Is there a nexus between pro-social behavior and well-being?
- Author(s)
- Christian Koch
- Abstract
Is there a connection between pro-social behavior and well-being? This question has long been of interest, with Aristotle famously suggesting a nexus between virtues and well-being. To delve into this relationship, I conducted an extensive study encompassing multiple classical economic games and nearly 100 well-being questions. My findings confirm that different patterns of pro-sociality are robustly correlated with each other. On top, I find reliable correlations between well-being and pro-social behavior, as well as certain forms of punishment. In terms of underlying explanations, I observe that pro-sociality is particularly associated with a form of long-term well-being known as eudaimonia, suggesting that pro-social behavior plays a fundamental role in people perceiving their life as meaningful.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Economics
- Journal
- Journal of the Economic Science Association
- Pages
- 1-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s40881-023-00156-0
- Publication date
- 02-2024
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 502053 Economics
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/is-there-a-nexus-between-prosocial-behavior-and-wellbeing(74466d81-08c9-4c73-b39b-4d10f2f0890d).html