Pay It Forward

Running head: PAY IT FORWARD 1
Pay It Forward
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PAY IT FORWARD 2
Pay It Forward
Everyday life provides with the opportunity to be generous or greedy, cruel or kind,
prosocial or antisocial. Increasing research show that one of the key influencers on
individual’s selections between alternatives is the manner in which they were treated in their
past. A concept that explains this well is paying it forward which is a heart-warming notion
that develops a sequence of goodwill. The mantra employed in paying kindness forward is
“Help anybody if helped by somebody.” It is not lost on many that being good to someone, in
effect, is good for you. Numerous research has enumerated the numerous physical and
psychological advantages that arise from engaging in the selfless and kind behavior. For
instance, naturally occurring goodwill and volunteering attributes have been linked to
improve life satisfaction, lower blood pressure, enhanced longevity, and decreased
depression.
Moods do depict long-term emotional states that impact prosocial etiquette.
Frequently “counting one’s blessings” will over a period of time enhance a person’s mood
and maintain it while also increasing prosocial way of behaving. For instance, individuals
who do keep a personal diary thankfulness are at higher chance of providing emotional
support and assist others in comparison to those who do not record their altercations
(Pressman et al., 2015). Consequently, positive mood enhances prosocial conduct by
lessening the superficial costs of aiding others. Comparably, according to a study by Gray
(2014), constant occurrences of positive emotions over time widens cognition and attention,
develops lasting psychological resources, and with time enhances prosocial behavior (Gray et
al., 2014).
Ordinarily, individuals examine the conduct of others in deciding how to conduct
themselves. They utilize others to get to comprehend the social norms expected from them by
PAY IT FORWARD 3
societies. Social norms define the “standards and rules that are agreed by members of a
group, and that direct and/or compel social conducts within a society.” Even though a sole
action may be directed by diverse norms, individuals follow those crucial norms in their daily
lives (Pressman et al., 2015). For example, Persons will litter more in a littered environ likely
because they have established that other persons are also littering, and they will hang their
towels more often when they establish that other peoples are also hanging up their towels in
the preferred compound (Pressman et al., 2015).
Paying it forward is characteristically examined in its greatest prototypical and
optimistic form, with both mathematical models and experiments indicating the advancement
of generosity in animals and humans alike (Gray et al., 2014). These series of goodwill,
however, are unbalanced since they are effortlessly exploited by defector which means that
the individuals getting generosity without being generous to others. Consequently, it has been
put forward that positive paying it forward, that is generalized reciprocity, progresses
predominantly when societies are genetically related, interdependent and have sub-groups
(Gray et al., 2014). However, research indicates that individuals will pay forward kindness
without strict interdependence.
In Paying-it-forward (PIF), giving and receiving of a gift are its key tenets. These
canons are linked with generosity and reciprocation, and each phase may both have an impact
on and be affected by misunderstandings of others’ conduct tendencies. Pay-It-Forward is a
field limited in research, hence need to allocate resources and study actions of giving and the
outcomes that arise. In conclusion, prosocial (and antisocial) conduct like taking and giving is
usually determined by social context; both the results individuals experience and the effect
they believe they could have on their choices on how to treat others.
PAY IT FORWARD 4
References
Gray, K., Ward, A. F., & Norton, M. I. (2014). Paying it forward: Generalized reciprocity and
the limits of generosity. Journal of experimental psychology: General, 143(1), 247.
Pressman, S. D., Kraft, T. L., & Cross, M. P. (2015). It’s good to do good and receive good:
The impact of a ‘pay it forward’style kindness intervention on giver and receiver
well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(4), 293-302.

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Running head: PAY IT FORWARD 1

Moods do depict long-term emotional states that impact prosocial etiquette.

(Pressman et al., 2015). Consequently, positive mood enhances prosocial conduct by

Ordinarily, individuals examine the conduct of others in deciding how to conduct

the preferred compound (Pressman et al., 2015).

Paying it forward is characteristically examined in its greatest prototypical and

without strict interdependence.

on and be affected by misunderstandings of others’ conduct tendencies. Pay-It-Forward is a

the limits of generosity. Journal of experimental psychology: General, 143(1), 247.

The impact of a ‘pay it forward’style kindness intervention on giver and receiver

well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(4), 293-302.

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