University of Derby - Kindness of strangers

Researchers are developing a computer game to help highly self-critical people identify kindness in others. Psychologists at the University of Derby and Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust found that when confronted with a range of facial expressions, such people tended to ignore compassionate expressions because kindness threatened them - even though it could improve their long-term well-being. The researchers have now won a grant from the Leverhulme Trust to develop software featuring many threatening faces and one compassionate face to train patients to seek out kindness in crowds.