Do Good, Feel Good: Exploring Associations Between Positivity Resonance with Weak Social Ties and Future Civic Engagement Behavior (2023)
Undergraduates: Camila Noriega Talleri, Francisco Ceccotti
Faculty Advisor: Catherine Berman
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience
Positivity resonance is a category of high-quality interpersonal connection characterized by shared positivity, mutual care and concern, and biological and behavioral synchrony (Major et al., 2018). Experiencing frequent positivity resonance has been associated with various benefits, such as building durable personal resources like optimism and social support, cultivating a sense of meaning in life, and greater positive mental health (Prinzing et al., 2023; Fredrickson et al., 2008; Prinzing et al., 2020). Earlier studies have linked positivity resonance with self-transcendent prosocial tendencies and fewer self-centered tendencies, but none have directly focused on the association between positivity resonance and civic engagement (i.e., volunteering) (West et al., 2021; Zhou, 2022). Our aim was to explore whether the proportion of time that participants reported volunteering, across three months, was associated with greater positivity resonance experienced with weak social ties (strangers and acquaintances) and whether this effect was moderated by participants’ subjective socioeconomic status (SES). Participants (N = 1550) were asked to fill a survey on various preferences, habits and opinions on miscellaneous topics across three months. Results indicate that the between-person effect of volunteering was associated with higher positivity resonance: people who reported greater average levels of volunteering tended to have higher positivity resonance with weak social ties. There was no significant interaction effect between SES and either of the volunteering effects. Further research should employ experimental methodology to provide causal evidence for the relationship between positivity resonance and civic engagement.
Key words: positivity resonance; volunteering; civic engagement; socioeconomic status; Positivity Resonance Theory