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Across eight experiments, people performing small acts of kindness underestimated how good recipients would feel, partly because givers noticed the gift while recipients noticed the warmth behind it
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ScienceBlog.com
A participant performed an act of kindness and predicted the recipient’s reaction.
On a scale running from minus five to plus five, givers predicted that recipients’ moods would average 2.7.
The recipients’ average report was 3.5.
The experiments do not show that recipients ignore quality, only that givers can underweight warmth when imagining how the act will land.
Across ages, givers underestimated both how big the act would seem and how positive it would make the recipient feel.