<p>While growing evidence suggests charitable giving is associated with improved well-being, little prior research makes cross-national comparisons and evaluates a wide range of outcomes simultaneously. We used data from the Global Flourishing Study (2022–2024; <i>N</i> = 207,919 across 22 countries and one territory) to examine associations of charitable giving in the past month at Wave 1 with 56 multidimensional well-being outcomes at Wave 2. In random effects meta-analyses adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, childhood factors, and baseline multidimensional well-being, charitable giving was prospectively associated with improved composite (Secure Flourishing Index), psychological (e.g., life satisfaction), social (e.g., social support), volitional (e.g., gratitude), and material (e.g., financial security) well-being, and more engagement in other prosocial behaviors (e.g., volunteering). Effect sizes were small and there was little evidence of associations with some other outcomes (e.g., psychological distress) in pooled analyses. In less conservative models without adjustment for baseline multidimensional well-being, charitable giving was associated with several other outcomes such as higher happiness and lower loneliness, and effect sizes were generally larger. Associations varied in magnitude and direction across countries (e.g., charitable giving was associated with higher Flourishing Index scores in Germany, India, Israel, Mexico, and the United States but lower Flourishing Index scores in Spain). Charitable giving was associated with more positive outcomes in some countries (e.g., the United States), more negative outcomes in others (e.g., China), and mostly mixed or null associations in others. Further research is needed to understand how charitable giving is associated with givers’ well-being in diverse social and cultural contexts.</p>

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Charitable Giving and Subsequent Multidimensional Well-Being: A Two-Wave Outcome-Wide Longitudinal Analysis in the Global Flourishing Study

  • Julia S. Nakamura,
  • Renae Wilkinson,
  • Robert D. Woodberry,
  • Dorota Węziak-Białowolska,
  • Koichiro Shiba,
  • R. Noah Padgett,
  • Byron R. Johnson,
  • Tyler J. VanderWeele

摘要

While growing evidence suggests charitable giving is associated with improved well-being, little prior research makes cross-national comparisons and evaluates a wide range of outcomes simultaneously. We used data from the Global Flourishing Study (2022–2024; N = 207,919 across 22 countries and one territory) to examine associations of charitable giving in the past month at Wave 1 with 56 multidimensional well-being outcomes at Wave 2. In random effects meta-analyses adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, childhood factors, and baseline multidimensional well-being, charitable giving was prospectively associated with improved composite (Secure Flourishing Index), psychological (e.g., life satisfaction), social (e.g., social support), volitional (e.g., gratitude), and material (e.g., financial security) well-being, and more engagement in other prosocial behaviors (e.g., volunteering). Effect sizes were small and there was little evidence of associations with some other outcomes (e.g., psychological distress) in pooled analyses. In less conservative models without adjustment for baseline multidimensional well-being, charitable giving was associated with several other outcomes such as higher happiness and lower loneliness, and effect sizes were generally larger. Associations varied in magnitude and direction across countries (e.g., charitable giving was associated with higher Flourishing Index scores in Germany, India, Israel, Mexico, and the United States but lower Flourishing Index scores in Spain). Charitable giving was associated with more positive outcomes in some countries (e.g., the United States), more negative outcomes in others (e.g., China), and mostly mixed or null associations in others. Further research is needed to understand how charitable giving is associated with givers’ well-being in diverse social and cultural contexts.