The Indirect Relationship between Prosociality in the Workplace and Employee Well-Being: Testing Multiple Mediators

• Bogdanić, Vita ^[1] ; González-Romá, Vicente ^[1] ; Tomás, Inés ^[1] ; Nübold, Annika ^[2] ; Hernández, Ana ^[1]
  1. [1] Universitat de València

     Universitat de València

     Valencia, España

     
  2. [2] Maastricht University

     Maastricht University

     Países Bajos

     
• Localización: The Spanish Journal of Psychology, ISSN 1138-7416, Nº 29, 2026
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1017/SJP.2026.10028
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • Employee well-being has become an urgent issue due to the consequences of the pandemic crisis. Studies have suggested that prosociality could increase well-being, but we do not have a clear understanding about the mechanisms through which prosociality is related to well-being. The study aimed to identify some of these mechanisms. Building on the prosociality literature, we proposed and simultaneously tested five theory-driven mediators: the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs (relatedness, autonomy, and competence), rumination, and work meaningfulness. The study sample consisted of 200 employees, and a panel design with three data collection points was implemented. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results demonstrated that the relationship between prosociality and well-being was mediated by the satisfaction of the need for autonomy. The findings provide valuable empirical evidence about the role of prosocial behavior in fostering employee well-being. We further discuss implications for theory and research on prosociality and well-being.

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