Bains Kiran Kaur, Turnbull Triece
Health Services Research, School of Health Sciences, City, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
Centre for Psychology Ltd., Surrey, United Kingdom.
Front Psychol. 2019 Aug 7;10:1787. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01787. eCollection 2019.
Human beings face unprecedented social and environmental challenges which require collective action and changes in health-related behavior. The threat of climate change is becoming an increasingly urgent issue for humanity and the natural environment. Alongside this, there is evidence that loneliness and social isolation can significantly impact cardiovascular health and mortality through direct and indirect processes, for example by increasing risky behaviors. However, one construct that has so far received little attention in health psychology is that of purpose. Purpose is thought to be self-regulatory; it derives from a greater sense of meaning yet is goal-directed and involves a stable and generalized intention toward accomplishment. The development of a sense of purpose is associated with improved mental and physical health. However, it is possible that one facet of purpose, prosocial orientation, may have a particularly beneficial effect on psychological well-being, increasing generativity and personal growth. Prosocial purpose may also help explain the growth in the number of people in the West who are reducing their meat and dairy intake, which may help mitigate climate change. It may also help explain the rise of civic engagement in environmental volunteering and support for conservation amongst some individuals and communities, which can also confer additional health benefits. Cultivating prosocial purpose may aid engagement in behavior change initiatives which may improve individual health and help address these wider social challenges, such as changing one's diet to help address climate change, volunteering and engaging in physical activity outdoors to support the environment, and supporting active engagement with vulnerable groups at risk of social isolation and loneliness. Cultivating prosocial purpose may also support self-advocacy for social changes which can benefit community health. It may be possible to cultivate prosocial purpose through interventions which involve experiential and abstract learning experiences that increase empathy, stimulate reflection and lead to meaning-making processes. This may then facilitate development of a sense of prosocial purpose because meaning-making is thought to be a precursor to purpose development. Doing so may be important to engage populations in efforts to combat climate change and address social isolation and loneliness.
人类面临着前所未有的社会和环境挑战，这需要集体行动以及与健康相关行为的改变。气候变化的威胁对人类和自然环境而言正变得愈发紧迫。与此同时，有证据表明，孤独和社会隔离会通过直接和间接的过程显著影响心血管健康和死亡率，例如通过增加危险行为。然而，到目前为止，健康心理学中一个很少受到关注的概念是目标感。目标感被认为具有自我调节作用；它源自更强的意义感，但具有目标导向性，并且涉及对成就的稳定且普遍的意图。目标感的发展与改善身心健康相关。然而，目标感的一个方面，即亲社会取向，可能对心理健康具有特别有益的影响，能增强繁衍感和个人成长。亲社会目标也可能有助于解释西方减少肉类和奶制品摄入量人数的增加，这可能有助于缓解气候变化。它还可能有助于解释一些个人和社区中公民参与环境志愿活动以及对环境保护支持的增加，这也能带来额外的健康益处。培养亲社会目标可能有助于参与行为改变倡议，这可能改善个人健康并有助于应对这些更广泛的社会挑战，比如改变饮食以应对气候变化、参与志愿活动以及在户外进行体育活动以支持环境，还有支持积极与面临社会隔离和孤独风险的弱势群体互动。培养亲社会目标也可能支持对有利于社区健康的社会变革进行自我倡导。通过涉及增加同理心、激发反思并导致意义构建过程的体验式和抽象学习体验的干预措施，有可能培养亲社会目标。由于意义构建被认为是目标发展的前兆，这随后可能促进亲社会目标感的发展。这样做对于促使人们参与应对气候变化以及解决社会隔离和孤独的努力可能很重要。
