Personal Relative Deprivation Reduces the Meaningfulness of Engaging in Prosocial Behavior (7,756 Words)

Engaging in prosocial behavior promotes well-being. Yet, this effect may depend on many factors. We reported three studies (total N = 873) examined whether individuals higher on relative deprivation would experience lower meaning after prosocial engagement in samples of Chinese university students. Study 1 showed that although individuals who scored higher on a relative deprivation scale were more likely to engage in prosocical behavior, they reported lower levels of self-concordance of the behavior and lower post-behavior meaning in life. Studies 2 and 3 replicated these findings with experimentally-induced relative deprivation and different types of prosocial behavior, and also provided preliminary evidence on the mediating role of social connection in the relationship between relative deprivation and meaning of prosocial engagement. These findings have significant implications for our understanding of the heterogeneous impact of prosocial behavior on well-being, as well as the insidious consequences of relative deprivation.