Positive Psychology Interventions: A Food Pantry Field Study

Last registered on March 09, 2016

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Positive Psychology Interventions: A Food Pantry Field Study
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0001114
Initial registration date
March 09, 2016

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
March 09, 2016, 3:10 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Primary Investigator

Affiliation

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2015-07-09
End date
2015-07-30
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Various positive psychological interventions have been investigated in different contexts to increase subjective well-being. The Crisis Ministry of Mercer County in Trenton, New Jersey provided a unique opportunity to study this form of intervention in a real world setting. In this paper, we outline a pre-analysis plan for a study at the Crisis Ministry’s food pantry to examine the effect of such an intervention on the participants. Participants in the treatment condition were asked to perform a task directly benefitting the Crisis Ministry that involved shopping for other clients who could not come to the Crisis Ministry. Participants in the control condition proceeded through the food pantry as usual. After shopping for food, a survey was administered to assess subjective well-being and information about the participant’s relationship with the Crisis Ministry. Here we outline the analysis of the effect of asking people to do a small favor on subjective well-being and the relationship between them and the requester.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Harwood, Christopher. 2016. "Positive Psychology Interventions: A Food Pantry Field Study." AEA RCT Registry. March 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1114-1.0
Former Citation
Harwood, Christopher. 2016. "Positive Psychology Interventions: A Food Pantry Field Study." AEA RCT Registry. March 09. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1114/history/7200
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2015-07-09
Intervention End Date
2015-07-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Subjective well-being
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Randomized lab-in-the-field experiment
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
prepopulated notecards
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
561 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
561 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
approximately 280 treatment, 281 contol
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Positive Psychological Interventions: A Food Pantry Field Study Pre-Analysis Plan

MD5: 82ce38c07307c065843ddbf8bb19267a

SHA1: 5b33df68ad5508747455b79e038412da1fde149a

Uploaded At: March 09, 2016

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials