1.3. Present Research
To examine the association between prosocial behavior and primary school-aged children’s well-being in the wild, we conducted two parallel studies—an exploratory correlational examination of the iGen program (Study 1) and a pre-registered experiment of C2C (Study 2). In Study 1, we surveyed students at the end of their year in iGen to explore whether children’s engagement in iGen and the meaning they derived from their primarily prosocial experiences with Elders were positively related to children’s well-being and positive psychological functioning. In Study 2, children reported their happiness before and after packaging supplies at a C2C Giving Factory for a child who experiences homelessness or financial hardship in the community. Critically, we randomly assigned volunteers to either prepare a package for a recipient who was similar or dissimilar in age and/or gender, allowing us to examine whether children were happier after helping than beforehand and whether happiness differed depending on who the child assisted.