Department of Psychology, University of Basel.
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich.
Psychol Aging. 2021 Feb;36(1):69-82. doi: 10.1037/pag0000489.
Prosociality (i.e., voluntary thoughts and actions intended to benefit somebody else) is arguably essential for positive social relationships. The present research investigated under what conditions a prosocial focus has positive effects on the subjective well-being of a prosocial person. We addressed this question in an intervention study of daily social interactions. All participants (N = 295, 57.6% women, age 19-88 years) started the study with a baseline day with no intervention. Participants then underwent a video-based intervention that trained them to focus on either the well-being of others or the well-being of themselves. Participants applied the corresponding focus in social interactions on the next day. Compared with baseline, focusing on others did not significantly affect subjective well-being, whereas focusing on self significantly reduced subjective well-being (the latter effect was further moderated by age and relationship closeness). The difference between self- and other focus was moderated by age: Younger participants (<36 years) reported lower subjective well-being in the self-focus condition, whereas older adults (>68 years) showed the opposite effect (there was no difference in the middle-aged adults). Taken together, the results suggest that focusing on a social partner increases concerns about the partner's well-being but not necessarily one's own well-being. In contrast, focusing on oneself reduces concerns about the partner's well-being and-particularly for young adults-one's own well-being, rendering a strong focus on oneself a potential risk factor for young adults' well-being. Further research is needed to understand the negative effect of other- versus self-focus on older adults' well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
亲社会行为（即，旨在使他人受益的自愿思想和行动）可以说是积极社会关系的基础。本研究探讨了在什么条件下亲社会关注对亲社会者的主观幸福感产生积极影响。我们在一项日常社会互动的干预研究中解决了这个问题。所有参与者（N=295，女性占 57.6%，年龄 19-88 岁）在没有干预的基础日开始研究。然后，参与者接受了基于视频的干预训练，旨在引导他们关注他人的幸福或自己的幸福。参与者在第二天的社会互动中应用相应的关注点。与基础日相比，关注他人并没有显著影响主观幸福感，而关注自己则显著降低了主观幸福感（后者的影响还受到年龄和关系亲密程度的调节）。自我关注和他人关注之间的差异受到年龄的调节：年轻参与者（<36 岁）在自我关注条件下报告的主观幸福感较低，而老年参与者（>68 岁）则表现出相反的效果（中年参与者没有差异）。总之，结果表明，关注社交伙伴会增加对伙伴幸福的关注，但不一定会增加自己的幸福感。相比之下，关注自己会减少对伙伴幸福的关注，尤其是对年轻成年人而言，也会减少对自己幸福的关注，这使得对自己的强烈关注成为年轻成年人幸福感的一个潜在风险因素。需要进一步研究来了解关注他人和关注自己对老年人幸福感的负面影响。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2021 APA，保留所有权利）。
