Abstract

NORONHA, Ana Paula Porto et al. Character Strengths and Prosocial Behavior: A Study with Volunteers from in Social Actions. Psicol. teor. prat. [online]. 2024, vol.26, n.1, ePTPPA15077.  Epub Dec 16, 2024. ISSN 1516-3687.  https://doi.org/10.5935/1980-6906/eptppa15077.en.

Prosociality is a characteristic of people’s behaviors aimed at the benefit of others. Character strengths are positive personality traits that enable people to overcome the challenges of everyday life. This study identified relationships and predictions between character strengths and prosocial behaviors present in those involved in social actions as volunteers and non-volunteers. The participants were 784 people aged between 18 and 69 years (M = 36.70; SD = 12.90) from all Brazilian regions, the majority being female (77.30%). Of all participants, 34.94% did some volunteer work. A sociodemographic questionnaire was used, and two scales in the Portuguese version: the Pro-Sociability Scale and the Character Strengths Scale, answered the online survey. To analyze the data obtained, Pearson’s correlation and linear regression using the Enter method were performed, and a t-test was used to compare the groups. The results showed significant and positive associations between the variables investigated. Interpersonal and intellectual character strengths tended to be more closely associated with prosocial behaviors. The model that was extracted by the linear regression was statistically significant, with a prediction in 64.40% of the cases. Ultimately, the group that performed social actions showed higher averages in character strengths and prosocial behaviors. The results were discussed considering the current literature.

Keywords : volunteering; positive psychology; prosociality; prosocial behavior; character strengths.

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