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Promoting interpersonal helping among coworkers is an important aim for any organisation that cares about employee well-being. Drawing on guilt aversion hypothesis, this research focuses on the power of social expectations in promoting prosocial behaviour among employees and investigates the role of anticipated guilt for failing to meet coworkers' expectations. In two preregistered studies, the effect of beneficiary expectation on benefactors' anticipated guilt and intention to help was investigated. In Study 1, Japanese participants (n = 284) recalled a situation when they helped a coworker spontaneously, and evaluated perceived beneficiary expectation to receive help, as well as anticipated guilt for not helping. Beneficiary expectation positively predicted anticipated guilt, and the effect was stronger when the beneficiary was a same-status colleague, and when interpersonal helping frequency in the organisation was low. Study 2 (n = 499) employed vignettes and manipulated beneficiary expectation. A mediational model revealed that beneficiary expectation leads to more anticipated guilt for not helping, which, in turn, increases employees' intention to help. Together, these studies show that employees are sensitive to their coworkers' expectations, and guilt-averse; therefore, interpersonal helping among employees may be promoted by establishing legitimate expectations of prosociality in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed the psychometric properties of the Dutch translation of the Prosocial Behavior Questionnaire (PBQ-NL), a self-report questionnaire that distinguishes altruistic, reactive, and proactive prosocial behaviours. Participants were 381 Dutch adolescents and young adults aged 13–30 (Mage = 18.62, SD = 2.59, 65.1% female). Test-retest reliability data were available for 199 participants. A Confirmatory Factor Analyses supported the three-factor structure of the questionnaire, with adequate six-month test-retest reliability. Altruistic and reactive prosocial behaviours correlated significantly and positively with prosocial behaviours directed at family/peers and the larger society, but not with depression or aggression. Conversely, proactively motivated prosocial behaviour correlated significantly and negatively with prosocial behaviour directed at family and positively with experienced opportunities for contribution to the larger society, aggression, and depression. These findings show that the PBQ-NL is a reliable measure to disentangle self- and other-serving motivations that underly prosociality during adolescence and young adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Token acts of online support, also known as clicktivism, have received much criticism in recent years for suppressing subsequent prosocial behavior. However, whether, when, and why individuals perform less prosocial behavior following these acts remains relatively unknown. To address these questions, we designed a lab experiment in which participants (N = 193) were randomly assigned to engage in public, private, or no act of clicktivism. Consistent with moral self-licensing theory, those who signed an online petition were less likely to donate than those who did not sign any petition. Public clicktivism (compared to private clicktivism) increased donation intentions among those with high impression management tendencies (i.e. high self-monitors). Concerns about one's moral self-image partially mediated these effects. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scientific study of love underscores the importance of dyadic reciprocity in laying the foundation for infants' social development. While research establishes links between early reciprocity and children's social capacities, some infants appear to benefit from reciprocity more than others. A central feature of reciprocity is its contingent structure, that is, the extent to which maternal behaviors are temporally associated with and contingent upon infants' dynamically changing cues. As such, infants' sensitivity to social contingencies may define the extent to which an infant benefits from maternal reciprocity. The current study examined the role of infants' sensitivity to social contingency (SC) in moderating associations between early maternal reciprocity and subsequent infants' social behavior. The study followed 157 children (47% females), across the first year of life (4, 10, and 12 months) and at preschool age (48 months). Infants' SC at 4 and 10 months moderated the link between early maternal reciprocity and infants' prosocial behavior observed at 12 months. SC at 10 months moderated the link between early reciprocity and reported peer problems at 48 months. Maternal reciprocity predicted more helping behavior in infancy and fewer peer problems at preschool, but only for infants who displayed high SC. Findings highlight the contingent nature of reciprocal mother‐infant interactions revealing that an infant's sensitivity to breaks in social‐contingency moderates the developmental benefit of reciprocity. Future research is necessary to directly test the underlying mechanisms of these processes and better understand the individual characteristics of infants' sensitivity to social contingency and its' role in typical and atypical development. Research Highlights: Individual differences in infants' sensitivity to breaks in social contingencies may moderate the extent to which infants benefit from contingent reciprocal maternal behavior (i.e., maternal reciprocity).Maternal reciprocity predicted more helping behavior in infancy and fewer peer problems at preschool, but only for infants who displayed high sensitivity to breaks in social contingency.Findings highlight the contingent nature of reciprocal mother‐infant interactions revealing that infants' sensitivity to breaks in social‐contingency moderates the developmental benefit of reciprocity.Findings emphasize the need to develop measurement methods and direct empirical attention to the important yet understudied individual characteristic of infants' sensitivity to social contingency and its role in shaping social development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer status among preschool children has been associated with their roles in aggression‐related interactions. This study analyses the differences between aggressors, victims, aggressor‐victims and defenders on two measures of peer status (social impact and social preferences) whilst controlling for individual factors. The sample comprised 394 preschool children (184 girls, 210 boys) between the ages of 3–6 years old (M = 4.36, SD = 0.87) and their parents supplying information about socio‐demographic variables and children's emotion regulation. Teachers rated emotional competences for each child in their class. Analysis of covariance along with Bonferroni‐adjusted post‐hoc