Dynamic Interplay between Prosocial Behavior and Sympathetic and Negative Emotions in Everyday Life among Young Adults

Prosocial behavior (i.e., voluntary actions aimed to benefit others, such as helping, comforting, and sharing) has proved beneficial for individuals’ well-being over the life course. Previous studies well-established the long-term associations between prosocial behavior and emotional experience. For instance, higher engagement in prosocial actions is associated with higher sympathetic emotion (i.e., emotional response of concern for the other’s emotional state or difficult conditions) and lower experience of negative ones (i.e., sadness and anger) from infancy to adulthood. However, their dynamic interplay in the everyday lives of young adults remains largely unexplored. The present study would advance this line of studies by exploring (1) the link between prosocial behavior and sympathetic emotion and (2) the link between prosocial behavior and negative emotions (i.e., sadness and anger) in the daily life of young adults. Using ecological momentary assessment with a sample of 67 young adults from the United Kingdom (Mage = 23.73, SD = 3.20; 68.7% women), prosocial behavior, sympathetic, and negative emotions were assessed three times a day over 28 days. Results of Dynamic Structural Equation Models showed that higher-than-expected levels of prosocial behavior at a given moment predict higher feelings of sympathy than usual at the subsequent moment (β = .187, 95% CI [.155, .222]). However, the inversed link conducive from sympathy to prosocial behavior did not result significantly (β= .068, 95% CI [-.003, .133]). Regarding negative emotions (i.e., sadness and anger), results showed that a peak in prosocial behavior at a given moment predicts lower-than-expected levels of negative emotions at the subsequent moment (β = -.041, 95% CI [-.074, -.010]). At the same time, feeling higher-than-usual negative emotions undermines subsequent peaks in prosocial behavior (β = -.048, 95% CI [-.088, -.006]). The inclusion of young adults’ gender and age did not alter the strength of these relations. These findings suggest the importance of strengthening young adults’ prosocial behaviors and positive emotionality, as well as strategies to regulate negative emotions in everyday life to promote emotional and social well-being.