How the perceived cost of prosocial action inspires observers to contribute

Scholarly discourse has raised concerns about the gravitas of secular mindfulness trainings in promoting prosocial outgrowths, as these trainings lack ethics-based concepts found in contemplative traditions. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted to test whether mindfulness trainings absent explicit ethics-based instructions promote prosocial action. There was a range of small to medium standardized mean difference effect sizes of mindfulness training on overt acts of prosociality when compared with active and inactive controls, k = 29, N = 3,100, g = .426, 95% confidence interval (CI)( g) = [.304, .549]. Reliable effect size estimates were found for single-session interventions that measured prosocial behavior immediately after training. Mindfulness training also reliably promotes compassionate (but not instrumental or generous) helping and reliably reduces prejudice and retaliation. Publication bias analyses indicated that the reliability of these findings was not wholly dependent on selective reporting. Implications for the science of secular mindfulness training on prosocial action are discussed.

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Why Do Firms Have “Purpose”? The Firm's Role as a Carrier of Identity and Reputation

The American Economic Review ◽

10.1257/aer.p20151072 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 105 (5) ◽

pp. 326-330 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Rebecca Henderson ◽

Eric Van den Steen

Keyword(s):

Social Purpose ◽

Prosocial Action

This article develops a theory in which a firm's adoption of a prosocial purpose can increase profitability by strengthening employees' reputation and identity—leading to higher effort and lower wages—as long as implementing purpose is costly with respect to direct monetary payoffs. Employees who value prosocial action will select into firms with a social purpose, which then become a visible carrier for these employees' identity and reputation.

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Do Real-World Prosociality Programs Predict Greater Psychological Well-Being in Kids?

10.31234/osf.io/z7fra ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jason Douglas Edward Proulx ◽

Julia W. Van de Vondervoort ◽

Kiley Hamlin ◽

John Helliwell ◽

Lara Beth Aknin

Keyword(s):

Real World ◽

Care Home ◽

Well Being ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Term Care ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Disadvantaged Children ◽

Real World Evidence ◽

Prosocial Action

Numerous laboratory studies suggest that engaging in prosocial action predicts greater psychological well-being, yet little work has examined whether kids (aged 5–12) experience these benefits in real-world community settings. In Study 1, we surveyed 24/25 students who completed their entire Grade 6 curriculum in a long-term care home alongside residents called “Elders.” We found that the meaning that kids derived from interacting with the Elders strongly predicted greater psychological well-being. In Study 2, we conducted a pre-registered field experiment with 238 kids who were randomly assigned to package essential items for disadvantaged children who were either demographically similar or dissimilar to them. Kids self-reported their happiness both pre- and post-intervention. While happiness increased from pre- to post-intervention, this change did not differ for kids who helped a similar or dissimilar recipient. These studies offer real-world evidence that engaging in prosocial action—over an afternoon or year—may enhance kids’ psychological well-being.

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How Does Personalization in News Stories Influence Intentions to Help With Drought? Assessing the Influence of State Empathy and Its Antecedents

Frontiers in Communication ◽

10.3389/fcomm.2020.588978 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

Author(s):

Dara M. Wald ◽

Erik W. Johnston ◽

Ned Wellman ◽

John Harlow

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Online Survey ◽

Affective State ◽

Emotional Responses ◽

News Stories ◽

Narrative Engagement ◽

Using Data ◽

Prosocial Intentions ◽

Cognitive Dimensions ◽

Prosocial Action

Personalized stories are a powerful tool for communicating about science, particularly when a scientific topic is complex or unfamiliar. One example of such a topic is drought, something many regions of the world face regularly. Like other environmental challenges, drought recovery efforts benefit from a mobilized collective response through prosocial action, including volunteering and donations. The objective of this study was to examine how storytelling about drought influences emotional responses and empathic processes that in turn contribute to prosocial action. Using data collected from an online survey (N = 249) with undergraduate students, the current study tests the hypothesis that, relative to non-personalized stories, personalized news stories about drought will increase audiences' cognitive and emotional responses, including perceived suffering, narrative engagement, and state empathy. In addition, this study examines how emotional responses to personalized news stories influence readers' intentions to donate to farmers suffering from drought. Results reveal that personalized news stories are more likely than non-personalized stories to increase readers' state empathy and perceptions of others' suffering. Perceived suffering was directly related to the affective and cognitive dimensions of state empathy. Narrative engagement (i.e., transportation) was also directly related to the affective and cognitive dimensions of state empathy and indirectly associated with intentions to donate to assist those suffering from drought. Affective state empathy was directly associated with donation intentions, suggesting that an emotional response to media portrayals of suffering may promote prosocial intentions. We discuss the potential implications for using personalized news stories about drought and other natural disasters to motivate prosocial action.

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Emotional contexts influence toddlers’ prosocial strategies

International Journal of Behavioral Development ◽

10.1177/0165025420912007 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 44 (6) ◽

pp. 551-556

Author(s):

Meghan Rose Donohue ◽

Rebecca A. Williamson ◽

Erin C. Tully

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Young Children ◽

Prosocial Behavior ◽

Information Seeking ◽

The Other ◽

Prosocial Behaviors ◽

Emotional Needs ◽

Parent Distress ◽

Specific Emotion ◽

Prosocial Action

Prosocial behavior is a highly heterogeneous construct, and young children use distinct prosocial actions in response to differing emotional needs of another person. This study examined whether toddlers’ prosocial responses differed in response to two understudied emotional contexts—whether or not children caused a victim’s distress and the specific emotion expressed by the victim. Toddlers ( N = 86; M age = 35 months) and their parent participated in two separate mishap paradigms in which parents feigned pain and sadness, respectively. Half of the sample was led to believe they had transgressed to cause their parent’s distress, whereas the other half simply witnessed parent distress as bystanders. Results indicated that toddlers were overall equally prosocial when they were transgressors compared to when they were bystanders and significantly more prosocial in response to sadness than pain. Toddlers were significantly more likely to use affection as transgressors than bystanders, information seeking as bystanders than transgressors, and affection in response to pain than sadness. All children used greater helping in response to sadness than pain, and this was especially true when they were bystanders. Findings add to mounting evidence of the complexity of prosocial action in early childhood by identifying that two, distinct emotional contexts influence the amount and type of prosocial behaviors that toddlers use to help others.

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