Potentials and pitfalls of increasing prosocial behavior and self-efficacy over time using an online personalized platform

BACKGROUND: This longitudinal mixed methods experimental study aimed to better understand the interplay between digital technology exposure over time, self-efficacy, and prosocial behavior in everyday contexts. METHODS: 66 psychology students tracked their daily prosocial behavior over three weeks. Additionally, half of the participants were randomly assigned to receive access to an online platform, which made personalized suggestions for prosocial actions to complete. Qualitative post-study interviews complemented quantitative measures. RESULTS: Platform exposure had no measurable impact beyond that of tracking over time on either prosocial behavior or self-efficacy. Tracking increased self-efficacy to perform everyday prosocial actions, but did not affect self-efficacy to impact change. Prosocial behavior was predicted by self-efficacy to impact change. Enjoyment of the platform predicted completing higher numbers of suggested prosocial actions and was related to a higher likelihood to continue using the platform in the future. Avenues for increasing platform effectiveness include context-specific action personalization, an effective reminder system, and better support for the development of self-efficacy to impact change through meaningful actions. CONCLUSION: Technology for prosocial behavior should be enjoyable, capable of being seamlessly integrated into everyday life, and ensure that suggested actions are perceived as meaningful in order to support the sustainable development of self-efficacy and prosocial behavior over time.