Perhaps one of the most reaffirming findings to emerge over the past several decades is that humans not only engage in generous behavior, they also appear to experience pleasure from doing so. Yet not all acts of helping lead to greater happiness. Here, we review the growing body of evidence showing that people engage in a wide array of prosocial behaviors (e.g., charitable giving, volunteering, blood/organ donation, offering advice, food sharing) which can promote positive emotions. Then, using self‐determination theory, a foundational theory of human motivation, we consider when and how generous actions are most likely to boost the helper's happiness—and when they are not. Finally, we leverage these insights to consider how public policy and organizations can apply this information to make prosocial action more emotionally rewarding for citizens and employees alike.

中文翻译：

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帮助与幸福：公共政策回顾与指南

过去几十年来出现的最令人鼓舞的发现之一也许是，人类不仅表现出慷慨的行为，而且似乎也从中受益匪浅。然而，并非所有的帮助行为都能带来更大的幸福。在这里，我们回顾了越来越多的证据，表明人们从事各种各样可以促进积极情绪的亲社会行为（例如，慈善捐赠，志愿服务，献血/器官捐赠，提供建议，分享食物）。然后，使用自我决定理论（一种人类动机的基础理论），我们考虑何时以及如何以慷慨的行动最有可能增进助手的幸福，而在没有时则如此。最后，