Emotional, motivational and attitudinal consequences of autonomous prosocial behaviour

Kelley, N. J., Weinstein, N. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2200-6617, Smith, E. E., Davis, W. E., Christy, A. G., Sedikides, C. and Schlegel, R. J. (2022) Emotional, motivational and attitudinal consequences of autonomous prosocial behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology. ISSN 0046-2772 doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2916

Abstract/Summary

When do prosocial actors experience positive versus negative psychological outcomes from helping others? In four studies and an internal meta-analysis, we tested the hypothesis that autonomy shapes the psychological consequences of helping others. In Study 1, prosocial behaviour was associated with a robust pattern of negative well-being outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress) for individuals low but not high in autonomy. In Studies 2–4, relative to reflecting on a neutral interpersonal experience, reflecting on an autonomous helping experience increased sadness and happiness, strengthened intentions to help in the future and raised support for social welfare. By contrast, reflecting on a controlled helping experience increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions, but did not affect attitudes or behavioural intentions. Collectively, the findings indicate that autonomy (or lack thereof) shapes the emotional, motivational and attitudinal consequences of helping behaviour.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/108990
Identification Number/DOI	10.1002/ejsp.2916
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords	Social Psychology
Publisher	Wiley
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