著者

竹部 成崇

出版者

人間環境学研究会

雑誌

人間環境学研究 (ISSN:13485253)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.17, no.1, pp.31-38, 2019 (Released:2019-08-05)

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Phrases describing “sweetness” are commonly used to express romantic love and the quality of kindness, such as “my sweet love” and “she is a sweetie.” Recent research suggests that the experience of sweetness also affects one’s romantic perceptions and prosociality. However, because previous studies manipulated the experience of sweetness through taste, there exists the possibility that the results were derived not from the experience of sweetness itself but from other factors such as the calories of sweet foods. In addition, some of the findings in previous research, though not exactly the effects of the experience of sweetness, have not been replicated, meaning it is possible that the effects of the experience of sweetness also do not exist. Considering these, this study manipulated the experience of sweetness through scent and tested whether it affects romantic perceptions and prosociality. First, participants smelled a cotton puff on which a sweet scent was (or was not) put. Then, they answered questions regarding romantic interest, evaluation of a relationship with a hypothetical partner, and prosocial intention. The experience of sweetness did affect romantic interest and prosocial intention. However, the effects were contrary to those of previous research: sweet scent decreased romantic interest and prosocial intention. The opposing results may be interpreted by taking into consideration whether “comparison with the self” occurred or not. Specifically, participants in the sweet scent condition of this study felt that they were not sweet compared to the cotton puff because the cotton puff was outside of their bodies and, therefore, reported decreased romantic interest and prosocial intention. On the other hand, participants in the sweet food conditions of previous studies felt that they were sweet like the sweet foods because they had taken the sweetness into themselves and, therefore, reported increased romantic interest and prosocial intention. Overall, this study suggests the flexibility of the effects of the experience of sweetness.

著者

竹部 成崇

出版者

日本NPO学会

雑誌

ノンプロフィット・レビュー (ISSN:13464116)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.16, no.1, pp.57-65, 2016 (Released:2016-07-13)

参考文献数

21

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近年の研究は,寄付には寄付者の幸福感を高めるという心理的効用があり,その効用はその後の寄付行為を動機づけて寄付を個人内で連鎖させることを示唆している.寄付は資源の再分配の1つの形であることを考慮すると,貧しい人々より豊かな人々において寄付が積極的になされることが期待される.そのため,この心理的効用も,豊かな人々においてより強く得られることが期待される.しかしこれまでの知見を考え合わせると,こうした期待とは反対に,豊かな人々の方が寄付の心理的効用を得にくい可能性が考えられる.また,東日本大震災前後の価値観や状況の変化を考慮すると,この関連は震災後には消失している可能性が考えられる.これらの仮説を検討するため本研究では,東日本大震災前後における経済的な豊かさと寄付の心理的効用の関連を検討した.その結果,震災前は貧しい人々においてのみ,寄付経験が幸福感を高めていたのに対し,震災後は貧しい人々においても豊かな人々においても,寄付経験が幸福感を高めていた.本研究の示唆及び限界点が議論される.

著者

竹部 成崇

出版者

日本NPO学会

雑誌

ノンプロフィット・レビュー (ISSN:13464116)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.18, no.1, pp.19, 2018 (Released:2018-08-27)

著者

竹部 成崇 村田 光二

出版者

人間環境学研究会

雑誌

人間環境学研究 (ISSN:13485253)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.14, no.2, pp.93-99, 2016 (Released:2017-01-06)

被引用文献数

1

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Prior research suggests that higher socioeconomic status (SES) individuals help others less than lower SES individuals due to the lack of empathic concern. This is thought to be because higher SES individuals are less likely to pay attention to others and, as a result, less likely to perceive their emotions accurately. Then, it is possible that when the distress of others is clear, higher SES individuals can perceive it and show the same level of empathic concern and intention to help as lower SES individuals. To test this possibility, an experiment was conducted. First, subjective SES of the participants was manipulated to create higher/lower SES conditions by comparing themselves with lower/higher SES individuals. Participants then listened to a tape in which an inpatient expressed either clear/ambiguous distress. After that, they reported their intention to help her or other inpatients, perceived distress, and empathic concern. Contrary to our prediction, only the main effect of the clarity of distress was significant both on perceived distress and empathic concern. Additionally, an unexpected interaction was significant; while there was no effect of the manipulation of subjective SES when they heard ambiguous distress, participants in the higher SES condition were more willing to do volunteer work than those in the lower SES condition when they heard clear distress. There were no differences between the two SES conditions in overall intention to help and intention to do the indirect help such as donation whether they heard clear/ambiguous distress. These results can be explained by the possibilities that the manipulation of distress might have served as the level of distress, which resulted in one's overestimation of the difficulty of volunteer work, and that increased sense of control among participants in the higher SES condition assured them that they could do the volunteer work.