A Prosociality Paradox: How Miscalibrated Social Cognition Creates a Misplaced Barrier to Prosocial Action

Epley, Nicholas; Kumar, Amit; Dungan, James; Echelbarger, Margaret

doi:10.1177/09637214221128016

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…In particular, prosocial acts are intended to have a positive impact on others, and yet people do not seem to fully realize just how positive others will feel following a prosocial act. In one experiment, people who wrote a letter expressing their gratitude-a well-documented activity for increasing a person's own well-being-systematically underestimated how positive their recipients would feel and overestimated how awkward recipients would feel (Kumar & Epley, 2018; see also Epley, Kumar, et al, 2022). Although expressers expected that gratitude recipients would feel positive, recipients reported feeling even more positive than the expressers anticipated.…”

Section: Undervaluing Prosociality?mentioning

confidence: 99%

A little good goes an unexpectedly long way: Underestimating the positive impact of kindness on recipients.

Kumar¹,

Epley²

2023

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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Performing random acts of kindness increases happiness in both givers and receivers, but we find that givers systematically undervalue their positive impact on recipients. In both field and laboratory settings (Experiments 1a through 2b), those performing an act of kindness reported how positive they expected recipients would feel and recipients reported how they actually felt. From giving away a cup of hot chocolate in a park to giving away a gift in the lab, those performing a random act of kindness consistently underestimated how positive their recipients would feel, thinking their act was of less value than recipients perceived it to be. Givers' miscalibrated expectations are driven partly by an egocentric bias in evaluations of the act itself (Experiment 3). Whereas recipients' positive reactions are enhanced by the warmth conveyed in a kind act, givers' expectations are relatively insensitive to the warmth conveyed in their action. Underestimating the positive impact of a random act of kindness also leads givers to underestimate the behavioral consequences their prosociality will produce in recipients through indirect reciprocity (Experiment 4). We suggest that givers' miscalibrated expectations matter because they can create a barrier to engaging in prosocial actions more often in everyday life (Experiments 5a and 5b), which may result in people missing out on opportunities to enhance both their own and others' well-being.

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Section: Undervaluing Prosociality?mentioning

confidence: 99%

A little good goes an unexpectedly long way: Underestimating the positive impact of kindness on recipients.

Kumar¹,

Epley²

2023

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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“…However, people may be somewhat reluctant to reach out and connect with others in positive ways due to concerns about how another person might respond. Emerging research suggests that these concerns may be miscalibrated such that those performing prosocial actions—including expressing gratitude, sharing compliments, providing social support, or performing a random act of kindness—tend to systematically underestimate how positively their recipients will respond (see Epley et al, 2023 for a review).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Undervaluing the positive impact of kindness starts early.

Echelbarger¹,

Epley²

2023

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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Prosociality can create social connections that increase well-being among both givers and recipients, yet concerns about how another person might respond can make people reluctant to act prosocially. Existing research suggests these concerns may be miscalibrated such that people underestimate the positive impact their prosociality will have on recipients. Understanding when miscalibrated expectations emerge in development is critical for understanding when misplaced cognitive barriers might discourage social engagement and for understanding when interventions to build relationships could begin. Two experiments asking children (aged 8-17, Experiment 1; aged 4-7, Experiment 2) and adults to perform the same random act of kindness for another person document that both groups significantly underestimate how "big" the act of kindness will seem to recipients, and how positive their act will make recipients feel. Participants significantly undervalued the positive impact of prosociality across ages. Miscalibrated psychological barriers to social connection may emerge early in life. Public Significance StatementProsociality tends to increase well-being among those performing the prosocial action as well as among those receiving the action. And yet, people may be somewhat reluctant to act prosocially out of concerns about how another person might respond. In two experiments involving children (4-7 years old), adolescents (8-17 years old), and adults, we find that people's concerns tend to be systematically miscalibrated such that they underestimate how positively others will respond to their prosocial act. The degree of miscalibration is not moderated by age. This suggests that miscalibrated social cognition could make people overly reluctant to behave prosocially, that miscalibrated expectations emerge early in development, and that overcoming these social cognitive barriers could potentially increase well-being across the lifespan.

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