Prosocial Spending and Well-Being: Cross-Cultural Evidence for a Psychological Universal

Abstract

This research provides the first support for a possible psychological universal: Human beings around the world derive emotional benefits from using their financial resources to help others (prosocial spending). In Study 1, survey data from 136 countries were examined and showed that prosocial spending is associated with greater happiness around the world, in poor and rich countries alike. To test for causality, in Studies 2a and 2b, we used experimental methodology, demonstrating that recalling a past instance of prosocial spending has a causal impact on happiness across countries that differ greatly in terms of wealth (Canada, Uganda, and India). Finally, in Study 3, participants in Canada and South Africa randomly assigned to buy items for charity reported higher levels of positive affect than participants assigned to buy the same items for themselves, even when this prosocial spending did not provide an opportunity to build or strengthen social ties. Our findings suggest that the reward experienced from helping others may be deeply ingrained in human nature, emerging in diverse cultural and economic contexts.

Understanding and Improving the Social Context of Well-Being

“…Although the form and purpose of giving differs from country to country, depending upon needs and customs, those who give are happier 6 than those who do not (Aknin et al 2010). This is consistent with experimental results from fifteen different societies showing that co-operative behavior in experimental games is greater everywhere than would be predicted using selfish assumptions (Henrich et al 2001).…”

Subjective well-being and personal relationships in childhood: Comparison of Brazilian and Spanish children

“…The recent literature on wellbeing presents some cross-cultural studies (Aknin et al, 2013;Kim, Schimmack, & Oishi, 2012;Sarriera et al, 2014), but are mostly carried out with adults, apart from not focusing on personal relationships. It is known that relations with others contribute to mental health, self-esteem, positive behaviour and well-being (Ngai, Cheung, To, Liu, & Song, 2013).…”

Can Raising Instructional Time Crowd Out Student Pro-Social Behaviour? Evidence from Germany

“…2 The importance of instructional time for student achievement varies between educational systems, and in particular, between developed and developing countries (Woessmann, 2016), pointing towards potentially important complementarities in educational production, for example, between instructional time and teacher quality or effective classroom management techniques (Rivkin and Schiman, 2015). 1 labour market outcomes, to have positive physical and mental health benefits, and to raise subjective well-being over and beyond other benefits (Wilson and Musick, 2012), as confirmed in both observational (Binder and Freytag, 2013;Borgnonovi, 2008;Meier and Stutzer, 2008) and experimental studies Aknin et al, 2008). Specifically for youth, there is evidence that volunteering from an early age on enhances psychological development by raising self-esteem and self-confidence and by discouraging risky behaviours (Hart et al, 2007;Wilson and Musick, 2012).…”