What makes us stop to help someone, offer a smile to a stranger, or support a cause we care about? It’s not logic. It’s emotion. Specifically, prosocial emotions: feelings that motivate us to act for the benefit of others.
We believe kindness begins inside, with the emotions that connect us. Understanding and nurturing these feelings helps us create a ripple effect that touches people, animals, and the planet.
What Are Prosocial Emotions?
Prosocial emotions are those that push us beyond self-interest toward care, cooperation, and connection. Some of the most powerful ones include:
• Empathy: feeling with others and understanding their experiences.
• Gratitude: appreciating the kindness we receive and wanting to give it back.
• Compassion: feeling moved by others’ suffering and wanting to relieve it.
• Love: the foundation that binds all other prosocial emotions together.
These emotions are wired into us. They’ve helped humans survive and thrive in communities for thousands of years. When we experience them, our brains release oxytocin and endorphins, lowering stress and increasing well-being. In short: kindness is literally good for the heart.
Why They Matter
In a world that often celebrates competition and speed, prosocial emotions slow us down and remind us of what truly matters. They transform how we relate to each other and how we take care of our planet.
When we feel gratitude, we consume less and appreciate more. When we feel empathy, we act to protect others—human or animal. When we feel compassion, we see sustainability not as a trend, but as a responsibility.
These emotions are the roots of the We Are Kind mission: to make doing good something natural, not exceptional.
Turning Feelings into Action
It’s one thing to feel empathy; it’s another to live it. That’s where small, daily actions make all the difference.
At WAK, every product is created to inspire and activate prosocial emotions:
• When you buy a t-shirt, you plant a tree through Trees for the Future.
• When you wear a message of kindness, you spread empathy in your community.
• When you gift a tote bag, you share gratitude with someone you care about.
Each act, no matter how small, turns emotion into impact.
A World Built on Kind Feelings
Imagine a world where decisions came from compassion instead of fear, and connection instead of competition. That’s the world prosocial emotions invite us to build. It starts with a feeling and grows through community, choice, and action.
That’s the essence of what we do: turning emotions into motion, kindness into culture.
Your emotions have power, and your choices amplify them.