comparisons were conducted to compare mean scores between the aggression roles for social impact and social preference while controlling for significant individual factors. The results revealed that aggressors and aggressor‐victims exhibited higher social impact but lower social preference after controlling for individual factors. In contrast, defenders enjoyed higher social status among their peers, characterized by both higher social preference and social impact. Victims were associated with lower social preference and social impact. Uninvolved children consistently exhibited lower social impact. Results underscore the need for interventions that focus on promoting prosocial behaviors, addressing aggressive tendencies, and enhancing emotional competences to create a more positive and supportive peer environment. Practitioners points: Aggressive roles (e.g., aggressors, victims) in preschoolers are associated with higher social impact scores, indicating increased visibility within peer groups.Aggressors and aggressor‐victims exhibit lower social preference compared to other roles, underscoring the need to address aggressive behaviors and promote prosocial skills.Preschool victims may be as socially preferred as defenders and uninvolved children, suggesting the presence of positive characteristics or prosocial behaviors that counterbalance the negative effects of victimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although time is a finite resource, much sociological research suggests a positive association between engagement in informal helping activities and formal volunteering. However, it remains unclear whether this relationship is causal and, if so, in which direction the causality runs. To address these issues, I draw on two-wave panel data from Denmark. Using a cross-lagged panel model, I find no evidence that formal volunteering hours affect informal helping activities. However, in the reverse direction, I find evidence of a right-skewed inverse U-shaped relationship. Specifically, the time individuals dedicate to formal volunteering marginally increases with time allocated to informal helping activities, but only as long as their informal helping obligations remain modest. However, once these informal helping obligations reach approximately 20 hours, the time individuals spend on formal volunteering decreases with informal helping hours. These findings suggest that even exceptionally helpful individuals, often referred to as "super-helpers," must balance their acts of kindness and their available time and energy. Moreover, I argue that while many people are motivated to engage in formal volunteering to benefit others, those with family and friends requiring assistance tend to prioritize these responsibilities before volunteering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the influence of genetic and environmental factors on adolescent anxiety. Ninety-eight monozygotic and dizygotic twins from Chongqing, China (aged 15–18 years) were assessed for anxiety with the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). The Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were applied to assess environmental factors. Venous blood was drawn from the twins for zygosity determination. Structural equation modeling was performed to evaluate the effects of additive genetic factors (A), common environmental factors (C), and individual-specific environmental factors (E) on adolescent anxiety. The estimates of A and E on adolescent anxiety were 0.34 (95% CI = 0.12–0.53) and 0.66 (95% CI:0.47–0.89), respectively. The environment played an important role in adolescent anxiety. Adolescent anxiety was significantly positively correlated with peer relations (r = 0.606, p < 0.05) and negatively correlated with prosocial behavior (r = 0.207, p < 0. 05). No sex differences were observed. Adolescent anxiety was influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. The individual-specific environmental factors played an important role. Consideration of these variables will facilitate the targeted and individualized implementation of specific interventions for adolescent anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As destinations recover quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic, the tension caused by tourist misbehavior is coming back to poison the sustainability of tourism development. Guided by the social identity theory, this paper examines how people respond to compatriot tourist misbehavior. It contributes to the literature by studying the psychological mechanism underlying individuals' calibration of misbehaviors committed by compatriot tourists and predicting downstream intergroup and intragroup consequences of tourist misbehavior. The results of two experiments showed that people displayed ingroup favoritism and intragroup differentiation simultaneously in their responses to compatriot tourists' misbehavior. Ingroup identification motivated people to exculpate the misbehaving compatriots and carry out prosocial behavior direct at the destination involved, suggesting a double-edged sword. Emotions played mediating roles underlying people's attitudes and behavioral intentions toward compatriot tourists' misbehavior. The results also implied the moderating role of misbehavior type. Practically, this paper informs destinations on communication strategies for tourist misbehavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's relationships with their peers have important associations with their behaviour. The current study examined children's friendships during the formative school years and hypotheses were made regarding associations between how well-liked children were by peers, the reciprocity of these friendships, and with whom friendships were made. Children aged 4–7 years (N = 193) were asked to identify who their friends were. Teachers and teaching assistants provided ratings of children’s behaviour; aggressive, victimized, prosocial and solitary. Results indicated differences in the number of friendship nominations children received from peers in relation to their behaviours. Reciprocity in children's friendships was also differentially associated with child behaviour. Further, there was some evidence for homophily in the behaviour of children and their friends. The findings are discussed in relation to the importance of supporting children's good quality friendship relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of sexual assault (SA) among college students (13%) is unacceptable, underreported, and alcohol use by the perpetrator or victim is reported in 50% of SA cases. Bystander intervention (BI) programs, which use prosocial behaviors to prevent or stop a harmful situation from occurring, have been implemented across college campuses to reduce SA. There are several known barriers (e.g. self-intoxication) and facilitators (e.g. peer support) to BI for