Arousing “gentle passions” in young adolescents: Sustained experimental effects of value affirmations on prosocial feelings and behaviors.
Open accessAbstract
When people reflect on their important values, they may become more attuned to the needs of others. Two longitudinal field experiments examined whether a subtle value-affirmation manipulation can initiate relatively enduring increases in young adolescents' prosocial feelings (Study 1; Mage = 12.9) and prosocial behaviors (Study 2; Mage = 12.9). Participants completed a brief writing exercise that affirmed the values they deemed either most important (value-affirmation group) or unimportant (control group). As predicted, the value affirmation, coupled with a booster affirmation 6 weeks later, caused increases in prosocial feelings and behaviors over the 3-month study period. Antisocial students who were value-affirmed showed especially strong increases in prosocial behavior. These results suggest that "gentle passions" can be aroused in youth by cost- and time-efficient means. The practical utility of value affirmations will need to be evaluated in future work.
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In another field experiment, self-affirmation increased prosocial behavior among students with a history of antisocial behavior, as assessed by their teachers.
“In another field experiment, self-affirmation increased prosocial behavior among students with a history of antisocial behavior, as assessed by their teachers (Thomaes et al. 2012).”
From The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention (2014) · cites this paper as Thomaes et al. 2012
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- Authors
- Thomaes, S., Bushman, B. J., de Castro, B. O., & Reijntjes, A.
- Affiliations
- Utrecht University (NL)
- The Ohio State University (US)
- Venue
- Developmental Psychology
- Published
- 2012
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 103-110
- ISSN
- 0012-1649 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-0599
- OpenAlex
- W2032402879
- Cited by
- 55
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 12.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- dspace.library.uu.nl
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Developmental Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Values and Moral Education
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- values affirmation, prosocial behavior, early adolescents, antisocial behavior, self-affirmation, moral emotions
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Analysis of Variance, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Child, Emotions, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Netherlands, Psychometrics, Social Behavior, Social Environment
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