Giving = Receiving? The outcome of prosocial behavior within and between clinical and non-clinical individuals, and couples

Abstract

The literature on the effects of prosocial behavior (PB) on well-being shows mixed results, reporting costs and benefits from PB. A better understanding of if, when, how and from whom acting prosocially is beneficial could be important to improve individuals well-being. The aim of this dissertation was to assess the relation between PB and well-being, and the frequency of PB within several populations, while using assessment tools known to reduce memory biases. Several biases have been reported in the literature within different populations. Specifically, Memory-Experience Gaps (MeGs) were found within clinical and non-clinical population, separately. A further aim of this dissertation was to assess MeGs between several populations. Furthermore, two factors were assessed that are also believed to interact with the relation between PB and well-being (closeness to the recipient of the PB, and feeling of choice of the prosocial actor). Two samples (n = 284 and n= 180), one including individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) or social phobia (SP), and individuals in a control group without a diagnosis of MDD and SP, and another sample including couples were investigated. Event sampling methodology (ESM), a method known to reduce memory biases was hereby mainly used to assess the study variables with the exception of the assessment of the MeG, for which retrospective variables were compared with ESM variables. Results show that individuals diagnosed with MDD and SP and individuals in a control group tend to retrospectively overestimate experiences that are most salient to them (e.g. sadness for MDD). Results also suggest that when PB is assessed using ESM, PB was positively related to the well-being within individuals in the MDD, SP and control group. This finding did not last over time and could not be replicated for couples. Furthermore, closeness to the recipient of PB and choice have been shown to related with well-being. These results give important information on the relation between PB and well-being. Implementation and future directions of PB for research and practice are discussed.