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Gloster AT, Rinner MTB, Haller E, Hoyer J, Mikoteit T, Imboden C, Hatzinger M, Bader K, Miché M, Lieb R, Meyer AH. Is helping you helping me? The assessment of helping others using event sampling methodology in a clinical and a non‐clinical sample. BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022; 62:768-781. [PMID: 36329569 DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) and social phobia (SP) have difficulties in social interactions. It is unknown, however, whether such difficulties prevent them from helping others, thereby depriving them of the natural benefits of helping, such as receiving gratitude. Using event sampling methodology (ESM), individuals (MDD, n = 118; SP, n = 47; and control group, n = 119) responded to questions about the frequency of helping, in total at 5333 time points, and their well-being. Contrary to our hypothesis, individuals in the MDD, SP and control group did not differ in their helping frequency. Results did show an association between helping and well-being, such that helping is related to well-being and well-being to helping. Understanding the complex relation of helping others and well-being and how this might be used during therapy and prevention programmes are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew T. Gloster
- Division of Clinical Psychology and Intervention Science, Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Marcia T. B. Rinner
- Division of Clinical Psychology and Intervention Science, Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Elisa Haller
- Division of Clinical Psychology and Intervention Science, Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Jürgen Hoyer
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Technische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany
| | - Thorsten Mikoteit
- Centre for Affective, Stress and Sleep Disorders University of Basel, Psychiatric Hospital Basel Switzerland
- Psychiatric Services Solothurn and University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Christian Imboden
- Switzerland and Private Clinic Wyss Psychiatric Services Solothurn and University of Basel Muenchenbuchsee Switzerland
| | - Martin Hatzinger
- Psychiatric Services Solothurn and University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Klaus Bader
- Psychiatric University Clinics UPK Basel Switzerland
| | - Marcel Miché
- Division of Clinical Psychology and Epidemiology, Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Roselind Lieb
- Division of Clinical Psychology and Epidemiology, Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Andrea H. Meyer
- Division of Clinical Psychology and Epidemiology, Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland
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Haller E, Lubenko J, Presti G, Squatrito V, Constantinou M, Nicolaou C, Papacostas S, Aydın G, Chong YY, Chien WT, Cheng HY, Ruiz FJ, García-Martín MB, Obando-Posada DP, Segura-Vargas MA, Vasiliou VS, McHugh L, Höfer S, Baban A, Dias Neto D, da Silva AN, Monestès JL, Alvarez-Galvez J, Paez-Blarrina M, Montesinos F, Valdivia-Salas S, Ori D, Kleszcz B, Lappalainen R, Ivanović I, Gosar D, Dionne F, Merwin RM, Karekla M, Kassianos AP, Gloster AT. To Help or Not to Help? Prosocial Behavior, Its Association With Well-Being, and Predictors of Prosocial Behavior During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic. Front Psychol 2022; 12:775032. [PMID: 35222147 PMCID: PMC8877810 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.775032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic fundamentally disrupted humans’ social life and behavior. Public health measures may have inadvertently impacted how people care for each other. This study investigated prosocial behavior, its association well-being, and predictors of prosocial behavior during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and sought to understand whether region-specific differences exist. Participants (N = 9,496) from eight regions clustering multiple countries around the world responded to a cross-sectional online-survey investigating the psychological consequences of the first upsurge of lockdowns in spring 2020. Prosocial behavior was reported to occur frequently. Multiple regression analyses showed that prosocial behavior was associated with better well-being consistently across regions. With regard to predictors of prosocial behavior, high levels of perceived social support were most strongly associated with prosocial behavior, followed by high levels of perceived stress, positive affect and psychological flexibility. Sociodemographic and psychosocial predictors of prosocial behavior were similar across regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Haller
- Clinical Psychology and Intervention Science, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- *Correspondence: Elisa Haller,
| | - Jelena Lubenko
- Department of Health Psychology and Pedagogy, Riga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia
| | - Giovambattista Presti
- Kore University Behavioral Lab, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Kore University of Enna, Enna, Italy
| | - Valeria Squatrito
- Kore University Behavioral Lab, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Kore University of Enna, Enna, Italy
| | - Marios Constantinou
- Department of Social Sciences, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | | | | | - Gökçen Aydın
- Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Faculty of Education, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Yuen Yu Chong
- The Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Wai Tong Chien
- The Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Ho Yu Cheng
- The Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Francisco J. Ruiz
- Department of Psychology, Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz, Bogotá, Colombia
| | | | | | | | - Vasilis S. Vasiliou
- Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Louise McHugh
- School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Stefan Höfer
- Department of Medical Psychology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Adriana Baban
- Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University (UBB), Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - David Dias Neto
- ISPA—Instituto Universitário, APPsyCI—Applied Psychology Research Center Capabilities and Inclusion, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Ana Nunes da Silva
- Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, Lisbon, Portugal
| | | | - Javier Alvarez-Galvez
- Department of Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health, University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain
| | | | | | | | - Dorottya Ori
- Department of Mental Health, Heim Pal National Pediatric Institute, Budapest, Hungary
- Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Bartosz Kleszcz
- Bartosz Kleszcz Psychotherapy and Training, Sosnowiec, Poland
| | - Raimo Lappalainen
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Iva Ivanović
- Department of Child Psychiatry, Institute for Children’s Diseases, Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro
| | - David Gosar
- Department of Child, Adolescent and Developmental Neurology, University Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Frederick Dionne
- Département de Psychologie, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
| | - Rhonda M. Merwin
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Duke University, Durham, CA, United States
| | - Maria Karekla
- Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | | | - Andrew T. Gloster
- Clinical Psychology and Intervention Science, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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Gloster AT, Rinner MTB, Meyer AH. Increasing prosocial behavior and decreasing selfishness in the lab and everyday life. Sci Rep 2020; 10:21220. [PMID: 33277579 PMCID: PMC7718232 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-78251-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The tension between selfishness and prosocial behavior is crucial to understanding many social interactions and conflicts. Currently little is known how to promote prosocial behaviors, especially in naturally occurring relationships outside the laboratory. We examined whether a psychological micro-intervention would promote prosocial behaviors in couples. Across two studies, we randomized dyads of couples to a micro-intervention (15 min), which increased prosocial behaviors by 28% and decreased selfish behaviors by 35% a week later in behavioral games in a dose-response manner. Using event sampling methodology, we further observed an increase in prosocial behaviors across one week that was most pronounced in participants who received the intervention. These results from the laboratory and everyday life are important for researchers interested in prosocial behavior and selfishness and have practical relevance for group interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew T Gloster
- Division of Clinical Psychology and Intervention Science, Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 62 A, 4055, Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Marcia T B Rinner
- Division of Clinical Psychology and Intervention Science, Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 62 A, 4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Andrea H Meyer
- Division of Clinical Psychology & Epidemiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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