Introduction
A person’s psychological well-being is a vital sign of their overall well-being and healthy functioning. Well-being is composed of a variety of elements, including self-acceptance, strong relationships with others, independence, feelings of competence, a sense of purpose in life, and self-improvement. In general, good deeds can help individuals feel a sense of completeness, importance, and satisfaction.
Moreover, good interpersonal connections indicate a person’s potential for deep compassion, friendliness, and affection, as well as their sense of others as being in close, trustworthy relationships with them. Consequently, prosocial behaviors that involve charity and volunteering not only result in positive psychological effects but also foster similar attitudes in others, which is why it is highly recommended to do good deeds.
Foundations of Prosocial Behavior and Altruism
First, it is necessary to understand why people naturally desire to do good deeds. Prosocial activities are typically motivated by a person’s intrinsic desire to aid others, particularly by helping them, alleviating their suffering, and boosting their well-being. In this case, prosocial conduct may be stimulated by emotions (Vieweg, 2018).
In addition to compassion and empathy, people may be motivated to engage in prosocial conduct by the factor of personal satisfaction. For instance, people are intrinsically driven when they look for enjoyment, intrigue, fulfillment of curiosity, self-expression, or personal challenge in the task (Vieweg, 2018). Moreover, prosocial behavior, altruism, is primarily discussed in Holy Scripture. Here, humans follow what God commands and strive to love others as God loves them (Vieweg, 2018). Therefore, religious expression is another factor for engaging in altruism, which stresses the good of society and moral obligation.
Social Benefits of Charity and Volunteering
Regarding the reasons one should engage in charity and volunteering, and how they can influence one, the first is the social benefits. The International Corruption Perceptions Index 2017 estimates that over 6 billion people live in corrupt nations (Vieweg, 2018). In an altruistic form of leadership, people take actions specifically intended to benefit others (Vieweg, 2018).
Prosocial activities, also known as voluntary actions intended to help others, involve actions that benefit others or the community (Vieweg, 2018). These kinds of deeds may foster a sense of community and motivation, encourage collectivism, and support communities’ long-term viability (Vieweg, 2018). Therefore, by encouraging others to engage in prosocial actions, people may foster an altruistic culture in their areas.
Prosocial Behavior in Social and Evolutionary Contexts
As can be seen, fostering prosocial conduct can be essential to ensuring the welfare of one’s personal community and other human groupings. Evolutionary science has recently had an international effect on the development of this concept, encouraging societal transformation (Gualda, 2022). Additionally, this strategy emphasizes the value of social groupings working together and cooperating in many contexts.
Prosocial activity is an endeavor by an individual to advance well-being or prevent its decline (Gualda, 2022). To this end, they emphasize that the relational environment shapes relationships. Because it establishes the standards and norms that govern conduct, the contract’s relational context is equally essential (Gualda, 2022). In this case, the effects of prosocial behavior can be seen in the short term and long term.
Psychological Well-Being and Mental Health Outcomes
However, altruism can affect not only the individual’s surroundings but also their mental health. Exploring the factors that lead to psychological well-being has become a significant area of research. People’s self-reported well-being is influenced by several factors, including income, social networks, and positive emotions (Geng et al., 2022). According to Geng and colleagues (2022), individuals who donate money and engage in good deeds tend to have greater life satisfaction, fewer depressive symptoms, and overall improved psychological health. The benefit of volunteering might be seen as the good relationship between it and psychological health.
Self-Esteem, Identity, and Personal Growth Through Volunteering
Moreover, a person who engages in altruistic practices will have improved self-confidence and a sense of safety. Volunteering may foster trust and commitment between those who provide and those who receive assistance, as well as a sense of safety and inclusion for volunteers themselves (Gualda, 2022). Volunteering encourages social contact, which creates a favorable emotional environment.
Often, doing good deeds enables people to take pleasure in their abilities and promotes their sense of self (Gualda, 2022). Using data from the Americans’ Changing Lives dataset’s three waves, researchers found that those who had participated in voluntary work in the first wave had considerably higher self-esteem in the second wave than those who had not (Geng et al., 2022). In this case, when sharing support, one receives support in return.
