El comportament prosocial i la seva relació amb el benestar subjectiu en el col·lectiu de persones grans

Resumen

This thesis takes the form of a compendium of articles and aims to know if prosocial behaviours such as volunteering or selfless help to others contribute to the elderly to stay active and productive and how this is related with their subjective well-being. In addition, it deepens into the knowledge of the factors that facilitate or hinder the development of prosocial activities by the elderly, based on the premise that this type of task contributes positively to their well-being. Older people are productive with both informal or selfless help to others and volunteer work, and these activities have a positive impact on their subjective well-being. Specifically, the areas in which satisfaction is greatest when prosocial behaviors are performed in the elderly group are satisfaction with free time, with grandchildren, with overall life and also in the feeling of happiness. Older people feel that volunteering is not encouraged enough among them, and that their participation in prosocial behaviour is often hampered by the lack of health, training, institutional support, or family responsibilities. On the contrary, they believe that being cheerful and good-natured, healthy, having time, and a broad social network help older people to engage in volunteer work. Knowing the perspective of older people on prosocial behaviour is important when planning actions to increase the involvement of this group in this type of tasks. There is a need for greater social recognition of the contributions that older people make to society, especially when aid behaviours are informal, selfless, and without the support of volunteer organizations. Healthcare professionals can play an important role in promoting prosocial behaviour among the elderly.