High school students’ conceptualizations of kindness: A mixed-methods portrait

Abstract

The overarching aim of this study was to explore how high school students (N = 479, Mage = 16.2, SD = 1.1; 48.43 % girls, 45.09 % boys, 2.92 % non-binary,.42 % listed multiple genders, and 3.13 % non-reporting) conceptualized kindness in school. Despite burgeoning research on kindness interventions, there is less research on how kindness is conceptualized and actualized by students in schools, especially by high-school age students. Uncovering how high school students conceptualize kindness is important as high school represents, for many students, the last social and emotional training ground before students venture into the workforce or pursue advanced studies elsewhere. Using self- and other-ratings of varied school agents combined with open-ended prompts, we found girls had significantly higher self-ratings of kindness than did boys, that boys rated themselves as kinder in face-to-face interactions than online, that grade 12 students viewed themselves as kinder than their younger grade peers, and that grade 9 and 12 students had higher ratings of school kindness than did students in grades 10 and 11. Coding students’ acts of kindness both done and received revealed themes of helping, giving, and showing care and concern for others. Peers were ranked by participants as most influencing their kindness. Collectively, findings from this study inform researchers and educators about how kindness is understood and brought to life in schools and, in turn, what educators can do to ensure students learn within contexts where kindness is discussed, modeled, and prioritized.

Impact statement

Understanding how high school students understand and enact kindness helps counter negative stereotypes surrounding high school and this research showcases findings revealing that students do and receive meaningful acts of kindness within the school context, see their peers as key to influencing how kind they are, and generally see themselves and their school as kind. Implications of this research inform social and emotional educators striving to integrate low-cost and low barrier initiatives into classrooms to promote positive peer relations, respect for self and others, and a positive school climate.