8 Ways to Become a Nicer Person

Kids are taught that being nice means using magic words like “please” and “thank you,” sharing with friends, and taking turns without complaint. Then they grow up and enter a world where it’s normal to mock others online, scowl at their fellow shoppers at the grocery store, and ghost potential romantic partners. Does anyone really even know what being nice means anymore?

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Prosocial behavior, or doing kind acts that benefit others, helps everyone involved feel good. Volunteering time or donating money are research-backed strategies, but there are lots of ways to give back, says Lara Aknin, a distinguished professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, who runs the university’s helping and happiness lab. “People donate blood, people donate organs, people give advice to other people, we cook for other people,” she says. “All of those are really fascinating, meaningful, frequent, and consequential ways that we help.”

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