TY - JOUR
AU - Kling, Kacey J.
AB - This study examines the hypothesis that different types of prosocial behaviors aremotivated by different ways of fulfilling the need to relate to life beyond one's self.Lifton's (1973, 1976) theory of symbolic immortality is used to generate predictionsconcerning relations between differences in the ways individuals express this needand differences in the frequency of various types of prosocial behaviors. In the study,482 adult respondents in the Baton Rouge community filled out a questionnairemeasuring their symbolic immortality needs and their time perspective, and estimating the frequency with which they engage in a variety of prosocial and asocialbehaviors. A factor analysis of the social behavior data revealed five prosocialfactors (peace activism, nominal donors, proximal donors, family communication,and family security), and two asocial factors (nonconformist pleasure seeking, andillegal behaviors). Multiple regression analyses indicated that the motivationalbases of these social behavior factors were quite different. However, the "naturemode" of symbolic immortality (e.g., identification with nature) was related to allfive prosocial factors and none of the asocial factors. The results are discussed interms of current research on prosocial behavior and applications to motivatingvolunteers in social organizations.
TI - Self-Transcendence, Time Perspective, and Prosocial Behavior
JF - Journal of Voluntary Action Research
DO - 10.1177/089976408801700202
DA - 1988-04-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/sage/self-transcendence-time-perspective-and-prosocial-behavior-512IhpTDxQ
SP - 4
EP - 24
VL - 17
IS - 2
DP - DeepDyve
ER -