Geographical differences in subjective well-being predict extraordinary altruism
Abstract
Altruistic kidney donation is a form of extraordinary altruism, the antecedents of which are poorly understood. Although well-being is known to increase the incidence of prosocial behaviors and there is significant geographical variation in both well-being and altruistic kidney donation in the United States, it is unknown whether geographical variation in well-being predicts the prevalence of this form of extraordinary altruism. We calculated per capita rates of altruistic kidney donation across the United States and found that an index of subjective well-being predicted altruistic donation, even after we controlled for relevant sociodemographic variables. This relationship persisted at the state level and at the larger geographic regional level. Consistent with hypotheses about the relationship between objective and subjective well-being, results showed that subjective well-being mediated the relationship between increases in objective well-being metrics, such as income, and altruism. These results suggest that extraordinary altruism may be promoted by societal factors that increase subjective well-being.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Promoting prosocial behaviour during pandemics and beyond benefits mental and physical health and could help counter the pandemic's widespread adverse mental health effects, especially during lockdown.
“Additionally, encouraging prosocial behaviour during pandemics and beyond is valuable for mental and physical health, which could help to address the pervasive adverse effects of the pandemic on mental health, particularly during lockdown.31, 32, 33, 34”
From The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic (2022) · cites this paper as [34]
Cites
On Happiness and Human Potentials: A Review of Research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141 · Cited by 11,567 · see citing works
Well-being : the foundations of hedonic psychology
Kahneman, D. J., Diener, E. F., & Schwarz, N. (1999) · Cited by 7,472 · see citing works
Pursuing Happiness: The Architecture of Sustainable Change
Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.111 · Cited by 3,203 · see citing works
Beyond money: toward an economy of well-being
Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004) · Psychological Science in the Public Interest · doi:10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00501001.x · Cited by 2,555 · see citing works
Putting the Altruism Back into Altruism: The Evolution of Empathy
de Waal, F. B. M. (2008) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093625 · Cited by 2,483 · see citing works
Cantril, H. (1965) · Cited by 2,003 · see citing works
Spending money on others promotes happiness
Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M. I. (2008) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1150952 · Cited by 1,657 · see citing works
Bekkers, R., & Wiepking, P. (2011) · Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0899764010380927 · Cited by 1,503 · see citing works
Zubaida, S. D., & Cantril, H. (1967) · The British Journal of Sociology · doi:10.2307/588624 · Cited by 1,496 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The life-satisfaction component is based on the Cantril Ladder Scale (Cantril, 1965) and evaluates life satisfaction at the current moment of the survey and expected life satisfaction 5 years in the future.”
MethodHaving less, giving more: The influence of social class on prosocial behavior.
Piff, P. K., Kraus, M. W., Côté, S., Cheng, B. H., & Keltner, D. (2010) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0020092 · Cited by 1,478 · see citing works
Subjective Well-Being: A General Overview
Diener, E., & Ryan, K. (2009) · South African Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1177/008124630903900402 · Cited by 1,381 · see citing works
Thoits, P. A., & Hewitt, L. N. (2001) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/3090173 · Cited by 1,110 · see citing works
Objective Confirmation of Subjective Measures of Human Well-Being: Evidence from the U.S.A.
Oswald, A., & Wu, S. (2010) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1180606 · Cited by 730 · see citing works
Patterns of individualism and collectivism across the United States.
Vandello, J. A., & Cohen, D. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.2.279 · Cited by 717 · see citing works
New findings and future directions for subjective well-being research.
Diener, E. (2012) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/a0029541 · Cited by 699 · see citing works
(2005) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198567523.003.0011 · Cited by 585 · see citing works
Aknin, L. B., Dunn, E. W., & Norton, M. I. (2011) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-011-9267-5 · Cited by 484 · see citing works
Rising income and the subjective well-being of nations.
Diener, E., Tay, L., & Oishi, S. (2012) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0030487 · Cited by 464 · see citing works
The origins of altruism in offspring care.
