Abstract
Introduction: from the perspective of positive development, the search for well-being acquires great relevance, since it is suggested that the human being will be in constant search of well-being through the different stages of his life. This construct has been studied from two approaches: from the point of view of psychological well-being and from the point of view of subjective well-being. The literature suggests that the tendencies of contribution and help towards the people around us favor the state of well-being and healthy development, therefore, some authors indicate that prosocial behaviors should be favored especially in the adolescence stage, to promote an adequate development of individuals.
Method: a non-experimental, cross-sectional study with a descriptive and correlational scope was carried out, the objective of which was to analyze the impact that prosocial behavior has on well-being, both psychological and subjective, in the adolescent population of Mexico. For it had a non-probabilistic convenience sample of 803 adolescents, with a mean age of 14.87 years (49.1 % were men and 50.9 % were women). The Prosocial Tendencies Instrument was used, which consists of three dimensions: 1) emotional support, 2) recognition and 3) altruism. In addition, the González-Fuentes (2013) Psychological Well-being scale was used, which is made up of seven dimensions: 1) life purpose, 2) personal rejection, 3) personal control, 4) planning for the future, 5) self-acceptance, 6) positive relationships with others, and 7) personal growth. The Dienner Life Satisfaction scale adapted for the Mexican population was also used to assess subjective well-being. All the instruments used have been previously used in the adolescent population in Mexico.
Results: Pearson’s correlation analyzes were performed to determine the relationship between the dimensions of prosocial behavior with the dimensions of psychological well-being, as well as with subjective well-being. The results of these analyzes showed significant relationships in most of the dimensions of prosocial behavior with the dimensions of psychological well-being and subjective well-being. To analyze the effect of prosocial behavior on the dimensions of psychological and subjective well-being, multiple linear regression analyzes were performed, step by step, which showed that the dimensions of prosocial behavior were predictive variables of both subjective and psychological well-being, with percentages variance from 7 % to 24 %.
Discussion: the data are discussed in light of the perspective of positive development, where it is stated that adolescents are a source of resources and possibilities rather than conflicts, so it is suggested to promote prosocial behaviors in them to favor their development.
References
Anguas, A. M. y Reyes-Lagunes, I. (1998). El significado del bienestar subjetivo, su valoración en México. La Psicología Social en México, VII, 7-11. México: AMEPSO
Anguas, A. M. y Reyes-Lagunes, I. (1999). Conformación estructural del bienestar subjetivo: el caso específico de los Yucatecos. Revista Sonorense de Psicología, 13(2), 15-22.
Batson, C. D. y Shaw, L. L. (1991). Evidence for altruism: Toward a pluralism of prosocial motives. Psychological Inquiry, 2(2), 107-122.
Benson, P. L., Scales, P. C., Hamilton, S. F. y Sesma, A., Jr. (2006). Positive Youth Development: Theory, Research, and Applications. In R. M. Lerner & W. Damon (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (pp. 894-941). Hoboken, NJ, US: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Betancourt, O. D., & González-González, A. (2017). Escala de Tendencias Prosociales de Carlo y Randall en Adolescentes Mexicanos. Revista de Psicología social y Personalidad, 33(1), 13-29.
Bijstra, J. O., Bosma, H. A. y Jackson, S. (1994). The relationship between social skills and psycho-social functioning in early adolescence. Personality and Individual Differences, 16(5), 767-776. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(94)90218-6
Bijstra, J. O., Jackson, S. y Bosma, H. A. (1995). Social skills and psycho-social functioning in early adolescence: A three-year follow-up. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 8(4), 221-234. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/IJAMH.1995.8.4.221
Bradburn, N. M. (1969). The structure of psychological well-being. Oxford, England: Aldine.
Caprara, G. V., Steca, P., Zelli, A. y Capanna, C. (2005). A new scale for measuring adults' prosocialness. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 21(2), 77-89. DOI: 10.1027/1015-5759.21.2.77
Carlo, G., Hausmann, A., Christiansen, S. y Randall, B. A. (2003). Sociocognitive and behavioral correlates of a measure of prosocial tendencies for adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 23(1), 107-134. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431602239132
Carlo, G. y Randall, B. A. (2002). The development of a measure of prosocial behaviors for late adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 31(1), 31-44. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014033032440
Catalano, R. F., Berglund, M. L., Ryan, J. A., Lonczak, H. S. y Hawkins, J. D. (2004). Positive youth development in the United States: Research findings on evaluations of positive youth development programs. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591(1), 98-124.
Cecchini, S. y Martínez, R. (2011). Protección social inclusiva en América Latina: una mirada integral, un enfoque de derechos. Comisión Económica para América Latina. Recuperado de: https://repositorio.cepal.org/handle/11362/2593
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95(3), 542-575. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.95.3.542
Diener, E., Emmons, R., Larsen, R. y Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13
Diener, E., Oishi, S. y Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 403-425. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145056
Eisenberg, N., Cumberland, A., Guthrie, I. K., Murphy, B. C. y Shepard, S. A. (2005). Age changes in prosocial responding and moral reasoning in adolescence and early adulthood. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15(3), 235-260. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2005.00095.x
Gilman, R. y Huebner, E. S. (2006). Characteristics of adolescents who report very high life satisfaction. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(3), 293-301. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9036-7
González-Fuentes, M. B. (2013). Prácticas parentales, bienestar psicológico y conductas de riesgo en adolescentes (Tesis Doctoral). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México.