SA; however, less is known about barriers and facilitators to BI for alcohol-related SA. Alcohol-related SA includes situations in which the perpetrator and/or victim are intoxicated, whereas alcohol-facilitated SA includes situations in which individuals intentionally use alcohol as a perpetration strategy. The current study examined student perspectives of BI for SA opportunities, actions taken in response to opportunities, and barriers and facilitators to action. The team conducted content and deductive thematic analysis of data from focus groups and interviews with diverse undergraduate students (N = 79). Opportunities included perpetrator-focused, victim-focused, and sexual risk opportunities. Actions taken included staying vigilant, monitoring friends, communicating with friends, and removing friends. Barriers included self-intoxication, feeling helpless, peer pressure, not feeling personally responsible, and fearing the consequences of helping. Finally, facilitators included knowing friends’ concerning signals and drinking motives, feeling like some intervention strategies are easy, understanding sex-related risks, acknowledging consent and personal boundaries, and feeling personally responsible for friends. Understanding these situations’ nuances can help to inform more effective and comprehensive BI programs to reduce SA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analysed the relationship between the structured and unstructured activities of preschoolers and their mental and physical health, and also investigated the predicted changes in mental and physical health by reallocating activity time. This cross-sectional study was carried out with 324 preschoolers. Video recording and SOPARC activity observation system was used for the division of structured and unstructured activities. An accelerometer sensor was used to measure activity intensity. The SDQ psychological questionnaire was adopted to collect data on internalizing difficulties, externalizing difficulties, total difficulties and pro-social behaviours. Physical indices including body shape (height, weight, BMI), and physical fitness (upper and lower limb strength, flexibility, agility, and balance) were collected using Chinese toddler physical fitness measurement tools. Component data and isotemporal reallocation analyses were conducted using R Studio (Version 4.2). A total of 308 preschoolers (160 boys; aged 4.50 ± 0.93 years) were included in the data analysis. The activities composition, adjusted for sex, area, mental level (for mental indicators), or age (for physical indicators), was significantly correlated with various measurement indicators (p < 0.05). Specifically, structured (β=-0.87, p < 0.05) and unstructured (β=-1.24, p < 0.05) moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were significantly positive correlated with internalizing difficulties, while structured MVPA was significantly positively correlated with body shape (β = 2.17, p < 0.05). Replacing structured light physical activity (LPA) with 10 min of structured MVPA has a positive effect on internalizing difficulties (SMD=-1.28, 95%CI: -2.30 to -0.27) and body shape (SMD = 1.76, 95%CI: 0.37 to 3.15). When the total replacement time reaches 25 min, the benefits become even more pronounced. Structured and unstructured MVPA are both beneficial to preschoolers' mental and physical health, with the incorporation of MVPA for over 25 min in structured activities and supplementary unstructured MVPA yielding even greater benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractWhilst both community sport coaches and youth workers use sport and physical activity to assist young peoples’ development, there is a lack of research related to any best practice that both fields may share. This study explored, through semi-structured interviews with eight workers with experience in both community sport and youth work, how practitioners identified best practice and interactions between the two fields relative to the use of sport. Results demonstrated that, when contextually applied, there are a number of significant parallels that can be drawn between the fields of performance sport coaching and youth work/community sport coaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analysed the relationship between the structured and unstructured activities of preschoolers and their mental and physical health, and also investigated the predicted changes in mental and physical health by reallocating activity time. This cross-sectional study was carried out with 324 preschoolers. Video recording and SOPARC activity observation system was used for the division of structured and unstructured activities. An accelerometer sensor was used to measure activity intensity. The SDQ psychological questionnaire was adopted to collect data on internalizing difficulties, externalizing difficulties, total difficulties and pro-social behaviours. Physical indices including body shape (height, weight, BMI), and physical fitness (upper and lower limb strength, flexibility, agility, and balance) were collected using Chinese toddler physical fitness measurement tools. Component data and isotemporal reallocation analyses were conducted using R Studio (Version 4.2). A total of 308 preschoolers (160 boys; aged 4.50 ± 0.93 years) were included in the data analysis. The activities composition, adjusted for sex, area, mental level (for mental indicators), or age (for physical indicators), was significantly correlated with various measurement indicators (p < 0.05). Specifically, structured (β=-0.87, p < 0.05) and unstructured (β=-1.24, p < 0.05) moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were significantly positive correlated with internalizing difficulties, while structured MVPA was significantly positively correlated with body shape (β = 2.17, p < 0.05). Replacing structured light physical activity (LPA) with 10 min of structured MVPA has a positive effect on internalizing difficulties (SMD=-1.28, 95%CI: -2.30 to -0.27) and body shape (SMD = 1.76, 95%CI: 0.37 to 3.15). When the total replacement time reaches 25 min, the benefits become even more pronounced. Structured and unstructured MVPA are both beneficial to preschoolers' mental and physical health, with the incorporation of MVPA for over 25 min in structured activities and supplementary unstructured MVPA yielding even greater benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Research Highlights This study examined whether grandparental support is a protective factor for children's socio‐emotional development in the context of adversity. Using longitudinal data from the Millennium Cohort Study, we investigated the effects of grandparental support across development in children with and without adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Socio‐emotional development was assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire when