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Back to the future: A way to increase prosocial behavior
Patricia Cernadas Curotto1,2, David Sander1,2, Arnaud d'Argembeau1,3
1Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Plos One
|August 1, 2022
Summary
Thinking about the future encourages helping behavior. People with a positive outlook on the past and future also show more prosocial actions, suggesting future thinking benefits society.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Existing research indicates a connection between future thinking and prosocial behaviors.
- The precise relationship between future thinking (state and trait levels) and prosocial actions requires further elucidation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if a short future thinking exercise enhances helping behavior in an unrelated task.
- To examine the correlation between mental time travel (future and past orientation) and self-reported prosocial behaviors in daily life.
Main Methods:
- Participants (N=48) completed questionnaires assessing mental time travel and prosocial behaviors.
- An experimental manipulation involved a one-minute future thinking induction or a control condition (naming animals).
- Helping behavior was measured using the Zurich Prosocial Game.
Main Results:
- Participants in the future thinking group exhibited significantly more helping behavior compared to the control group.
- Questionnaire data revealed a significant association between a positive orientation towards the future/past and self-reported prosocial behaviors.
Conclusions:
- Briefly contemplating the future has positive transfer effects on subsequent prosocial behavior.
- Individuals with a dispositionally positive outlook on past and future engage in more prosocial actions.
- Findings highlight the role of future thinking in promoting societal well-being.
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