Charitable Giving as a Form of Prosocial Engagement
As for charities, donating money might be seen as an additional form of active volunteer work that contributors engage in. Compassion, a sense of social duty, sympathy, and social networks are among the motivating factors that volunteering and charitable giving share (Geng et al., 2022). Given the same motivations behind volunteering and charity giving, the latter may have a similar positive impact on people’s mental health. It can be seen that, when it comes to prosocial behavior, many activities can be outlined, ranging from donating money to charities to simply supporting another person. Consequently, the individual will reap the same results that will have a positive influence on psychological health.
Still, these are not all the psychological benefits of altruism. A total of 159 advantages of volunteering have also been shown, of which 90 relate to mental health and well-being and 35 to social competence (Geng et al., 2022). Helping others gave many volunteers gratifying, entertaining, meaningful, and satisfying sensations. Some claimed that assisting others lifted their spirits by allowing them to set aside their own concerns (Geng et al., 2022). Others mentioned gaining self-assurance and a sense of accomplishment from the approval and admiration of others (Geng et al., 2022).
Volunteering also increased participants’ social interaction and support (Geng et al., 2022). The chance to develop and sustain solid friendships and a sense of community participation was available to volunteers. These advantages of volunteering can eventually improve people’s mental health and well-being, especially for volunteers.
Physical Health Benefits Associated with Altruistic Behavior
Finally, health improvements are observed among those who adopt altruistic approaches. Prosocial conduct has been linked to several health advantages and mood enhancements. According to Lazar and Eisenberger (2022), prosocial conduct tendencies are associated with better health, a decreased risk of death, lower rates of depression, and regular drops in blood pressure and heart rate. It was discovered that prosocial behavior at rates higher than typical was associated with a reduction in the impact of stress on negative affect (Laza & Eisenberger, 2022).
It was additionally found that philanthropy, volunteering, and providing emotional support to others can lower mortality and morbidity while reducing stress-related physical illness rates (Laza & Eisenberger, 2022). In addition to such findings, it was demonstrated that pre-stressor prosocial conduct could causally lessen stress responses by randomly assigning people to engage in it (Laza & Eisenberger, 2022). Therefore, offering another person emotional support before participating in a stressful activity can decrease the nervous system’s reactions, such as blood pressure, during the stressful activity itself.
Conclusion
Hence, doing good actions is highly advised since prosocial activities such as giving and volunteering have beneficial psychological benefits and encourage other people to have the same views. The component of personal happiness may serve as a motivator for prosocial behavior. Altruism and prosocial conduct are both heavily covered in the Bible.
The first justification for volunteering and giving to charity is social advantages. Promoting prosocial behavior can be crucial for maintaining the welfare of one’s community and that of other human groups. Altruism, however, may have an effect on a person’s mental health in addition to their environment. It was additionally found that those who give money and perform good actions have higher life satisfaction, fewer depressive symptoms, and overall better psychological health.
Finally, people who use altruistic methods have health benefits. Tendencies toward prosocial behavior are linked to improved health, a lower risk of mortality, lower rates of depression, and frequent reductions in blood pressure and heart rate. Therefore, when it comes to altruism and good deeds, every person should aim to implement these approaches for personal and community well-being.
References
Geng, Yun, Yafan Chen, Chienchung Huang, Yuanfa Tan, Congcong Zhang, and Shaoming Zhu. 2022.”Volunteering, Charitable Donation, and Psychological Well-Being of College Students in China.” Frontiers in Psychology 12: 6317.
Gualda, Estrella. 2022. “Altruism, Solidarity and Responsibility from a Committed Sociology: Contributions to Society.” The American Sociologist 53: 29-43.
Lazar, Lee, and Naomi I. Eisenberger. 2022. “The Benefits of Giving: Effects of Prosocial Behavior on Recovery FromStress.” Psychophysiology 59 (2): e13954.
Vieweg, Jennifer C. 2018. “Prosocial Behaviors: Their Motivations and Impacts on Organizational Culture.” The Journal of Values-Based Leadership 11 (2): 12.