Universität zu Köln

Oarga, Cristina, Stavrova, Olga ORCID: 0000-0002-6079-4151 and Fetchenhauer, Detlef (2015). When and why is helping others good for well-being? The role of belief in reciprocity and conformity to society's expectations. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol., 45 (2). S. 242 - 255. HOBOKEN: WILEY. ISSN 1099-0992

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Abstract

This research investigates the relation between informal help and subjective well-being and its underlying mechanisms using a cross-national perspective. We focus on two potential mechanisms derived from the self-determination theory and conformity to the social norms literature. From the standpoint of self-determination theory, helping others is good for well-being if it is intrinsically motivated, rather than driven by the expectation of reciprocity. On the other hand, from the perspective of the conformity literature, helping others is associated with a higher well-being when it is linked to the benefits of social conformity, such as social approval. We tested these hypotheses using the data from a total of 23 countries. The results provided support for both mechanisms. First, we found that the lower individuals' beliefs in reciprocity are, the stronger is the positive effect of self-reported helping behavior on their well-being. Second, helping behavior was more strongly related to life satisfaction in countries where providing help represents a strong social norm (measured with two different cultural indicators). We conclude that both individual- and culture-level mechanisms account for the relation between prosocial behavior and well-being. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Oarga, Cristina UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Stavrova, Olga UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-6079-4151 UNSPECIFIED Fetchenhauer, Detlef UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-405916
DOI:	10.1002/ejsp.2092
Journal or Publication Title:	Eur. J. Soc. Psychol.
Volume:	45
Number:	2
Page Range:	S. 242 - 255
Date:	2015
Publisher:	WILEY
Place of Publication:	HOBOKEN
ISSN:	1099-0992
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY; PROSOCIAL MOTIVATION; SOCIAL-INFLUENCE; PEOPLE HAPPY; HAPPINESS; ESTEEM; NORMS; LIFE; RELIGIOSITY; VARIABLES Multiple languages Psychology, Social Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/40591