Do Positive Emotions Make You More Prosocial? Direct and Indirect Effects of an Intervention Program on Prosociality in Colombian Adolescents During Social Isolation Due to COVID-19

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to analyze the efficacy of the Virtual Hero Program during the social isolation due to COVID-19 to increase the positive emotions (joy, gratitude, serenity, personal satisfaction, and sympathy) and prosocial behavior of Colombian adolescents. Additionally, we will analyze whether the Hero program, by directly promoting positive emotional states in adolescents, can predispose them to take prosocial actions toward other people (via an indirect or mediated effect). The final sample of the study comprised 100 participants from the intervention group (M age = 13.94, SD = 0.97) and 111 from the control group (M age = 14.39, SD = 0.81). The participants were assigned to the groups using a cluster randomized trial. The positive emotions questionnaire and the Kindness and Generosity subscale of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths were used to measure the variables. The results indicated that the program increased joy, gratitude, serenity and personal satisfaction but not sympathy of those who participated in the intervention. The promotion of these positive emotions predisposed the Colombian adolescents to act prosocially. Furthermore, the program was also effective in directly promoting prosocial behaviors in the adolescents during social isolation, as observed through a statistically significant difference in the pre- and post-test evaluations between the control and intervention groups. The structure of the intervention brought adolescents closer to social situations to which isolation had limited their access, promoting the importance of closeness and solidarity with others within the complexities of the social confinement context. This study is particularly relevant because interventions with proven effectiveness are necessary to counteract the trauma produced by social isolation in young people throughout the world.

The Mediating Effect of Dispositional Gratitude on the Relationship between Religious Struggles and Self-Esteem: Preliminary Results

“…These findings are in line with Fredrickson's broadenand-build theory, which suggests that gratitude, like other positive emotions, may bolster a more secure identity (Park et al 2021), and develop or strengthen lasting personal resources (Lin 2015a(Lin , 2015bBurzynska and Stolarski 2020). Receiving something valuable or good from someone else and recognizing others' commitment to one's own benefit (Mesurado et al 2021) may promote self-esteem. Based on the research discussed above, we assumed that: Hypothesis 3 (H3).…”

Bienestar personal durante la adolescencia según el modelo Perma: una revisión sistemática

“…Atendiendo a las emociones positivas, entendidas como todas aquellas vivencias en las que predomina el placer y el bienestar (Lennarz et al, 2018;Rodríguez et al, 2017), se ha encontrado que estas promueven comportamientos positivos como son las conductas prosociales (Mesurado et al, 2021), que favorecen la disminución del acoso escolar (Cabrera et al, 2020), las comunicaciones afectivas (Grütter et al, 2017;Ruvalcaba-Romero et al, 2018) y el logro académico (Holm et al, 2017;Holzer et al, 2021;Madan et al, 2019;Pekrun et al, 2017;Sánchez-García et al, 2018). Acerca de las relaciones positivas, cabe destacar como las relaciones sociales de calidad se relacionan de manera signi$cativa con un mejor ajuste social (Morrish et al, 2018), así como favorecen el bienestar de los jóvenes (Griffith et al, 2021;Orejudo et al, 2021) y reducen el sentimiento de insatisfacción corporal (de Vries et al, 2019).…”

“…El desarrollo de emociones positivas como la gratitud, la serenidad, la simpatía o la alegría en los adolescentes promueve conductas prosociales como la solidaridad o la cercanía con otras personas (Mesurado et al, 2021). Por otro lado, saber distinguir y diferenciar las emociones negativas se relaciona con una menor propensión a la negatividad y, por tanto, promueve el bienestar personal (Lennarz et al, 2018).…”

Fostering Academic Engagement in Post-graduate Students: Assessing the Role of Positive Emotions, Positive Psychology, and Stress

“…Having said this, it is much expected that post-graduate students may feel less enthusiastic and find themselves troubled while completing their daunting studies ( Essa, 2011 ; Al-Kumaim et al, 2021 ; Ramchander, 2022 ), hence the need to have positive emotions as well as enough psychological resources to accomplish this task seems much relevant to them as well to their academic engagement behavior ( Pascoe et al, 2020 ). Literature also upholds that positive emotions help sustain prosocial behavior which may regularize emotions to the prime levels ( Mesurado et al, 2021 ). Nonetheless, our study will help to advocate the application of positive emotions, academic PsyCap, and academic engagement in a different higher educational context.…”