![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
Research shows that reflecting on benefits received can make people happier, but it is unclear whether or not such reflection makes them more helpful. Receiving benefits can promote prosocial behavior through reciprocity and positive affect, but these effects are often relationship-specific, short-lived, and complicated by ambivalent reactions. We propose that prosocial behavior is more likely when people reflect on being a benefactor to others, rather than a beneficiary. The experience of giving benefits may encourage prosocial behavior by increasing the salience and strength of one’s identity as a capable, caring contributor. In field and laboratory experiments, we found that participants who reflected about giving benefits voluntarily contributed more time to their university, and were more likely to donate money to natural-disaster victims, than were participants who reflected about receiving benefits. When it comes to reflection, giving may be more powerful than receiving as a driver of prosocial behavior.
References
|
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Alessandri, G., Caprara, G. V., Eisenberg, N., Steca, P. (2009). Reciprocal relations among self-efficacy beliefs and prosociality across time. Journal of Personality, 77, 1229–1259. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Google Scholar | |
|
Bartlett, M. Y., DeSteno, D. (2006). Gratitude and prosocial behavior: Helping when it costs you. Psychological Science, 17, 319–325. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., DeWall, C. N., Zhang, L. (2007). How emotion shapes behavior: Feedback, anticipation, and reflection, rather than direct causation. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 167–203. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., Funder, D. C. (2007). Psychology as the science of self-reports and finger movements: Whatever happened to actual behavior? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 396–403. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Bem, D. J. (1972). Self-perception theory. In Berkowitz, L. (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 6, pp. 1–62). New York, NY: Academic Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Brief, A. P., Motowidlo, S. J. (1986). Prosocial organizational behaviors. Academy of Management Review, 11, 710–725. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Brown, S. L., Nesse, R. M., Vinokur, A. D., Smith, D. M. (2003). Providing social support may be more beneficial than receiving it: Results from a prospective study of mortality. Psychological Science, 14, 320–327. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Burton, C. M., King, L. A. (2004). The health benefits of writing about intensely positive experiences. Journal of Research in Personality, 38, 150–163. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Carlson, M., Charlin, V., Miller, N. (1988). Positive mood and helping behavior: A test of six hypotheses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 211–229. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Chow, R. M., Lowery, B. S. (2010). Thanks, but no thanks: The role of personal responsibility in the experience of gratitude. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 487–493. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Cialdini, R. B., Goldstein, N. J. (2004). Social influence: Compliance and conformity. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 591– 621. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Cooper, W. H., Richardson, A. J. (1986). Unfair comparisons. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 179–184. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
DeSteno, D., Bartlett, M. Y., Baumann, J., Williams, L. A., Dickens, L. (2010). Gratitude as moral sentiment: Emotion-guided cooperation in economic exchange. Emotion, 10, 289–293. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., Norton, M. I. (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science, 319, 1687–1688. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Emmons, R. A., McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 377–389. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Fisher, J. D., Nadler, A., Whitcher-Alagna, S. (1982). Recipient reactions to aid. Psychological Bulletin, 91, 27–54. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Fitzsimons, G. M., Finkel, E. J. (2011). Outsourcing self-regulation. Psychological Science, 22, 369–375. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Flynn, F. J., Brockner, J. (2003). It’s different to give than to receive: Predictors of givers’ and receivers’ reactions to favor exchange. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 1034–1045. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Frattaroli, J. (2006). Experimental disclosure and its moderators: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 823–865. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Gouldner, A. W. (1960). The norm of reciprocity: A preliminary statement. American Sociological Review, 25, 161–178. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Grant, A. M. (2008). Does intrinsic motivation fuel the prosocial fire? Motivational synergy in predicting persistence, performance, and productivity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 48–58. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Grant, A. M., Dutton, J. E., Rosso, B. (2008). Giving commitment: Employee support programs and the prosocial sensemaking process. Academy of Management Journal, 51, 898–918. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Grant, A. M., Gino, F. (2010). A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 946–955. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Isen, A. M., Clark, M., Schwartz, M. E. (1976). Duration of the effect of good mood on helping: Footprints on the sands of time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 385–393. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Jordan, J., Mullen, E., Murnighan, J. K. (2011). Striving for the moral self: The effects of recalling past moral actions on future moral behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 701–713. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
La Rochefoucauld, F. (2003). Moral maxims. (I. Primer, Trans.). Newark: University of Delaware Press. (Original work published 1691) Google Scholar | |
|
Lykken, D. (1968). Statistical significance in psychological research. Psychological Bulletin, 70, 151–159. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111–131. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Nelson, L. D., Norton, M. I. (2005). From student to superhero: Situational primes shape future helping. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41, 423–430. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Omoto, A. M., Snyder, M. (1995). Sustained helping without obligation: Motivation, longevity of service, and perceived attitude change among AIDS volunteers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 671–686. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Pavey, L., Greitemeyer, T., Sparks, P. (2012). Highlighting relatedness promotes prosocial motives and behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 681–689. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Pennebaker, J. W., Seagal, J. D. (1999). Forming a story: The health benefits of narrative. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55, 1243–1254. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., Schroeder, D. A. (2005). Prosocial behavior: Multilevel perspectives. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 365–392. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Penner, L. A., Finkelstein, M. A. (1998). Dispositional and structural determinants of volunteerism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 525–537. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Sachdeva, S., Iliev, R., Medin, D. L. (2009). Sinning saints and saintly sinners: The paradox of moral self-regulation. Psychological Science, 20, 523–528. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Schwartz, S. H., Bardi, A. (2001). Value hierarchies across cultures: Taking a similarities perspective. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32, 268–290. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Verplanken, B., Holland, R. W. (2002). Motivated decision making: Effects of activation and self-centrality of values on choices and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 434–447. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92, 548–573. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI |
