UCLA launches kindness institute in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES - Lending a helping hand to a co-worker, checking in on an elderly neighbor or allowing someone to cut in front of you in a traffic jam.

Such random acts of kindness have been scientifically proven to improve a person's well-being, and will now be the focus of a new Kindness Institute unveiled last month at the University of California Los Angeles.

The first of its kind in the world, the institute aims to empower citizens and inspire leaders to build more humane societies through the study of the actions, thoughts and feelings associated with kindness.