Everyday helping is associated with enhanced mood but greater stress when it is more effortful

Autor(en)

Ekaterina Pronizius, Paul A G Forbes, Anja C Feneberg, Bianca Miculescu, Urs M Nater, Giulio Piperno, Giorgia Silani, Ana Stijovic, Claus Lamm

Abstrakt

Our affective states can influence whether we help others and after helping we often experience improved affect. One important factor determining whether we help, is the amount of effort involved. Using an ecological momentary assessment approach across two measurement bursts (N = 803; N = 303), we investigated the affective antecedents and consequences of everyday helping in terms of participants' self-reported momentary stress and mood valence, with a specific focus on the perceived amount of effort involved. Regardless of the amount of effort involved in helping, participants reported more positive mood valence after helping across both measurement bursts. In burst 2, this mood boosting effect of helping was strongest in those reporting lower mood prior to helping. In burst 1, we found a bidirectional relationship between stress and helping effort: the greater the effort involved in helping, the greater the perceived stress both before and after helping. Contrary to our preregistered hypotheses, changes in stress or mood valence did not precede helping regardless of the amount of effort involved. Our results support previous work linking helping to enhanced mood but suggest that when helping is more effortful it is both preceded and followed by greater stress. These findings have important implications for fostering and sustaining prosocial behaviours, especially when effort is involved.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Psychologie der Kognition, Emotion und Methoden, Institut für Klinische und Gesundheitspsychologie, Forschungsplattform The Stress of Life - Processes and Mechanisms underlying Everyday Life Stress

Externe Organisation(en)

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf

Journal

Scientific Reports

Band

14

ISSN

2045-2322

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-75261-z

Publikationsdatum

12-2024

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

501001 Allgemeine Psychologie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

General

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/everyday-helping-is-associated-with-enhanced-mood-but-greater-stress-when-it-is-more-effortful(308a5449-cc59-4b2e-b584-6e83d51f7fb0).html