children were aged 3 years (N = 10,186), 5 years (N = 10,412) and 7 years (N = 10,551). Parent‐reported grandparental childcare, coresidence and financial help were assessed and parents reported on the occurrence of five ACEs: physical and emotional abuse assessed with the Straus’ Conflict Tactics Scale, parental mental illness assessed with the Kessler scale, domestic violence and parental separation. We found that children with relatively higher levels of ACEs showed more prosocial behaviour and less externalizing problems when they received grandparental care compared to non‐grandparental (in)formal care, but only at age 3. By age 7, children with higher levels of ACEs receiving grandparental care showed less prosocial behaviour and more externalizing problems. In addition, grandparental financial support at age 3 was related to more externalizing problems. Post‐hoc analyses showed that internalizing and externalizing behaviours at age 5 were related to an increased probability of grandparental childcare at age 7, indicating that children's socio‐emotional problems trigger grandparental support. Our findings point to a protective effect of grandparental care on children's socio‐emotional development at age 3. Our results highlight the importance of going beyond the nuclear family towards the impact of the wider family network when examining children's socio‐emotional development. Three‐year‐old children with high levels of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) show more prosocial behaviour and less externalizing behaviour when they receive grandparental care. Grandparental care has therefore protective effects on young children's socio‐emotional development in the context of family adversity. Grandparents respond to children's socio‐emotional problems and family adversity by increasing financial support and involvement in care. These findings underscore the importance of going beyond the nuclear family towards the impact of the wider family network when examining children's socio‐emotional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chimpanzees and other great apes seem to be much less cooperative than humans overall, yet they nevertheless reliably help others in many instrumental circumstances. Although in many contexts the helping behavior of chimpanzees is quite similar to that of human children, recent studies using both behavioral and psychophysiological paradigms have revealed important differences, specifically, in the underlying motivations for prosocial behavior. Here, we provide both a synthesis of recent empirical work and an evolutionary hypothesis that can account for the differences in chimpanzee and human helping motivations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the dictator game, the evidence that giving is equivalent to taking is mixed. The purpose of this study was to investigate framing effects (giving/taking) on social‐discounting rates among young African adults from an informal settlement in South Africa. Employing a within‐participant design, these young adults completed a series of incentivized dictator games with an isomorphically equivalent giving and taking frame at each of eight social distances. Altruism was measured by the social‐discounting rate, and framing effects were assessed using generalized linear regression. The study provides empirical evidence that prosocial behavior among young South African adults is subject to framing because exponential, hyperbolic, and q‐exponential social‐discounting rates in all instances were lower in the taking than in the giving frame. This difference may be the result of greater “egalitarianism” and “selflessness” elicited by the taking frame, which likely is a product of the experiment's particular social and economic field context. More comparative research is required to establish the working of specific mechanics of morality that may operate differently in diverse socioeconomic contexts, thus contributing to elucidating the heterogeneous nature of findings in this area of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Intergroup contact has long been established as a prejudice‐reduction tool in divided societies, with contact being particularly effective during adolescence. A large proportion of evidence, however, draws on cross‐sectional surveys or analytical approaches that do not distinguish between‐ and within‐person effects. In the present research, we address this by exploring the potential of intergroup contact longitudinally on social cohesion–related outcomes amongst youth (aged 14–19) in Belfast (Study 1, N = 231) and Bradford (Study 2, N = 159). Measures included intergroup contact, outgroup attitudes, intergroup anxiety, outgroup empathy and outgroup prosocial behaviour across three time points. Using random‐intercept cross‐lagged panel models, results demonstrate between‐person associations of contact with our outcomes, but limited within‐person changes. Our findings demonstrate the potential and limitations of intergroup contact for social cohesion–related outcomes for youth growing up in divided societies, pointing to the need for developmental‐focused future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have a profound impact on individuals, shaping their long-term health and life opportunities. This study delves into the complex ties between ACEs and the socioemotional development of Australian children and youth by examining the relationships between adverse childhood experiences and externalizing, internalizing, and prosocial behaviors. This study utilized data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children and employed the generalized estimating equation method to investigate the relationships between adverse childhood experiences and externalizing, internalizing, and prosocial behaviors in Australian children and adolescents. Adverse childhood experiences such as physical punishment, hostile parenting, parental conflicts, separation, financial strain, and parental mental health issues increased the risk of externalizing and internalizing behaviors while reducing prosocial behaviors. The risk increases with the number of ACEs, as evidenced by the incidence ratio (IR); for example, for externalizing behaviors, an ACEs score of one leads to IR = 1.69, while an ACEs score of 4 results in IR = 3.34. Similar trends were observed for internalizing and prosocial behaviors. The presence of imbalanced longitudinal data, arising from variations in the number of observations across different time points, challenges robust inferences. Furthermore, this study investigates the relationship between ACEs and behavioral problems, without establishing causality. Consequently, the results should be interpreted with caution. The findings of this study highlight that adverse childhood experiences significantly influence behavioral outcomes in children and adolescents. These findings