Our behaviour has real costs.

The effects of New Zealand’s increasingly rude, aggressive, and violent behaviour are wide ranging and substantial for workers, businesses, and taxpayers:*

  • Worker anxiety and poor mental health

  • Physical injury or stress related illness

  • Sick leave and absenteeism

  • Low staff morale

  • Higher staff turnover

  • Negative customer experience

  • Reduced productivity and revenues

  • Higher costs for consumers 

Showing courtesy and respect is free - but the cost of our behaviour isn’t. 

*Source: Violent and Aggressive Behaviour in the Workplace, shopcare.org.nz, 2021

the impacts run into millions.

courtesy and respect shape how we feel.

Small acts of respect have measurable effects.

Research shows that positive interactions stimulate the release of chemicals in the brain associated with trust and wellbeing, including:

1: Oxytocin - promotes a sense of bonding and reduces blood pressure

2: Dopamine - elevates mood

3: Serotonin - improves mental health and produces feelings of satisfaction

4: Endorphins - your body's natural painkillers

Common respects engender other mental and physical benefits, too - exercising kindness is scientifically proven to reduce stress, improve heart health, and reduce inflammation.*

We all know how great it feels when we let someone into traffic and they give us a wave or a flash of the hazard lights, or when we say thank you to the checkout operator and we see them smile.

Respect isn’t abstract. It influences how people respond - and how they treat others in return.

*Source: Cedars-Sinai 2019 / Mayo Clinic 2023

Countries where respectful behaviour is strong do better in measurable ways.

Research from international organisations shows that:

• Higher trust correlates with stronger economic growth

• High social capital predicts better health and wellbeing outcomes, including lower rates of anxiety and depression

• Trusting societies have more effective public services and institutions

Global indices* consistently rank societies with higher trust and stronger social norms, such as Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Canada, as having:

• Higher GDP per capital

• Lower crime rates

• Better life satisfaction scores

• Higher levels of civic engagement

These patterns aren’t random: they reflect how shared expectations of behaviour underpin stable, productive, and cohesive societies.

*Sources: OECD Trust and Well-Being data, World Bank “Trust and Economic Growth”, World Happiness Report

respectful societies ftw.

courtesy is an aphrodisiac.

Research by Men’s Health shows 60% of women say good manners "absolutely" make a man more attractive. 

The most common traits women assign to men with bad manners are highly revealing:

1. They're ignorant - 72%

2. They were raised poorly - 66%

3. They're selfish - 55%

4. They're two-faced - 52%

Evidence shows women's manners play a significant role in shaping men's perceptions and attraction towards them, too.