Children kinder than adults, poll claims

Children were seen to be more likely to share and offer comfort to someone

Study claims children are more likely to share food than adults (Getty)

Adults believe a child's natural instinct to care for others changes at the age of 11, according to a new poll.

Becoming more aware of social norms, acting less on instinct and being preoccupied with phones, means kindness diminishes as we age, the survey of 1,000 adults and 1,000 children found.

While 67 per cent of adult respondents said they would not consider sharing their food with others, although 43 per cent of children would happily hand over some to a friend or loved one.

Thirty-eight per cent said they wo​uld hug someone for no reason, compared to just 35 per cent of adults.

Despite this, 96 per cent of the adults said they would still refer to themselves as "kind".

The findings to the test with a behavioural experiment by Bassetts Vitamins, which commissioned the research.

Subjects were told they would be taking part in an experiment and instructed to sit in the waiting room while everything was being set up - unaware they were already under observation.

An actor posing as a production assistant, started to tidy up and ‘accidentally’ knocked over a pot of pens to see how the volunteers would react.

The children helped to clear up the felt-tips, whereas the grown-ups were more hesitant.

“The results of the experiment confirm that children feel more comfortable with others who are caring and kind, because experience has taught them that kindness creates a better atmosphere than conflict at home, and cooperation gets better results," Child psychologist Dr Richard Woolfson, said.

“Once they leave the sheltered world of childhood, and enter adulthood, however, they may find that priorities change, that results are valued more than people, and that success is valued more than sensitivity. In that harsher environment, kindness becomes less important, and may even be construed as a weakness.

“This may explain why the adults who took part in the experiment were less helpful than their children.”

The study also found 57 per cent of adults said children teach them how to be kind.

But just one in five of the adults checked in on an elderly neighbour and just 17 per cent put time aside for volunteering.

Sharing snacks was the most common act of kindness among children along with asking someone if they are okay and giving others a hug for no reason.

It also emerged that being nice is a natural mood-enhancer, with 52 per cent of adult respondents saying they felt better after an act of kindness, while 28 per cent admit it gets them out of a bad mood.

Children also feel the benefit, with half feeling happier after being kind, and more than a third saying it improved their day.

The survey also revealed adults placed more emphasis on children being caring towards others, with 68 per cent saying this would make them prouder than their child getting good results at school.

Dr Woolfson, said: ‘Children are innately more kind than adults.That’s why babies cry when they hear the stressed cries of another baby, and that’s why your toddler comforts his tearful friend, perhaps by giving him a cuddly toy to ease his unhappiness. These wonderful acts of kindness happen without any coercion and they are lovely to observe.”

SWNS