The mediating effect of altruism and affect on resilience and preventative health behaviour

Pinker, India (2017) The mediating effect of altruism and affect on resilience and preventative health behaviour. University of Buckingham. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Introduction: There has been notable paucity and little consensus in the research regarding factors in health behavior outcomes. This is particularly apparent for concepts such as affect and, in particular, altruism which have been noted to impact resilience – a strongly supported predictor of health, recovery and well-being. Method: A cross-sectional online survey was utilised to target an international sample (N=199). The survey was compiled utilising The Positive and Negative Affect Scale to measure affect; GRIT short form scale to measure resilience; Adapted Self-report Altruism scale to measure altruistic behaviour and the International Health and Behaviour Survey to measure health behaviours categorized as Support-seeking and Self-management behaviours. Results: The results revealed that high affect played a role in the presence of negative health behaviours such as increased smoking and decreased exercise. Higher resilience was associated with improved hygiene, and higher altruism was associated with increased cancer avoidance strategies. Mediation analysis revealed that the relationship between resilience and eating behaviour was significantly mediated by altruism. Higher altruism was also seen to be associated with more positive health beliefs and higher affect. Other exploratory analyses significantly linked intention to behaviour for smoking and alcohol intake. Discussion: The impact of altruism opens several novel avenues for practice and research and could potentially form the basis of a more comprehensive model of health behaviour and effective health promotion campaigns.