Hansen, D. M., Larson, R. W. y Dworkin, J. B. (2003). What adolescents learn in organized youth activities: A survey of self‐reported developmental experiences. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13(1), 25-55. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1532-7795.1301006
Holmgren, R. A., Eisenberg, N. y Fabes, R. A. (1998). The relations of children’s situational empathy-related emotions to dispositional prosocial behaviour. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 22(1), 169-193. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/016502598384568
Huebner, E. S., Suldo, S. M. y Gilman, R. (2006). Life Satisfaction. In G. G. Bear & K. M. Minke (Eds.), Children's needs III: Development, prevention, and intervention (pp. 357-368). Washington, DC, US: National Association of School Psychologists.
Johnson, M. K., Beebe, T., Mortimer, J. T. y Snyder, M. (1998). Volunteerism in adolescence: A process perspective. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 8(3), 309-332. DOI: 10.1207/s15327795jra0803_2
Joronen, K. y Åstedt‐Kurki, P. (2005). Familial contribution to adolescent subjective well‐being. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 11(3), 125-133. DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-172X.2005.00509.x
Kahneman, D., Diener, E. y Schwarz, N. (1999). Well-being: Foundations of hedonic psychology. Russell Sage Foundation.
Keyes, C. L., Shmotkin, D. y Ryff, C. D. (2002). Optimizing well-being: The empirical encounter of two traditions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 1007-1022. DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.82.6.1007
Kumar, R. (2014). Psychological well-being among adolescents: Role of prosocial behaviour. Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing, 5(3), 368-370.
Kumar, R. (2015). Relationship between prosocial behaviour and values among adolescents. Indian Journal of Health & Wellbeing, 6(10), 1010-1012.
Lerner, R.M., Fisher, C.B. y Weinberg, R.A. (2000). Toward a science for andof the people: promoting civil society through the application of developmental science. Child Development, 71(1), 11-20.
Lyubomirsky, S., King, L. y Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 803-855. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803
Martela, F. y Ryan, R. M. (2016). Prosocial behavior increases well-being and vitality even without contact with the beneficiary: Causal and behavioral evidence. Motivation and
Emotion, 40(3), 351-357. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-016-9552-z
Morgan A. (2010). Social capital as a health asset for young people’s health and wellbeing. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychology, S2, 19-42.
Morrow-Howell, N., Hinterlong, J., Rozario, P. A. y Tang, F. (2003). Effects of volunteering on the well-being of older adults. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 58(3), S137-S145. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.3.S137
Oarga, C., Stavrova, O. y Fetchenhauer, D. (2015). When and why is helping others good for well‐being? The role of belief in reciprocity and conformity to society's expectations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45(2), 242-254. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2092
Oberle, E., Schonert-Reichl, K.A. y Zumbo, B.D. (2011). Life satisfaction in early adolescence: Personal, neighborhood, school, family, and peer influences. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40, 889-901. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-010-9599-1
Pakaslahti, L., Karjalainen, A. y Keltikangas-Järvinen, L. (2002). Relationships between adolescent prosocial problem-solving strategies, prosocial behaviour, and social acceptance. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26(2), 137-144. DOI: 10.1080/01650250042000681
Pérez, M. I. (2015). Bienestar subjetivo y psicológico en voluntariado de cooperación internacional para el desarrollo: Un estudio cualitativo. Opción, 31(6), 699-720.
Perlow, L., y Weeks, J. (2002). Who's helping whom? Layers of culture and workplace behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 23(4), 345-361. DOI: 10.1002/job.150
Piliavin, J.A. (2004a). Feeling good by doing good. En A. M. Omoto (Ed.), Processes of comunity change and social action. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Piliavin, J.A. (2004b). I get more than I give: Volunteering, well-being, and health. Trabajo presentado en Annual Meetings of the Eastern Sociological Association.
Rosen, S., Mickler, S. E., Collins, I. I., y James, E. (1987). Reactions of would-be helpers whose offer of help is spurned. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53(2), 288-297. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.53.2.288
Ryan, R. M., y Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141-66. Recuperado de: https://search.proquest.com/docview/205845157?accountid=26252
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069-1081. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069
Schroeder, D. A., Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., y Piliavin, J. A. (1995). The psychology of helping and altruism: Problems and puzzles. New York, NY, US: McGraw-Hill.
Steel, P., Schmidt, J., y Schultz, J. (2008). Refining the relationship between personality and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 134(1), 138-161. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.134.1.138.
Thoits, P. A., y Hewitt, L. N. (2001). Volunteer work and well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 42(2), 115-131. DOI: 10.2307/3090173
Valois, R. E., Zullig, K. J., Huebner, E. S., y Drane, J. W. (2001). Relationship between life satisfaction and violent behaviours among adolescents. American Journal of Health Behavior, 25(4), 353-366. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.25.4.1
Valois, R.F., Zullig, K. J., Huebner, E. S., y Drane, J. W. (2009). Youth developmental assets and perceived life satisfaction. Is there a relationship? Applied Research on Quality of Life, 4, 315-331. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-009-9083-9
Weinstein, N., y Ryan, R. M. (2010). When helping helps: Autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on well-being for the helper and recipient. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(2), 222-244. DOI: 10.1037/a0016984
Wilson, W. R. (1967). Correlates of avowed happiness. Psychological Bulletin, 67(4), 294-306. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0024431
Zacarías, S. X. (2014). Prácticas parentales, empatía y conducta prosocial en preadolescentes (Tesis doctoral). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2021 Nova Scientia