underscore the critical need for early detection and intervention to mitigate the consequences of traumatic childhood experiences. • Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) significantly impact the socioemotional development of children and adolescents. • Higher ACEs scores correspond to an elevated risk of externalizing, and internalizing, while diminishing prosocial behaviors. • Early detection and intervention are needed to reduce the detrimental effects of ACEs on children's behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the relationship between mothers’ perceptions of their children’s emotional behaviour problems and their parenting sense of competence, as well as the mediating effect of maternal meta-emotion philosophy in this connection. Participants were 349 mothers of 4- to 17-year-old children (female children = 40.7%, mean age = 8.24 years, SD = 2.95 years). The mothers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the Parental Meta-Emotion Philosophy Scale, and the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale. Structural equation modelling and simple mediation analyses results showed that mothers’ perceptions of their children’s problem behaviours were linked to higher emotion dimissing and lower parenting sense of competence. Specifically, emotion dimissing mediated the relationship between children’s problem behaviours and parenting sense of competence by the mothers. Furthermore, mothers’ perceptions of their children’s prosocial behaviours were associated with both higher emotion coaching and parenting sense of competence. Emotion coaching mediated the relationship between children’s prosocial behaviours and parenting sense of competence for higher sense of competence by the mothers. Our findings suggest that mothers’ perceptions of children’s emotional behaviour problems may explain their parenting sense of competence through their parenting philosophy. By prioritising their maternal meta-emotion philosophy when dealing with their children’s emotional behaviour problems, mothers can enhance their parenting sense of competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of moral emotions such as guilt is central in moral and prosocial development. Guilt is an important psychological factor, which motivates prosocial behaviour and is credited for multiple social functions. Importantly, it remains unclear what determines the extent to which children show guilt. The current study examined two factors that have been proposed to support the emergence of guilt: children’s moral self-concept (MSC) and Theory of Mind (ToM). To this end, guilt-related behaviour and the two potentially explanatory factors were assessed in 5–6-year-old children (Mean age: 5.43 years, N = 133, 51% female). Most relevant, MSC predicted children’s guilt-related behaviour. Children’s ToM was not predictive for guilt-related behaviour. These findings support theoretical approaches proposing that the emergence of guilt is based on children’s developing self-concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Although the presence of early helping behavior has been firmly established, it is unclear to what extent children are willing to adopt costs to help others, as well as how this willingness changes as children get older. Canadian 21‐ to 36‐month‐olds (N = 48) participated in four helping tasks varying in the type and degree of effort required to help (lifting force, cognitive load, the number of steps in a task, and pushing force). When costs were lower, toddlers were not only more likely to help but also provided help more readily and helped in ways that prioritized others’ needs. Importantly, we found that age and how costly helping was to individual children each uniquely predicted high‐cost helping, but not low‐cost helping. Overall, we demonstrate that toddlers’ helping is sensitive to a variety of effortful costs, while simultaneously demonstrating that maturation and individual costs appear to uniquely influence high‐cost helping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis study developed a theoretical framework to understand outdoor event attendees’ psychological mechanisms associated with the adoption of pro-social behavior. The theory of planned behavior, the norm activation model, personal values, perceived knowledge and threats were all merged to formulate the framework, using Chinese outdoor event attendees after the outbreak of COVID-19 as survey participants. The results showed that attitude toward social distancing behavior, subjective norms, awareness of consequences, ascribed responsibility, personal norms, self-transcendent value, knowledge of the pandemic, and perceived threat had effects on activating pro-social intentions for social distancing practices. This study also provided implications for the theoretical expansion of predicting pro-social behavior and for the practical management of social distancing practices at outdoor events in the COVID-19 era. The limitations of the current study and suggestions for future research are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The height disadvantage promotes third-party punishment (TPP). • Third-parties are influenced by negative emotions resulting from height disadvantage. • The N1, P3 components are linked to the influence of height disadvantage on TPP. • The height disadvantage also evoked more theta power, and more alpha power. The study employed event-related potential (ERP), time–frequency analysis, and functional connectivity to comprehensively explore the influence of male's relative height on third-party punishment (TPP) and its underlying neural mechanism. The results found that punishment rate and transfer amount are significantly greater when the height of the third-party is lower than that of the recipient, suggesting that male's height disadvantage promotes TPP. Neural results found that the height disadvantage induced a smaller N1. The height disadvantage also evoked greater P300 amplitude, more theta power, and more alpha power. Furthermore, a significantly stronger wPLI between the rTPJ and the posterior parietal and a significantly stronger wPLI between the DLPFC and the posterior parietal were observed when third-party was at the height disadvantage. These results imply that the height disadvantage causes negative emotions and affects the fairness consideration in the early processing stage; the third-party evaluates the blame of violators and makes an appropriate punishment decision later. Our findings indicate that anger and reputation concern caused by height disadvantage promote TPP. The current study holds significance as it underscores the psychological importance of height in males, broadens the perspective on factors influencing TPP, validates the promoting effect of personal disadvantages on prosocial behavior, enriches our understanding of indirect reciprocity