Prosociality (i.e., voluntary thoughts and actions intended to benefit somebody else) is arguably essential for positive social relationships. The present research investigated under what conditions a prosocial focus has positive effects on the subjective well-being of a prosocial person. We addressed this question in an intervention study of daily social interactions. All participants (N = 295, 57.6% women, age 19-88 years) started the study with a baseline day with no intervention. Participants then underwent a video-based intervention that trained them to focus on either the well-being of others or the well-being of themselves. Participants applied the corresponding focus in social interactions on the next day. Compared with baseline, focusing on others did not significantly affect subjective well-being, whereas focusing on self significantly reduced subjective well-being (the latter effect was further moderated by age and relationship closeness). The difference between self- and other focus was moderated by age: Younger participants (<36 years) reported lower subjective well-being in the self-focus condition, whereas older adults (>68 years) showed the opposite effect (there was no difference in the middle-aged adults). Taken together, the results suggest that focusing on a social partner increases concerns about the partner's well-being but not necessarily one's own well-being. In contrast, focusing on oneself reduces concerns about the partner's well-being and-particularly for young adults-one's own well-being, rendering a strong focus on oneself a potential risk factor for young adults' well-being. Further research is needed to understand the negative effect of other- versus self-focus on older adults' well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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专注于他人会增强主观幸福感吗？年龄，动机和亲密关系的作用。

亲社会性（即，旨在使他人受益的自愿思想和行为）对于积极的社会关系而言必不可少。本研究调查了亲社会焦点在什么条件下对亲社会人的主观幸福感具有积极影响。我们在日常社交互动的干预研究中解决了这个问题。所有参与者（N = 295，女性57.6％，年龄19-88岁）在没有干预的情况下以基准日开始研究。然后，参与者进行了基于视频的干预，训练他们专注于他人的幸福或自己的幸福。第二天，参与者将相应的焦点放在社交互动中。与基线相比，专注于他人并没有显着影响主观幸福感，而专注于自我会大大降低主观幸福感（后者的影响会因年龄和亲密关系而进一步缓解）。自我聚焦和其他聚焦之间的差异由年龄缓解：年轻的参与者（<36岁）在自我聚焦条件下的主观幸福感较低，而成年人（> 68岁）则表现出相反的效果（无差异）在中年成年人中）。两者合计，结果表明，专注于社交伙伴会增加对伙伴幸福感的担忧，但不一定是对自己的幸福感的关注。相反，专注于自己可以减少对伴侣的幸福感的担忧，尤其是对于年轻人的幸福感，这是一个人自己的幸福感，这使得对自己的强烈关注成为了年轻人幸福感的潜在危险因素。需要进一步的研究，以了解其他关注和自我关注对老年人的幸福感的负面影响。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2021 APA，保留所有权利）。