Open Access

ARTICLE

Redefining Snacking as a Piece of Daily Happiness: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Engagement in Oyatsu Activities for Improving Well-Being

Shinichiro Matsuguma^1,*, Miku Suzuki², Miki Kanamaru³, Hitomi Tsuchiya², Masato Kawamoto², Masaya Kobayashi⁴
1 Department of Psychology, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, 1101, Philippines
2 R&D Institute, Morinaga & Co., Ltd., Yokohama, 230-8504, Japan
3 SEE THE SUN Inc., Hayama-machi, 240-0112, Japan
4 Graduate School of Social Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, 263-8522, Japan
* Corresponding Author: Shinichiro Matsuguma. Email:

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2024.057068

Received 07 August 2024; Accepted 20 September 2024; Published online 17 October 2024

Abstract

Background: Today, mental illness is one of the most serious social issues in Japan. To proactively prevent psychological disorders and improve and maintain well-being, each individual must take action and engage in small yet significant daily activities for their well-being on a daily basis. The purpose of this study was to investigate if our daily engagement in oyatsu activities, sharing and giving snacks, can enhance hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled, open-label, parallel-group comparative design trial. Participants were recruited from a community website run by a snack company in Japan. Participants who were 20 years old or older without currently experiencing physical or mental illnesses were included. The participants in the intervention group (n = 152) were instructed to do oyatsu activities, defined as sharing or giving snacks to others, for one month intentionally, while the participants in the control group (n = 154) were not given any instructions. Hedonic or subjective well-being (SWB) was measured using the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and eudaimonic well-being was measured by the Flourishing Scale (FS). A one-way independent t-test was conducted to determine statistically significant differences in the degree of improvement of the scores between the intervention and the control groups. Results: The primary outcome was the difference in change in FS scores from baseline to one-month follow-up between the groups, and the secondary outcome was the difference in change in SWLS and SPANE scores. We found a significant between-group difference in the improvement in FS score from baseline to one-month follow-up (t (280) = 2.235, p = 0.03), as well as SPANE-P (t (280) = 3.514, p < 0.001), SPANE-N (t (282) = −2.651, p = 0.01) and SWLS (t (281) = 2.842, p = 0.01). Conclusions: Engaging in oyatsu activities might improve hedonic and eudaimonic well-being partly due to the prosocial nature of oyatsu activities.

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Keywords

Snacking; subjective well-being; eudaimonic well-being; prosocial behaviors

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