What is Guerrilla Altruism?
Here’s the scientific definition:
Guerrilla Altruism is a selfless, altruistic act conceived by the giver with the intention to provoke positive emotions for recipients, and created solely for the good of others using elements such as art, beauty or creativity, surprise and, most importantly mystery.
What does that really mean?
Guerrilla Altruism is a recipe for an act of kindness that creates a little bit of magic for the giver and especially (and, most importantly) the people who happen to experience it.
Why is it important?
Guerrilla Altruism was conceived from positive psychology, the study of well-being and flourishing. Studies show bestowing acts of kindness on others is a powerful way to boost your own well-being (Rowland & Curry, 2019; Curry et al., 2018). But while positive psychology is filled with studies about the effectiveness of acts of kindness for givers, there is very little information about what makes acts of kindness most potent for those that receive them.
In response, Guerrilla Altruism answers the question:
What is the ideal “recipe” for acts of kindness to make the most impact to well-being?
How does it work?
By focusing on elements that make acts of kindness most potent for recipients, our recipe creates the ideal alchemy to make the biggest impact for recipients well-being.
Here’s what we found:
Guerrilla Style – Uncertainty, Anonymity & Mystery of the giver creates:
· an invaluable “buzz”
· a rebellious edge (that people love)
· happiness that makes people happier, for longer (Wilson, Centerbar, Kermer & Gilbert, 2005)
Surprise
· Acts as “interruption mechanism” (Meyer, Reisenzein & Schützwohl, 1997)
· Disrupts existing thoughts & actions
· Provokes attention to the unexpected experience
· Impacts frequency of word-of-mouth (WOM) (Derbaix & Vanhamme, 2003)
Art, Beauty & Creativity (ABC)
· Elevate & enhance human flourishing (Tay, Pawelski & Keith, 2017)
· Leads to positive health effects
· Emboldens cultivation of leadership skills (Cameron, Crane, Ings & Taylor, 2013)
Collaborative Deconstruction
· Creates intention for deconstruction in intervention design
· Enhances temporary nature, heightening its guerrilla style
· Invites recipients as collaborators in dismantling
· Turns intervention into cooperative prosocial action (Penner, 2005)
· Encourages “recategorization,” changing recipients from an outgroup of strangers to a common ingroup (Gaertner, Dovidio & Samuel, 2000).
Self-less altruism – Impact to recipient(s) as primary goal
· Humans are wired to be altruistic (Warren & Tomasello, 2006)
· Altruism is good for you! (Post, 2005)
· Provides better well-being effects than self-focused acts of kindness (Nelson, Layous, Cole & Lyubomirsky, 2016)
· Inspires recipients to “Pay It Forward” (Pressman, Kraft & Cross, 2015)
How can you participate
There are a few ways:
1. Create an act of guerrilla altruism yourself
Dream up an artistic, beautiful or creative (the ABC’s of Guerrilla Altruism) way that you can leave behind an act of kindness for others. This can be something little or big – it’s up to you. Just remember, the most important part of guerrilla altruism is that you remain anonymous to the recipient(s)!
2. See it & share it
Acts of guerrilla altruism are happening all around us. If you create one, see one or experience one yourself, share it by using the hashtag #guerrillaaltruism
3. Collaborate with us
Want to be a guerrilla altruist with us? Let us know. We want to create as many acts of guerrilla altruism out there as we can. We would love to dream up some magic to make the world a better place with you. Email us at mail@guerrillalatruism.com