Dottorato in PSICOLOGIA SOCIALE, DELLO SVILUPPO E DELLA
RICERCA EDUCATIVA

Titolo della tesi: HELPING OTHERS TO HELP THEMSELVES: QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE AND PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR

According to Significance Quest Theory (SQT; Kruglanski et al., 2022), Costly Signaling Theory (CST; Grafen, 1990; McAndrew, 2021; Zahavi, 1975, 1977 ), and psychology of extremism (Kruglanski et al., 2021), the general purpose of this dissertation is to provide an empirical contribution to show that the quest for significance may lead to prosocial behaviors when they are costly in terms of energy and resources, and when there is an audience watching them. These kinds of behaviors are conceptualized as extreme because the difficulty of implementing them implies that the individual must direct his or her resources to that end, neglecting other needs or goals and generating a situation of motivational imbalance. More specifically, the overall hypothesis was that individuals with high need for significance are more likely to support an aid program when it is costly (i.e., difficult) and when it is public (i.e., visible). To fulfill this purpose, and following the logic of converging operations, this single general hypothesis was decomposed in five specific hypothesis and tested through four studies (Total N = 917) with different designs and methods. The studies were carried out using: a) correlational (Study 1) and experimental (Studies 2, 3, 4) studies design; b) chronic measures of quest for significance (Studies 1, 2, 3) and a memory task (Study 4) to prompt the quest for significance; c) within- (Study 1) and between- (Study 2) subjects designs to measure preference for the support and manipulation of costly/difficult (vs. non-costly) aid programs; d) public (vs. anonymous) prosocial behavior tendency (Studies 1, 2) and experimental manipulation of visibility of prosocial behavior (Studies 3, 4); e) and, finally, the measure of altruism as a covariate to control for its effect on relationship between quest for significance and support for costly and public aid programs (Study 4). The results confirmed the general hypothesis, and the four studies described in this dissertation paint a consistent picture of the effect of quest for significance on engagement in costly and public prosocial behaviors. In conclusion, despite several limitations, this doctoral project may have implications on theoretical level, as it enriches the literature on quest for significance and extreme prosocial behavior, which is still lacking, and may be useful to identify commonalities between QST and CST, always considered separately. Furthermore, it may also have practical implications for charity fundraisers and provide directions for future research on the motivational basis of helping behavior.