Introduction
Generally, human beings are considered as being prosocial in the sense that they tend to reflect or focus on behaviors that are more likely to contribute to the happiness of other people in the society (Primes & Fieder, 2018). However, one of the key questions that psychologists seek to answer is on the underlying influence of the prosocial in promoting happiness on an individual level, which seeks to evaluate the extended impact of a prosocial behavior in changing people’s meaning of happiness. According to Aknin, Broesch, Hamlin, & Van de Vondervoort (2015), the idea of living within a prosocial society or environment has a wide array of impacts on both adults and children, as it creates a platform for change in the way that they view the notion of generosity. That means that living within a prosocial society increases one’s perception towards becoming more generous as a way of ensuring that others achieve the expected levels of happiness (Aknin, Hamlin, & Dunn, 2012). It would be essential to reflect on the fact that people tend to become happier based on their abilities to give out when compared to them receiving as part of creating a prosocial society.
This research paper seeks to establish a clear underlying relationship between the existence of a prosocial behavior and an overall increment in the happiness perception levels within the society. To help understand this relationship, it would be essential to embark on a study that seeks to create a connection between prosocial behaviors and happiness while focusing on the fact that people living within prosocial environments are generally happy. The study will focus on evaluating whether the idea of living within a prosocial society increases generosity and how this impacts on one’s happiness. The study will reflect on the possibility of increased happiness in the event that one lives within a society that is considered as being prosocial while focusing on behaviors that seek to suggest the idea that people appreciate a prosocial environment.
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Literature Review
The paper will seek to highlight some of the previous studies focusing on prosocial behaviors and their connection to the notion of happiness from a social perspective. Some of the researchers have sought to build on their understanding of prosocial behaviors by suggesting that these behaviors tend to reflect more on the position that people must achieve happiness. According to Emmons & McCullough (2003), maintaining or developing prosocial behaviors acts as one of the key elements that contribute to the need for people to develop or maintain that element of positivity in their approach to different aspects of life. Positivity arises from the fact that people are able to play a central role in building happiness for others within the same social environment. However, the main question to consider is how prosocial behaviors may contribute to happiness on an individual level.
Aknin et al. (2013) suggest that happiness arises from the fact that people tend to develop a tendency towards increasing their generosity levels towards others within the same social platform. That means that people tend to achieve higher levels of happiness depending on their abilities to improve or increase on their abilities to give (as indicated in figure 1). However, Hepach, Vaish, & Tomasello (2012) argue that people that give, givers, are generally considered as having a higher level of happiness when compared to the individuals that take, takers. By projecting a prosocial perception within a specific society, people would understand the need and desire associated with their giving. Consequently, this would mean that people would achieve a higher level of happiness depending on their abilities to give, as this would act as one of the key aspects that connect them to prosocial behaviors. That would arise from the fact that people tend to become happier in the event that they give out when compared to their decisions to take from others within the same social platform.
When reflecting on the perception associated with having a prosocial behavior, one’s decision to engage in activities that would bring happiness to others is not driven by the fact that one would build social relationships or anticipation of social praise (as suggested in figure 1). Instead, this would be projected from the fact that people tend to reflect on the idea that their behaviors are having positive impacts on others within the same social platform. Aknin, Dunn, Sandstrom, & Norton (2013) suggest that people within a prosocial environment or society tend to believe in their need to improve on the happiness levels from others while reflecting on the need for giving. In another study, Park & Shin (2017) build on the perception that prosocial behaviors may have lasting impacts on happiness levels, as they tend to create an avenue from which people believe in their inherent need to build social happiness. Consequently, this acts as a contributing factor to ensuring that people understand their general connection to happiness depending on the prosocial behaviors that they project towards others in the society.
Difference of proposal from what has been done before
Although this particular research study will be somewhat similar, in terms of approach to the topic, when compared to the previous studies, the study will seek to delve deeper into evaluating how prosocial behaviors contribute to the notion of giving. In other words, the study will seek to evaluate why people, who tend to develop prosocial behaviors are generally considered as givers with an aim of establishing that positive relationship to their happiness. That is a missing element in all the previous studies, as most of these studies reflect on prosocial behaviors from the perspective of giving. However, they fail to highlight how prosocial behaviors may contribute to one’s perception or connection to the idea of giving with an intention of promoting happiness.
Hypothesis
The paper will work focusing on null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis as part of ensuring that the research study achieves its intended objective, which is to highlight the relationship in the two variables.
Null Hypothesis
The null hypothesis for this particular study is that prosocial behaviors act as contributing factors to the need for people to give, which would be of value towards increasing their happiness indexes significantly.
Alternative Hypothesis
The alternative hypothesis for this study is that although prosocial behaviors may contribute to increased desire to give, they do not have any form of connection towards increasing happiness within a societal level.
The hypotheses seek to create a connection between prosocial behaviors and happiness based on the ability for these behaviors to influence a person towards giving as one of the key behaviors that seeks to support that general connection in a society.
Method
Participants
As part of meeting the overall objectives of this study, the participants selected for this study will be teenagers between the age of 15 years and 19 years. The study seeks to evaluate how these teenagers are influenced by prosocial behaviors towards giving and how this would impact on their happiness levels. The sample size selection for this study will be somewhere between 15 and 30 participants as a way of ensuring that the results from the study are applicable in a given population. Recruitment will occur through randomization as part of promoting reliability and validity of the research results from the participants involved. Generally, the participants selected must exhibit one or more personality traits that would support the existence of prosocial behaviors.
