Indian Journal of Positive Psychology

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Psychosocial Antecedents of Prosocial Behavior and its Relationship with Subjective Well-Being in Adolescents


Affiliations
1 Department of Psychology, Ramanujan College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
2 Department of Statistics, Ramanujan College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Prosocial behavior is a collective term covering all activities that are advantageous to other persons or the society in general (Piliavin, Dovidio, Gaertner, & Clark, 1981). It can be divided into three categories of altruism, helping, and cooperation. The notion of why certain people help more willingly than others, and with varied frequencies; and what purpose does it solve in a person's life by extending a helping hand to someone, is what led to the origin of this study. Literature review revealed there is sparse literature available on Indian adolescents. Thus, the research objective is to explore various psychosocial factors that contribute to development of pro-social behaviour in late adolescence, and how they contribute to the experience of an individual's subjective well-being. Sample consisted of 200 college going students in the age group of 17-20 years. A variety of measures were used for the purpose: Prosocial Tendencies measure, Satisfaction with life scale and Positive and Negative affect scale. In addition a semistructured questionnaire was used to get qualitative data from 30 individuals. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlational techniques and t-test. Results indicated majority of students having an average frequency of prosocial behavior, predominantly public and compliant type of prosocial behavior, a low positive correlation between prosocial behavior and well-being, a significant difference between adolescents scoring low on pro-social behavior from those scoring high in terms of their satisfaction with life and no significant difference between males and females in terms of prosocial behavior tendencies.

Keywords

Pro-Social Behavior, Satisfaction with Life, Positive-Negative Affect, Adolescents.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Allen, P.M. (2011). Buddhist Theories of karma and the effect of prosocial behavior on perceptions of others. Master of Arts thesis in Interdisciplinary Studies, Oregon State University.

  • Aydinli, A., Bender, M., & Chasiotis, A. (2013). Helping and volunteering across cultures: Determinants of prosocial behavior. Online readings in Psychology and Culture, International association of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Article6.

  • Bartel, J. S. (2006). Parental and peer influences on adolescent helping. Pro Quest Information and Learning Company.

  • Benabou & Tirole (2006). Incentives and prosocial behavior. American Economic Review, American Economic Association, 96(5), 1652-1678.

  • Carlo, G., & Randall, B. A. (2002). The development of a measure of prosocial behaviors for late adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 31(1), 31-44.

  • Dekovic, M., & Janssens, Jr. M. A. M. (1992). Parents child-rearing style and child socio-metric status. Developmental Psychology, 28(5), 925-932.

  • Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542-575.

  • Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.

  • Eisenberg, N. (1986). Altruistic emotion, cognition and behavior. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

  • Eisenberg, N., & Fabes, R. A. (1998). Prosocial development. Handbook of Child Psychology, 3, 701-778.

  • Eisenberg, N., & Mussen, P. H. (1989). The ischolar_mains of prosocial behavior in children. New York: Cambridge University Press.

  • Eisenberg, N., Cameron, E., Tryon, K., & Dodez, R. (1981). Socialization of prosocial behavior in the preschool classroom. Developmental Psychology, 17, 773-782.

  • Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Karbon, M., Murphy, B. C., Wosinski, M., Polazzi, L., Carlo, G., & Juhnke, C. (1996). The relations of children dispositional prosocial behavior to emotionality, regulation, and social functioning. Child Development, 67, 974-992.

  • Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R.A., & Spinrad, T.L. (2006). Prosocial development. In W. R.M. Damon and N. Eisenberg (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development (Vol. 3, 6th ed., pp. 646-718). New York: Wiley.

  • Eisenberg, N., Valiente, C., & Champion, C. (2004). Empathy-related responding: Moral, social, and socialization correlates. In A. G. Miller (Ed.), The social psychology of good and evil (pp. 386-415). NY: The Guilford Press.

  • Ellison, C. G. (1991). Religious involvement and subjective well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 32(1), 80-99.

  • Gebauer, J. E., Riketta, M., Broemer, P., & Maio, G. R. (2008). Pleasure and pressure based prosocial motivation: Divergent relations to subjective well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 399-420.

  • Hay, D.F., & Cook, K.V. (2007). The transformation of prosocial behavior from infancy to childhood. In C.A. Brownell and C.B. Kopp (Ed.), Socio-emotional development in the toddler years: Transitions and transformations (pp. 100-131). New York: The Guilford Press.

  • Johnson, M. K., Beebe, T., Mortimer, J. T., & Snyder, M. (1998). Volunteerism in adolescence: A process perspective. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 8, 309-332.

  • Knickerbocker, R.L. (2003). Prosocial Behavior. Center on Philanthropy at Indian University. Retrieved on June 12 2014 from http//:www.learning to give.org/paper52.html.

  • Korte, C., & Ayvalioglu, N. (1981). Helpfulness in Turkey: Cities, towns, and urban villagers. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 12, 123-131.

  • Maccoby, E., & Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parentchild interaction. In P. H. Mussen and E. M. Hetherington (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Socialization, personality, and social development (Vol. 4, 4th ed., pp. 1-101). New York: Wiley.

  • Midlarsky, E., & Kahana, E. (2007). Altruism, well-being, and mental health in late life. In S. G. Post (Ed.), Altruism and health: Perspectives from empirical research (pp. 56-69). New York: Oxford University Press Oman.