theory, and extends the application of the evolution theory of Napoleon complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between narcissism and prosocial behavior, challenging the mainstream view that narcissism typically undermines prosocial actions. We argue that in collectivist cultures, where social harmony and interdependence are central, narcissistic traits can manifest as prosocial behavior, driven by the pursuit of social status. This dynamic is moderated by interdependent self‐construal, which ties personal identity to group relationships. To substantiate our claim, we conducted four comprehensive studies. Study 1 (N = 425) analyzed the cross‐cultural variance in the relationship between narcissism and prosocial behavior. Studies 2A (N = 244) and 2B (N = 295) accessed and manipulated the interdependent self‐construal individuals in both Eastern and Western cultural settings to explore the moderating role of cultural tendencies. Study 3 (N = 605) explored a moderated mediation model to explore the mechanisms underpinning the facilitated effect of narcissism on prosocial behavior through the social status pursuit. Our research shows that in collectivist settings, narcissism can fuel prosocial behaviors, moderated by interdependent self‐construal, which connects narcissism to prosocial behavior through the desire for social status. This breakthrough deepens our understanding of narcissism within cultural contexts, highlighting the importance of considering cultural factors in psychological research and offering new insights into the diverse expressions of personality traits across societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on data from the 2022 Chinese Minors' Digital Life and Online Protection Survey, this study investigated the status quo of social media use and its influencing mechanism on academic performance among Chinese children and adolescents. The statistical results indicate that the average level of Chinese students' social media use was generally low, with their academic performance varying across socio-demographic and schooling characteristics. After controlling for other variables, it was found that the frequency of social media use could exert a significant positive impact on students' academic performance. Moreover, the mechanism analysis revealed that online learning behavior and prosocial behavior served as chain mediators linking social media use to academic performance. Specifically, students could transfer their social media behavioral patterns to the internet-based learning context, and then effectively utilize remote learning resources. Meanwhile, engagement with social media would cultivate individuals' prosocial personality, thereby stimulating intrinsic motivation for learning and ultimately enhancing academic performance. The heterogeneity analysis further confirmed that the impact of social media use on students' academic performance was stronger in lower-class families, underscoring the moderating role of family socioeconomic status in the relationship between social media use and academic performance. The findings suggest that if academic performance is regarded as an integral part of individual capacity development, then the rational utilization of social media resources might be a pivotal approach to alleviate the predicament of developmental inequality faced by students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the vital role of empathy in promoting prosocial behaviors and nurturing social bonds, there is a growing interest in cultivating empathy. Yet, the effectiveness of existing training methods on empathy, especially on different dimensions of empathy (i.e., affective, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral empathy), varies tremendously, and the underlying causes for this heterogeneity remain insufficiently explored. To address this issue, we categorized various training methods into three distinct approaches based on the premise that empathy can be influenced by factors associated with the subject, the object, and their relationship. Respectively, these are Subject-Oriented, Object-Oriented, and Socially Oriented approaches. To examine the effects of training and sustainability of these approaches on different dimensions of empathy, we conducted a meta-analysis encompassing 110 eligible studies with 32, 44, 39, 39, and 91 samples for affective, cognitive, motivational, behavioral, and composite empathy, respectively. Results showed that trainings produced small and unsustainable effects on affective empathy, moderate and unsustainable effects on cognitive empathy, small and sustainable effects on motivational empathy, and moderate and sustainable effects on behavioral empathy. The effects of training on composite empathy were robust but decreased over time. Among the three training approaches, Socially Oriented approaches were the most effective in improving all dimensions of empathy. Subject-Oriented and Object-Oriented approaches were effective only in improving cognitive and composite empathy. Altogether, our study offers practical guidance for selecting appropriate training approaches and proposes theoretical principles for developing optimal training strategies in both basic research and clinical applications. Public Significance Statement: Empathy is essential for building strong social connections and encouraging positive behaviors toward others. This meta-analytic review reveals that while affective empathy (emotional resonance) is hard to train, cognitive (perspective taking), motivational (caring), and behavioral empathy (empathetic actions) are more easily enhanced. Approaches aiming to improve social relationships are the most effective in enhancing empathy, offering practical insights for training on empathy in educational, clinical, and community settings to foster a more empathetic and cohesive society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperation, as a mutual collaboration, is a defining feature of human social life. Individual characteristics can influence cooperation. Recent studies have shown a quadratic relationship between cardiac vagal tone (CVT), an index of self‐regulation, and prosocial behaviors. Individual differences in cooperation might also vary as a function of people's environmental sensitivity (ES), i.e., may be influenced by individual differences in the perception and processing of inner and external stimuli. We tested the direct and interactive effect of CVT and ES on cooperative behaviors in two independent samples. We measured heart rate and engagement in cooperative acts in 80 young adults (M = 23.61; SD = 1.60) who were also asked to self‐report on ES. We found an inverted‐U relationship between CVT and cooperative behaviors. ES, on the other hand, did not predict differences in cooperative behaviors but moderated the relationships between CVT and cooperation, although the