IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v23y2022i6d10.1007_s10902-022-00526-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Relationship Between Prosociality, Meaning, and Happiness in Everyday Life

Author

Listed:
  • Brodie C. Dakin

    (University of Queensland)

  • Nicholas P. Tan

    (The University of Melbourne)

  • Tamlin S. Conner

    (University of Otago)

  • Brock Bastian

    (The University of Melbourne)

Abstract

Prosocial behaviors benefit others, but what benefits do they hold for those who enact them? Prosociality can enhance the actor’s well-being, yet whether it is one’s sense of happiness or meaning that is impacted, and how this plays out in everyday life, has received limited attention. We address this gap in knowledge by examining how prosociality is related to daily meaning and happiness across two large daily diary studies in two countries. Study 1 (N = 1140) revealed that changes in one’s subjective sense of prosociality was uniquely associated with both daily meaning and happiness. Study 2 (N = 217) found that self-reported prosocial behavior was also clearly linked to increases in daily meaning, and modestly associated with daily happiness. Altogether, our findings suggest that the subjective sense of prosociality is associated with meaning and happiness, and that performing prosocial acts may be particularly relevant to experiencing meaning.

Suggested Citation

  • Brodie C. Dakin & Nicholas P. Tan & Tamlin S. Conner & Brock Bastian, 2022. "The Relationship Between Prosociality, Meaning, and Happiness in Everyday Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2787-2804, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:23:y:2022:i:6:d:10.1007_s10902-022-00526-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-022-00526-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-022-00526-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-022-00526-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edward Deci & Richard Ryan, 2008. "Hedonia, eudaimonia, and well-being: an introduction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, January.
    2. Myriam Mongrain & Jacqueline Chin & Leah Shapira, 2011. "Practicing Compassion Increases Happiness and Self-Esteem," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 12(6), pages 963-981, December.
    3. Ed Diener & Derrick Wirtz & William Tov & Chu Kim-Prieto & Dong-won Choi & Shigehiro Oishi & Robert Biswas-Diener, 2010. "New Well-being Measures: Short Scales to Assess Flourishing and Positive and Negative Feelings," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 97(2), pages 143-156, June.
    4. Frank Martela & Richard M. Ryan & Michael F. Steger, 2018. "Meaningfulness as Satisfaction of Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness, and Beneficence: Comparing the Four Satisfactions and Positive Affect as Predictors of Meaning in Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(5), pages 1261-1282, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiangting He & Tongguang Zang & Bingyu Sun & Konomi Ikebe, 2023. "Tourists’ Motives for Visiting Historic Conservation Areas in the Post-Pandemic Era: A Case Study of Kuanzhai Alley in Chengdu, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-16, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nikolova, Milena & Cnossen, Femke, 2020. "What makes work meaningful and why economists should care about it," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    2. Berezan, Orie & Krishen, Anjala S. & Agarwal, Shaurya & Kachroo, Pushkin, 2018. "The pursuit of virtual happiness: Exploring the social media experience across generations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 455-461.
    3. Katsunori Sumi, 2014. "Reliability and Validity of Japanese Versions of the Flourishing Scale and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 601-615, September.
    4. Suparna Saha & Sanghamitra Basu & Debapratim Pandit, 2022. "Identifying Factors Influencing Perceived Quality of Life (QoL) of Indian Elderly: Case Study of Kolkata, India," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 867-907, April.
    5. Henry C. Y. Ho & Wai Kai Hou & Kai-Tak POON & Angel N. M. Leung & Joyce L. Y. Kwan, 2023. "Being Virtuous Together: A One-Year Prospective Study on Organizational Virtuousness, Well-Being, and Organizational Commitment," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 521-542, February.
    6. Wei Liu & Wen Zhang & Dimitri Linden & Arnold B. Bakker, 2023. "Flow and Flourishing During the Pandemic: The Roles of Strengths Use and Playful Design," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(7), pages 2153-2175, October.
    7. Andrew Howell & Karen Buro, 2015. "Measuring and Predicting Student Well-Being: Further Evidence in Support of the Flourishing Scale and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 903-915, April.
    8. Chua Bee Seok & Getrude Cosmas & Shazia Iqbal Hashmi & Carmella Ading, 2022. "Psychometric and Gender Invariance Analysis of the Flourishing Scale in the Malaysian Context," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    9. Léandre Alexis Chénard-Poirier & Robert J. Vallerand & Jérémie Verner-Filion & Nathalie Houlfort & Jacques Forest & Natalie Rinfret, 2023. "Optimal Functioning in Society: A Conceptualization, a Measure, and a Look at Determinants," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 857-892, February.
    10. Selda Koydemir & Aslı Bugay Sökmez & Astrid Schütz, 2021. "A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Randomized Controlled Positive Psychological Interventions on Subjective and Psychological Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(3), pages 1145-1185, June.
    11. Arjan Dam & Gera Noordzij & Marise Born, 2020. "Thriving Under Uncertainty: The Effect of Achievement Goal Orientation on Job Insecurity and Flourishing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 659-678, July.
    12. Ana Silva & António Caetano, 2013. "Validation of the Flourishing Scale and Scale of Positive and Negative Experience in Portugal," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(2), pages 469-478, January.
    13. Ethan McMahan & David Estes, 2012. "Age-Related Differences in Lay Conceptions of Well-Being and Experienced Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 79-101, March.
    14. Maw–Der Foo & Marilyn A. Uy & Charles Murnieks, 2015. "Beyond Affective Valence: Untangling Valence and Activation Influences on Opportunity Identification," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(2), pages 407-431, March.
    15. Yi-Ching Hsieh & Hung-Chang Chiu & Yun-Chia Tang & Wei-Yun Lin, 2018. "Does Raising Value Co-creation Increase All Customers’ Happiness?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(4), pages 1053-1067, November.
    16. Li, Tingting Elle & Chan, Eric Tak Hin, 2017. "Diaspora tourism and well-being: A eudaimonic view," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 205-206.
    17. M. Sirgy, 2011. "Theoretical Perspectives Guiding QOL Indicator Projects," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 1-22, August.
    18. Merrick Powell & Kirk N. Olsen & William Forde Thompson, 2023. "Music, Pleasure, and Meaning: The Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motivations for Music (HEMM) Scale," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-19, March.
    19. Andrew E. Clark, 2015. "SWB as a Measure of Individual Well-Being," Working Papers halshs-01134483, HAL.
    20. Zuoxian Gan & Tao Feng & Min Yang, 2018. "Exploring the Effects of Car Ownership and Commuting on Subjective Well-Being: A Nationwide Questionnaire Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:23:y:2022:i:6:d:10.1007_s10902-022-00526-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.