How Covid-19 has made Kiwis more kind
For months, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has had one simple message for the nation as we battle to beat Covid-19: Be Kind.
And according to a new survey released today, New Zealanders have well and truly taken that message to heart.
The Kindness Indicator Survey, conducted by research agency TRA, has revealed heartwarming facts about New Zealanders’ predisposition to gratitude, gratefulness and paying it forward, with random acts of kindness coming out on top as our preferred way to say thanks.
Whether it’s offering a compliment, shouting a coffee, doing someone a favour or giving up a parking spot, 98 per cent of Kiwis have performed a random act of kindness according to the survey, which also investigated the nation’s love language, how we like to be shown gratitude, who we’re not thanking enough and what we’re more grateful for.
And perhaps, most poignantly, more than a third of Kiwis [36 per cent] reckon there are more acts of kindness around, compared to pre-Covid-19 levels.
The survey, which polled a representative group of 1003 New Zealanders after level four lockdown was lifted, also found:
- When asked what would brighten their day the most, 42 per cent said that a simple compliment would do the trick, showing that it is the little things that matter most – that feeling of someone noticing your new dress or haircut truly is the best!
- When asked which group deserved the nation’s biggest thanks, nearly half (47 per cent) nominated health workers, while also indicating that they believed the group was properly thanked for their work.
- Respondents ranked cleaning services as the least thanked group in the country, with 60 per cent of Kiwis believing that cleaners aren’t thanked properly for their work – especially in these post-lockdown times.
- 53 per cent of Kiwis feels most thankful for their family each day, while 28 per cent feel thankful for their health.
- On a more personal level, 42 per cent of New Zealanders dub their partner/spouse as deserving of the biggest thanks in life, while 28 nominated their mum!
- New Zealand’s ‘love language’ was also revealed with a quarter of Kiwis (25 per cent) saying they show their gratitude to loved ones by spending quality time with them. This is followed closely by doing something nice for them (24 per cent) and telling them they love them (23 per cent).
The survey’s findings come as bp, who commissioned the research, launches a cute campaign aimed at paying it forward. The Thank You Coffee campaign gifts every user of the BPMe app a free coffee, which they can either claim or choose to gift to someone else who looks like they might need a pick-me-up!
If you choose to give your free coffee to someone else anonymously, a bp staff member will receive a note through their online coffee ordering system and will gift the coffee to a customer in-store who they believe would appreciate a free hot beverage – such as a cleaner, busy parent, a nurse, a first responder, or a tradie at the end of a long day!