magnitude of this result was small. Specifically, only among individuals with higher ES cooperative behaviors change as a function of CVT. Highly sensitive individuals with lower or higher CVT, were less cooperative than low sensitive ones. Subsequently, we replicated the same study design in a second sample of 88 undergraduate students (M = 23.69; SD = 4.91). Once again, we found evidence supporting the presence of an inverted‐U relationship between CVT and cooperative behaviors, and we also found that ES moderated the relationships between the quadratic CVT term and cooperation. Our findings add new evidence on physiological self‐regulation as an underlying mechanism of prosocial behaviors, in particular cooperation. In two independent samples, our results showed a quadratic relationship between cardiac vagal tone (CVT) and cooperation. We found that this relationship is moderated by environmental sensitivity (ES). Specifically, only among individuals with higher ES, cooperative behaviors change as a function of CVT. To make the world more cooperative, people should learn how to regulate especially when they are highly sensitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have highlighted the critical role that the belief in a just world (BJW) plays in maintaining and promoting prosocial behaviors within individuals. Considered a stable personality trait, the crux of BJW lies in the conviction that individuals receive what they deserve, and deserve what they receive. Simultaneously, the relationship between BJW and prosocial behavior is impacted by an individual's sense of fairness or unfairness. However, past research has primarily focused on real‐life prosocial behavior, with limited exploration into the relationship between BJW and online prosocial behavior. This study, comprising a survey and an experiment, aimed to delve deeper into this relationship. The survey section randomly selected 4212 college students to examine how BJW correlates with online prosocial behavior. Findings predominantly revealed a significant positive correlation between online prosocial behavior and BJW. Additionally, the study explored how gender and place of origin influence these behaviors. Results showed that male students and those from urban areas exhibited significantly higher online prosocial behavior. The experimental research investigated the performance differences in online prosocial behaviors among college students under different fairness scenarios, revealing that the online prosocial behavior in an unfair situation was significantly higher than in fair or neutral situations. Furthermore, in unfair situations, a significant correlation was observed between BJW and online prosocial behavior. The findings from this study significantly advance our understanding of the dynamics between BJW and online prosocial behavior among college students, emphasizing that perceived injustices can markedly enhance prosocial behaviors in virtual settings. This study underscores the profound impact of fairness perceptions and highlights the modulating effects of gender and geographical background on online interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are residents of ethnically diverse communities less likely to encounter acts of cooperation and kindness from strangers? Although a vast literature has arisen examining the relationship between ethnic diversity and popular attitudes such as social trust, we know little about how prosocial behaviors vary across neighborhoods. This study presents evidence from a 'lost letter' experiment conducted across 77 neighborhoods in 13 German cities. We experimentally vary the ethnic identity of letter senders and recipients, and also carefully select our experimental field sites to create 'matched sets' of neighborhoods that differ only with respect to the percentage of foreign residents. We find no difference in return rates across our ethnicity treatments, and no overall relationship between return rates and neighborhood diversity. However, comparing across 'matched sets,' we do detect significantly lower return rates in areas featuring higher unemployment. Taken together, our findings support the view that it is not diversity per se, but rather associated socioeconomic deprivation, which is most detrimental to cooperative neighborhood interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Scholars have demonstrated the consequences of cultural stressors on Latino/a adolescents' depressive symptoms and prosocial behaviors. However, there is little understanding of how different combinations of cultural stressors and assets might differentially relate to depressive symptoms and prosocial behaviors, particularly in young adulthood. This study used latent profile analysis to identify varying levels of cultural stressors (foreigner objectification and U.S. marginalization) and assets (family respect values and ethnic identity commitment) among Latino/a young adults. We then examined how profiles differentially relate to three forms of prosocial behaviors (care-based, altruistic, and public) and depressive symptoms. Method: Data derived from a national convenience sample of 1,288 U.S. Latino/a 18–21-year olds who completed a survey. Most were born in the United States (85%) and identified as women (72%). Results: Latent profile analysis revealed three profiles: (1) low cultural stressors/moderate cultural assets, (2) moderate cultural stressors and assets, and (3) high cultural stressors and assets. Profile 3 reported higher care-based prosocial behaviors compared to those with Profile 1; yet, those with Profile 1 had higher care-based prosocial behaviors compared to those with Profile 2. For altruistic and public prosocial behaviors, Profile 1 had higher and lower scores, respectively, compared to the other two profiles. Profile 1 showed lower scores for depressive symptoms compared to the other two profiles. Conclusions: Results indicate a nuanced interrelated pattern of cultural stressors and assets that vary and differentially relate to prosocial behaviors and depressive symptoms in Latino/a young adults. Public Significance Statement: This study finds that different levels of cultural stressors and cultural assets are differentially associated with Latino/a young adults' prosocial behaviors and depressive symptoms. In general, a strong connection to ethnic/racial identity and family respect values when facing high levels of cultural stressors seems to promote greater forms of some prosocial behaviors. However, strong cultural assets might not alone be sufficient to protect Latino/a young adults from the mental health consequences of cultural stressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through close analysis of first-hand narratives of modern wildfire from residents in underrepresented rural communities in the American West, framed with cutting edge research in affect studies