Daily Associations Between Prosocial Behavior, Gratitude, and Selfishness in Members of Alcoholics Anonymous

Abstract

The idea that helping others and practicing gratitude is associated with lower selfishness among members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is discussed at length in AA literature, in AA meetings, and among AA members. Specifically, helping others is described as “insurance” against relapse (Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc., 2001); gratitude is viewed as a character asset that should be continuously cultivated throughout life (Wilson, 1953); and selfishness is identified as the “root” of alcoholism (Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc., 2001). Despite the strong emphasis on these concepts in the literature, relationships between these concepts have not been scientifically investigated. In this study I employed longitudinal, daily diary research methodology to investigate whether helping others and feeling grateful were associated with lower selfishness among AA members over a period of 7 days (N = 113). Multi-level modeling analyses confirmed that on days when participants helped more people compared to their own weekly average, they reported lower selfishness than on days when they helped fewer people. Further, on days when participants were more grateful compared to their own weekly average, they reported lower selfishness than on days when they were less grateful. Lastly, on days when participants helped more people and were more grateful, they reported even lower selfishness. Uncovering evidence of an association between these key facets of AA provides valuable insight about the 12-step program.