending others” (cited in [2], p. 25). Within this framework, kindness can be studied as a trait, as a stable personal characteristic, or a state, manifested as a momentary reaction, or a behavior/skill, which can be acquired or cultivated in supportive environments. Also, kindness is not a singular construct but a multifaceted concept that includes three core components: kind emotions, kind cognitions, and kind behaviors [3].
By taking a developmental lens, the importance of recognizing and fostering kindness in developmentally sensitive periods, such as childhood and adolescence, is emphasized in this paper. Early studies in developmental psychology focused on prosocial behavior and altruism in children, laying the groundwork for understanding kindness as a distinct construct. Kindness emerges early in childhood, with prosocial behaviors observed in infants as young as 14 months of age [4][5]. The capacity for kindness increases with age, becoming more sophisticated and intentional throughout childhood and adolescence [6][7]. Studies have consistently shown that engaging in acts of kindness, such as prosocial behavior, is associated with healthy development, especially enhanced social connections and well-being in both children and adults [8][9][10]. Given the benefits of kindness, research has examined interventions of kindness in various settings, such as schools, clinics, and workplaces, offering evidence-based strategies for promoting kindness. In this entry paper, we focus on kindness in school contexts and kindness interventions for school-age populations. Also, though most kindness research has been conducted in North American contexts, some studies were conducted in diverse regions or cultural contexts. Findings that expand the understanding of kindness’s conceptualization and its implications in promoting kindness in children and adolescents are incorporated.

References

  1. Peterson, C.; Seligman, M.E.P. Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2004; Volume 1.
  2. Niemiec, R.M. Mindfulness and Character Strengths: A Practical Guide to Flourishing; Hogrefe: Cambridge, MA, USA, 2014; p. 25.
  3. Malti, T. Kindness: A perspective from developmental psychology. Eur. J. Dev. Psychol. 2021, 18, 629–657.
  4. Baillargeon, R.H.; Morisset, A.; Keenan, K.; Normand, C.L.; Jeyaganth, S.; Boivin, M.; Tremblay, R.E. The Development of Prosocial Behaviors in Young Children: A Prospective Population-Based Cohort Study. J. Genet. Psychol. 2011, 172, 221–251.
  5. Brownell, C.A. Early development of prosocial behavior: Current perspectives. Infancy 2013, 18, 1–9.
  6. Eisenberg, N.; Guthrie, I.; Murphy, B.C.; Shepard, S.A.; Cumberland, A.; Carlo, G. Consistency and development of prosocial dispositions: A longitudinal study. Child. Dev. 1999, 70, 1360–1372.
  7. Zahn-Waxler, C.; Smith, K.D. The Development of Prosocial Behavior. In Handbook of Social Development; Van Hasselt, V.B., Hersen, M., Eds.; Springer: Boston, MA, USA, 1992; pp. 229–256.
  8. Curry, O.S.; Rowland, L.A.; Van Lissa, C.J.; Zlotowitz, S.; McAlaney, J.; Whitehouse, H. Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 2018, 76, 320–329.
  9. Haslip, M.J.; Allen-Handy, A.; Donaldson, L. How do children and teachers demonstrate love, kindness and forgiveness? Early Child. Educ. J. 2019, 47, 531–547.
  10. Mastrantonio, M. Kindness as the social bond and the education for the future. Net. J. Soc. Sci. 2023, 11, 111–123.
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Subjects: Education & Educational Research
Contributors MDPI registered users' name will be linked to their SciProfiles pages. To register with us, please refer to https://encyclopedia.pub/register : Xu Jiang , Yating Wang , Alyssa B. Green
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Revisions: 2 times (View History)
Update Date: 29 Dec 2025
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