Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Back to the future: a way to increase prosocial behavior

Published inPloS one, vol. 17, no. 8, e0272340
Publication date2022-08-01
First online date2022-08-01
Abstract

Previous studies suggest a link between future thinking and prosocial behaviors. However, this association is not fully understood at state and trait level. The present study tested whether a brief future thinking induction promoted helping behavior in an unrelated task. In addition, the relation between mental time travel and prosocial behaviors in daily life was tested with questionnaire data. Forty-eight participants filled in questionnaires and were asked to think about the future for one minute or to name animals for one minute (control condition) before playing the Zurich Prosocial Game (a measure of helping behavior). Results revealed that participants in the future thinking condition helped significantly more than participants in the control condition. Moreover, questionnaire data showed that dispositional and positive orientation toward the future and the past was significantly associated with self-reported prosocial behaviors. The present findings suggest that thinking about the future in general has positive transfer effects on subsequent prosocial behavior and that people who think more about the past or future in a positive way engage more in prosocial behavior.

Citation (ISO format)
CERNADAS CUROTTO, Patricia et al. Back to the future: a way to increase prosocial behavior. In: PloS one, 2022, vol. 17, n° 8, p. e0272340. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272340
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Additional URL for this publicationhttps://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272340
Journal ISSN1932-6203
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Creation02/08/2022 08:07:00
First validation02/08/2022 08:07:00
Update16/03/2023 07:08:50
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