Working Paper: NBER ID: w23761
Authors: John F. Helliwell; Lara B. Aknin; Hugh Shiplett; Haifang Huang; Shun Wang
Abstract: This paper surveys evidence documenting positive linkages among social capital, prosocial behaviour, and subjective well-being. Whether in the workplace, at home, in the community, or among nations, better and deeper social connections, and especially higher levels of trust are linked to higher subjective well-being, even beyond the effects flowing through higher incomes and better health. Prosocial behaviour is also shown to be a robust predictor of well-being in both correlational and experimental contexts. These two lines of research are connected, as prosocial acts are most likely to increase well-being when they are delivered in ways that improve social capital, and reflect intentional generosity free of either compulsion or personal gain. We infer that these deep links between prosocial acts and well-being have an evolutionary benefit in maintaining the quality of social capital and thereby delivering cooperative human responses in times of crisis.
Keywords: Social Capital; Prosocial Behaviour; Subjective Wellbeing
JEL Codes: I31; O57; P16; Z13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| social capital (Z13) | subjective wellbeing (I31) |
| prosocial behaviour (D64) | subjective wellbeing (I31) |
| trust (G21) | subjective wellbeing (I31) |
| workplace social capital (J29) | life satisfaction (I31) |
| reliable social connections (Z13) | life satisfaction (I31) |
| marriage (J12) | wellbeing (I31) |
| social trust (Z13) | resilience (Q21) |
| prosocial behaviour (D64) | wellbeing for the giver (D64) |
| volunteering (L31) | wellbeing for the giver (D64) |