Preston, S. D. (2013) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0031755 · Cited by 368 · see citing works
Jayawickreme, E., Forgeard, M. J. C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2012) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0027990 · Cited by 341 · see citing works
Donating Blood: A Meta-Analytic Review of Self-Reported Motivators and Deterrents
Bednall, T. C., & Bove, L. L. (2011) · Transfusion Medicine Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.tmrv.2011.04.005 · Cited by 334 · see citing works
Krueger, R. F., Hicks, B. M., & McGue, M. K. (2001) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00373 · Cited by 319 · see citing works
OPTN/SRTR 2011 Annual Data Report: Kidney
Matas, A. J., Smith, J. M., Skeans, M. A., Lamb, K. E., Gustafson, S. K., Samana, C. J., Stewart, D. E., Snyder, J. J., Israni, A. K., & Kasiske, B. L. (2012) · American Journal of Transplantation · doi:10.1111/ajt.12019 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
The Living Anonymous Kidney Donor: Lunatic or Saint?
Henderson, A. J. Z., Landolt, M. A., McDonald, M. F., Barrable, W. M., Soós, J., Gourlay, W. A., Allison, C. J., & Landsberg, D. N. (2003) · American Journal of Transplantation · doi:10.1034/j.1600-6143.2003.00019.x · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Compensating differentials and evolution in the quality-of-life among U.S. states
Gabriel, S. A., Mattey, J. P., & Wascher, W. L. (2002) · Regional Science and Urban Economics · doi:10.1016/s0166-0462(02)00007-8 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Aknin, L. B., Sandstrom, G. M., Dunn, E. W., & Norton, M. I. (2011) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017018 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Encouraging Psychological Outcomes After Altruistic Donation to a Stranger
Massey, E. K., Kranenburg, L. W., Zuidema, W. C., et al. (2010) · American Journal of Transplantation · doi:10.1111/j.1600-6143.2010.03115.x · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Motives for becoming a living kidney donor.
Lennerling, A., Forsberg, A., Meyer, K., & Nyberg, G. (2004) · Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation · doi:10.1093/ndt/gfh138 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Altruism across disciplines: one word, multiple meanings
Clavien, C., & Chapuisat, M. (2012) · Biology & Philosophy · doi:10.1007/s10539-012-9317-3 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Gilberta, J. C., Brigham, L. E., Batty, D. S., et al. (2005) · American Journal of Transplantation · doi:10.1111/j.1600-6143.2004.00660.x · Cited by 59 · see citing works
THE NAKED EMPEROR: SEEKING A MORE PLAUSIBLE GENETIC BASIS FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL ALTRUISM
Batson, C. D. (2010) · Economics and Philosophy · doi:10.1017/s0266267110000179 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Nondirected living kidney donation: experiences in a Swedish Transplant Centre
Lennerling, A., Fehrman‐Ekholm, I., & Nordén, G. (2007) · Clinical Transplantation · doi:10.1111/j.1399-0012.2007.00785.x · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Raising the dead: organ transplants, ethics, and society
(2002) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.39-5850 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Boulware, L. E., Ratner, L. E., Troll, M. U., Chaudron, A., Yeung, E. H., Chen, S., Klein, A. S., Hiller, J. M., & Powe, N. R. (2005) · American Journal of Transplantation · doi:10.1111/j.1600-6143.2005.00896.x · Cited by 24 · see citing works
The relation between empathy and altruism: Conceptual and methodological issues.
Eisenberg, N. (1983) · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic
Sachs, J. D., Karim, S. S. A., Aknin, L., Allen, J., Brosbøl, K., Colombo, F., Barron, G. C., Espinosa, M. F., Gaspar, V., Gaviria, A., et al. (2022) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(22)01585-9 · Cited by 842 · see citing works
Positive feelings reward and promote prosocial behavior
Aknin, L. B., Van de Vondervoort, J. W., & Hamlin, J. K. (2018) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.08.017 · Cited by 325 · see citing works
Global variation in subjective well-being predicts seven forms of altruism
Rhoads, S. A., Gunter, D., Ryan, R. M., & Marsh, A. A. (2021) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797621994767 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Self-citationGuo, Q., Sun, P., Cai, M., Zhang, X., & Song, K. (2019) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2019.02.006 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
- Authors
- Brethel-Haurwitz, K. M., & Marsh, A. A.
- Affiliations
- Georgetown University (US)
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2014-01-29
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 762-771
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2157793017
- Cited by
- 67
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 5.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Health Resources and Services Administration
- U.S. Public Health Service (234-2005-370011 C)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Organ Donation and Transplantation
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering
- Keywords
- altruistic kidney donation, subjective well-being, objective well-being, regional variation, prosocial behavior, social factors, organ donation
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Altruism, Female, Geography, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Tissue and Organ Procurement, Personal Satisfaction, Social Behavior, United States, Kidney Transplantation, Living Donors, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
