A Scoping Review of Interventions Promoting Kindness in Primary Schools

Kindness is a moral and relational virtue involving compassionate understanding of one's own and others' emotions, along with behaviors that foster deep social bonds. Experiencing kindness at school has been associated with academic success, stronger student-teacher relationships, and fewer mental health and behavioral issues. However, interventions promoting kindness in primary schools are limited and under-documented. This scoping review maps and examines school-based interventions aimed at promoting kindness in children aged 6 to 11. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, 17 peer-reviewed studies were retrieved. Most interventions labeled as "kindness programs" were based on the social and emotional learning (SEL) approach (71%), some of which also included mindfulness (50%) or self-compassion (42%). Definitions of kindness were often vague or inconsistent, with kindness frequently addressed through related constructs such as prosocial behavior (41%), empathy (35%), or social-emotional competence (59%), rather than as an autonomous, holistic variable. Outcomes often focused on related constructs or partial aspects of kindness, while assessment tools rarely measured kindness directly or comprehensively. This lack of clear definition and consistent measurement creates conceptual and operational ambiguity, limiting comparability across studies and weakening evidence on the true impact of kindness interventions. To improve research and practice, future studies should clearly define kindness and use specific, validated tools tailored to this construct. Longitudinal designs are necessary to assess lasting effects. Consistent use of "kindness" as a keyword will enhance conceptual clarity and research visibility. These improvements will support rigorous, evidence-based educational polices that recognize kindness as a complex, multifaceted construct essential for child development and social well-being.