Materials
Generally, this will be an observational study, which seeks to highlight results based on the observations made during the course of the research process. Thus, this means that the only materials that the researcher would utilize as part of the study is pen and paper as part of recording all relevant details with regard to the study process. The researcher will embark on a process of having to record observations from each of the participants on an individual level as part of promoting effectiveness in the expected research outcomes.
Procedure
The first step will involve a process in which each of the participants will be asked to highlight their current happiness levels on a 3-point scale (Currently, do you feel happy from a general perspective? 1 - not at all, 2 - a little, 3 - yes). The second step will involve giving each of the participants a $50 voucher from a local supermarket and asking them to buy things that they believe would be of benefit to others. The third step will involve asking the participants to share the items that they have bought with others in their society. The last step is asking the participants to highlight their happiness levels on a 3-point scale (Do you feel happier based on your giving? 1 - not at all, 2 - a little, 3 - yes).
Design
The main research design that this study will seek to utilize is correlational research design considering that the main element of focus for the research is finding a relationship between the idea of giving based on prosocial behaviors and an improvement in happiness levels. Correlational research design reflects on the idea that two or more variables, identified in the research process, tend to have that general relationship depending on their presentation. The use of this research design is effective for this particular study considering that the researcher will have an opportunity to evaluate the existing relationship between two variables.
Results
The main statistic that was used is correlational, which seeks to evaluate whether the participants involved in the study tend to experience a general increase in their happiness levels depending on their engagement in giving. When presenting the results, this statistic will help expose the existing relationship between these two variables, thus, paving the way for positive outcomes with regard to the way one understands the concept of prosocial behaviors. The degrees of freedom will depend wholly on the number of participants that would be gathered for this particular study. The calculation for the degrees of freedom will be df (degrees of freedom): N (sample size) -2). The alpha level chosen for this study is 0.05 meaning that risk of highlighting a correlation is 5%. Based on this alpha level, the critical value for this study will be 0.05/2 = 0.975, thus, meaning that the rejection of the null hypothesis will depend on whether the absolute value is above 0.975.
Discussion
Significant and Non-Significant Results
In the event that the results collected for this particular study are significant, that would mean that the researcher will be in a better position to provide readers with a evidence-based approach towards supporting the null hypothesis of the study. Significant results seek to create a clear avenue from which a researcher is able to gather the expected evidence that would support the null hypothesis. In this case, the significant results will support the fact that prosocial behaviors tend to have a major impact on happiness. In the event that the results are non-significant, that would mean that the research would focus on supporting the alternative hypothesis. In this case, the non-significant results would support the position that prosocial behaviors do not have any link or connection towards promoting or projecting happiness.
APA Ethical Guidelines
The study will follow the laid out APA ethical guidelines in several ways as part of ensuring that the study maintains that general connection towards improved reliability. Firstly, the researcher will seek to ensure that each of the participants involved in the study will signed an informed consent form. The consent form will ensure that each of the participants was involved in the study willingly, as well as, give the researcher the right to use the information and data collected. Secondly, the researcher will embark on a process of seeking IRB permissions before the initial process of research. The permissions will help ensure that the researcher understands some of the key ethical practices that would define effectiveness with regard to the study process. The third step is providing each of the participants with a debriefing statement, which will focus on providing them with a clear understanding of what they would need to understand with regard to the study. The statement will also provide the participants with the necessary steps that they would go through as part of the study.
Limitations
The first major limitation to the study reflects on the fact that the researcher intends to use randomized selection of the participants that portend one of more personality traits of being prosocial. That means that the researcher is likely to encounter a major challenge in meeting the expected number of participants in the study based on this particular requirement. Secondly, the researcher anticipates a major limitation with regard to issues of privacy, which is one of the key concerns for the participants involved in the study. While engaging in this study, the participants expect that the researcher would be in a position to maintain or establish a front for privacy, which acts as key limitation in this particular research process. However, the researcher’s anticipation towards this particular limitation creates a better platform from which to help deal with the issue beforehand.
Conclusion
Based on the study conducted, it would be essential to note that future studies may arise from this particular study considering that the study reflects on a topic that is considered as being important in psychology. One key study that would arise from this research reflects on trying to establish an understanding of specific prosocial behaviors that would lead individuals towards giving. In this study, the key element of focus is trying to determine how people projecting a prosocial behavior are more likely to give when compared to antisocial individuals. Another study will reflect on the relationship between prosocial behaviors and the general perception to life. In this study, researchers may reflect on how prosocial behaviors may lead to a general shift in perception towards maintaining a positive perception towards life.
References
Aknin, L. B. et al. (2013). Prosocial spending and well-being: Cross-cultural evidence for a psychological universal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 104 (4), 635-652.
Aknin, L. B., Broesch, T., Hamlin, J. K., & Van de Vondervoort, J. W. (2015). Prosocial behavior leads to happiness in a small-scale rural society. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 144 (4), 788-795.
Aknin, L. B., Dunn, E. W., Sandstrom, G. M., & Norton, M. I. (2013). Does social connection turn good deeds into good feelings?: On the value of putting the ‘social’ in prosocial spending. International Journal of Happiness and Development , 1 (2), 155-171.
Aknin, L. B., Hamlin, J. K., & Dunn, E. W. (2012). Giving leads to happiness in young children. PLoS One , 7 (6), e39211.
Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: an experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of personality and social psychology , 84 (2), 377-389.
Hepach, R., Vaish, A., & Tomasello, M. (2012). Young children are intrinsically motivated to see others helped. Psychological Science , 23 (9), 967-972.
Park, S., & Shin, J. (2017). The influence of anonymous peers on prosocial behavior. PloS One , 12 (10), e0185521.
Primes, G., & Fieder, M. (2018). Real-life helping behaviours in North America: A genome-wide association approach. PloS One , 13 (1), e0190950.
