“Fill the World with Love”: Songs with Prosocial Lyrics Enhance Online Charitable Donations among Chinese Adults

Abstract

Research has shown that songs with prosocial lyrics can enhance individual prosociality. Building on the general learning model (GLM), this study demonstrated, through real-world charitable organizations, how songs with prosocial lyrics influence helping behavior that uses time as a currency. In Study 1, participants were randomly assigned to conditions of prosocial songs, prosocial lyrics, or neutral songs, and they were instructed to complete an online charity task. The results indicated that compared to the neutral songs, participants listening to prosocial songs and lyrics spent more time donating rice to the United Nations World Food Programme. This effect was replicated in Study 2, employing different media exposure from Study 1 (i.e., listening to background music). Furthermore, investigations into the underlying mechanisms revealed that this effect was mediated by interpersonal empathy. In summary, current findings suggest that songs with prosocial lyrics increase interpersonal empathy, subsequently influencing people’s online charitable donation behaviors in daily life.

Does a participatory live music practice support nurses to deliver compassionate care to hospitalised patients? A qualitative study

“…These findings add to the current knowledge on this topic and previous findings that showed that live music can stimulate prosocial emotions such as empathy and compassion (Gilbert et al, 2023;Hong et al, 2023;McDonald et al, 2022), enhance social connection between healthcare staff and patients (Daykin et al, 2018;Dingle et al, 2021) and in nurse-patient interactions (van der Wal-Huisman et al, 2020).…”

Family communication patterns, self-efficacy, and adolescent online prosocial behavior: a moderated mediation model

“…Such positive initiatives by peers can contribute to positive emotions like adolescents' social tolerance and self-confidence (Repper and Carter, 2011), suggesting that OB holds the potential to assist adolescents in navigating challenges encountered in their personal growth. However, the current body of research on adolescent online prosocial behavior remains limited, with most studies concentrating on online prosocial behavior in adult samples (Hong et al, 2023). Consequently, this paper deems it imperative to specifically explore the driving factors and behavioral mechanisms underlying adolescent online prosocial behavior.…”

The Email Conservation Task: Testing the validity of an online measure of direct pro-environmental behavior

“…The WEBT differs from the PEBT as it runs online, and participants can choose to spend time completing monotonous tasks (counting numbers on a page) in return for money being donated to environmental charities. The WEBT therefore is similar in premise to research on more general prosocial behavior that uses the Free Rice game, where participants spend time completing tasks in exchange for rice being donated to the World Food Programme (Farmer & Farrelly, 2023;Farrelly & Bennett, 2018;Hong et al, 2023). This range of performance-based experimental protocols have been effectively used to measure pro-environmental behavior, however each have practical limitations that may prohibit more widespread and diverse use.…”