The Keys to Kindness: How to Be Kinder to Yourself, Others and the World

A deep-dive into kindness, the science behind it and how we can better build it into our lives, from the author of The Art of Rest

In The Keys to Kindness, Claudia Hammond takes us on an eye-opening tour of kindness: what constitutes kindness (it’s not what you think), effective strategies to build more of it into our lives and the benefits of being kind. She draws on the latest research from psychology and neuroscience, and her work in collaboration with the University of Sussex and the BBC, including the largest global survey ever undertaken into attitudes to kindness.

The book is structured around the seven keys of kindness, including:

• There is more kindness in the world that you might think
• Being kind makes you feel good and that’s OK
• Kind people can be winners
• Remember to be kind to yourself

You are kinder than you think, but we could all be kinder still - with enormous benefits for our personal mental health and wellbeing. The Keys to Kindness sets out a prescription for a kinder life that you can adapt to your own circumstances, and explains how to use this guidance for ourselves, others and the world.

Claudia Hammond is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. She is Visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex and is the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s All in the Mind. She has been awarded the President’s Medal from the British Academy, the British Psychological Society’s Public Engagement & Media Award, Mind’s Making a Difference Award and the British Neuroscience Association’s Public Understanding of Neuroscience Award. She is the author of Emotional Rollercoaster, Mind over Money, Time Warped, which won the Aeon Transmission Award and the BPS’ Best Popular Science Book Award, and The Art of Rest, which was also shortlisted for the latter and was picked for Waterstones Non-Fiction Book of the Month.

@claudiahammond claudiahammond.com