  • Miller, C. (2010). Guilt and helping. In A. Columbis (Ed.), Advances in psychology research: Guilt and helping (Vol. 68, pp. 117-138). Hauppauge, NY, USA: Nova Science Publishers.

  • Miller, J. G., Bersoff, D. M., & Harwood, R. L. (1990). Perceptions of social responsibilities in India and in the United States: Moral imperatives or personal decisions? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 33-47.

  • Pavot, W., Diener, E., Colvin, C. R., & Sandvik, E. (1991). Further validation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale: Evidence for the cross-method convergence of well-being measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 57, 149-161.

  • Piliavin, J. A., Dovidio, J. F., Gaertner, S. L., & Clark, R. D. (1981). Emergency intervention. New York: Academic Press.

  • Post, S. G. (Ed.) (2007). Altruism and health: Perspectives from empirical research. New York: Oxford University Press.

  • Radke-Yarrow, M., Zahn-Waxlcr, C., & Chapman, M. (1983). Children prosocial dispositions and behavior. In P. Musscn and E M. Hctherington (Eds.), Manual of Child psychology: Socialization, personality, and social development (Vol. 4., Issue 4, pp. 469-545). New York: John Wiley.

  • Renner, S., Lindenmeier, J., Tscheulin, D.K., & Drevs, F. (2013). Guilt appeals and prosocial behavior: An experimental analysis of the effects of anticipatory versus reactive guilt appeals on the effectiveness of blood donor appeals. Journal of Nonprofit and Public Sector Marketing, 25(3), 237-255.

  • Rietschlin, J. (1998). Voluntary association membership and psychological distress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 39(4), 348-353.

  • Rushton, J. P., Chrisjohn, R. D., & Fekken, G. C. (1981). The altruistic personality and the Self-report Altruism Scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 2, 293-302.

  • Schroeder, D. A., Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., & Piliavin, J. A. (1995). The psychology of helping and altruism: Problems and puzzles. McGraw-Hill, New York.

  • Schwartz, S. H., & Howard, J. A. (1984). Internalized values as motivators of altruism. In E. Staub, D. Bar-Tal, J. Karylowski, and J. Reykowski (Eds.), International perspectives on positive development (pp. 229-255). New York: Plenum Press.

  • Simpson, B., & Willer, R. (2008). Altruism and indirect reciprocity: The interaction of person and situation in prosocial behaviour. Social Psychology Quarterly, 71(1), 37-52.

  • Torstveit, L., Sutterlin, S., & Lugo, R. G. (2016). Empathy, guilt proneness, and gender: Relative contributions to prosocial behavior. Europe Journal of Psychology, 12(2), 260-270.

  • Triandis, H. C. (1991). Cross-cultural differences in assertiveness/competition vs. group loyalty/cooperation. In R. A. Hinde and J. Groebel (Ed.), Cooperation and prosocial behavior (pp. 78-88). New York: Cambridge University Press.

  • Vaish, A., Carpenter, M., & Tomasello, M. (2016). The early emergence of guilt-motivated prosocial behavior. Child Development, 87(6), 1772-1782.

  • Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063-1070.

  • Weinstein, N., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). When helping helps: Autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on well-being for the helper and recipient. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(2), 222-224.

  • Wheeler, J. A., Gorey, K. M., & Greenblatt, B. (1998). The beneficial effects of volunteering for older volunteers and the people they serve: A meta-analysis. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 47(1), 69-79.

  • Wispe, L. (1972). Positive forms of social behavior: An overview. Journal of Social Issues, 28, 1-20.


Abstract Views: 692

PDF Views: 0




  • Psychosocial Antecedents of Prosocial Behavior and its Relationship with Subjective Well-Being in Adolescents

Abstract Views: 692  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Shalini Sharma
Department of Psychology, Ramanujan College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
Sachin Tomer
Department of Statistics, Ramanujan College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

Abstract


Prosocial behavior is a collective term covering all activities that are advantageous to other persons or the society in general (Piliavin, Dovidio, Gaertner, & Clark, 1981). It can be divided into three categories of altruism, helping, and cooperation. The notion of why certain people help more willingly than others, and with varied frequencies; and what purpose does it solve in a person's life by extending a helping hand to someone, is what led to the origin of this study. Literature review revealed there is sparse literature available on Indian adolescents. Thus, the research objective is to explore various psychosocial factors that contribute to development of pro-social behaviour in late adolescence, and how they contribute to the experience of an individual's subjective well-being. Sample consisted of 200 college going students in the age group of 17-20 years. A variety of measures were used for the purpose: Prosocial Tendencies measure, Satisfaction with life scale and Positive and Negative affect scale. In addition a semistructured questionnaire was used to get qualitative data from 30 individuals. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlational techniques and t-test. Results indicated majority of students having an average frequency of prosocial behavior, predominantly public and compliant type of prosocial behavior, a low positive correlation between prosocial behavior and well-being, a significant difference between adolescents scoring low on pro-social behavior from those scoring high in terms of their satisfaction with life and no significant difference between males and females in terms of prosocial behavior tendencies.

Keywords


Pro-Social Behavior, Satisfaction with Life, Positive-Negative Affect, Adolescents.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.15614/ijpp%2F2018%2Fv9i1%2F173677