and narrative theory, we argue for an expansion of a theory of narrative empathy to make legible an alternate emotional response to texts: narrative compassion, in which narrative interpreters feel "toward" instead of "with" characters and/or narrators. We assess the capacity for narrative compassion to function as both a feeling toward and a standing with others, which maintains agency and lines of difference while still fostering prosocial relationships. We argue for the urgency of this expansion, given that many personal experience narratives about the environmental crisis in which we write, like narratives of modern wildfire, feature a high degree of evaluation as narrators attempt to make sense of confusing and unsettling experiences of a rapidly changing world. As such, these narratives tend to resist the emotional "twinning" upon which empathy relies and demand alternative modes of emotional engagement between narrators and interpreters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through cluster analysis, this study seeks to identify various clusters that differ in the level of self-focused and other-focused caring (e.g., autonomy and pro-sociality) and to contrast the happiness and life satisfaction among them. This approach is based on the notion that unifying autonomy and pro-sociality is more advantageous than separating them for well-being, which follows the theories and empirical studies. The World Value Survey dataset (N = 76897; Mage = 43.02, SD = 16.37) is used, which uses random probability representative adult samples from 51 countries or territories. Results suggest that autonomy and pro-sociality both have distinct implications for happiness and life satisfaction. Four distinct clusters are identified: autonomous (high self-focused and low other-focused), prosocial (low self-focused and high other-focused), flourished (high self-focused and high other-focused), and indifferent (low self-focused and low other-focused). In terms of indicators of well-being, the flourished group has the highest levels of happiness and life satisfaction, followed by the autonomous group, the prosocial group, and the indifferent group. It appears that individuals who exhibit both high self-focused and high other-focused caring attain the greatest well-being. The implications, limitations, and potential directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dialogue systems, from Virtual Personal Assistants such as Siri, Cortana, and Alexa to state-of-the-art systems such as BlenderBot3 and ChatGPT, are already widely available, used in a variety of applications, and are increasingly part of many people's lives. However, the task of enabling them to use empathetic language more convincingly is still an emerging research topic. Such systems generally make use of complex neural networks to learn the patterns of typical human language use, and the interactions in which the systems participate are usually mediated either via interactive text-based or speech-based interfaces. In human–human interaction, empathy has been shown to promote prosocial behaviour and improve interaction. In the context of dialogue systems, to advance the understanding of how perceptions of empathy affect interactions, it is necessary to bring greater clarity to how empathy is measured and assessed. Assessing the way dialogue systems create perceptions of empathy brings together a range of technological, psychological, and ethical considerations that merit greater scrutiny than they have received so far. However, there is currently no widely accepted evaluation method for determining the degree of empathy that any given system possesses (or, at least, appears to possess). Currently, different research teams use a variety of automated metrics, alongside different forms of subjective human assessment such as questionnaires, self-assessment measures and narrative engagement scales. This diversity of evaluation practice means that, given two DSs, it is usually impossible to determine which of them conveys the greater degree of empathy in its dialogic exchanges with human users. Acknowledging this problem, the present article provides an overview of how empathy is measured in human–human interactions and considers some of the ways it is currently measured in human–DS interactions. Finally, it introduces a novel third-person analytical framework, called the Empathy Scale for Human–Computer Communication (ESHCC), to support greater uniformity in how perceived empathy is measured during interactions with state-of-the-art DSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intellectually gifted have been found to have higher levels of many prosocial dispositions, but there is limited evidence of increased prosocial behavior. The present research used existing and original datasets to examine relations between intellectual giftedness and prosocial behavior and dispositions. In Study 1, those identified as intellectually gifted engaged in more political and helping behaviors than those not identified as intellectually gifted. In Study 2, gifted-identified undergraduate students reported more prosocial behavior (e.g., volunteering and giving) than nonidentified students; however, there were no clear differences in dispositions (e.g., personality and motivation) between gifted-identified and nonidentified students. Implications of these consistent linkages between intellectual giftedness and engaging in prosocial behavior for future research and practical applications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Individual and collective prosocial competence can be fostered through high-quality interactions with program staff in out-of-school time environments. Objective: We explored whether the social-emotional competencies of teachers working in an out-of-school STEM program infused with social emotional learning content were associated with school children's prosocial behavior, community engagement, and peer problems and whether these associations were moderated by social justice teaching beliefs and child gender. Method: Participants were 126 students (72 male). Forty-one were White, 40 were Black, 34 were Latine, and 11 were Asian and most of them were third graders (Mage = 8.11 years). Teachers rated their emotional competence, commitment to social emotional learning, and social justice teaching beliefs. They also provided ratings of children's prosocial behavior and peer problems. Students provided ratings of their community engagement. Results: Teachers' emotional competence was negatively associated with prosocial behavior, but only when their social justice teaching beliefs were low. However, teachers' commitment to social emotional learning was positively related to prosocial behavior. Teachers' emotional competence was associated positively with peer problems, but only for girls, and was also related positively to community engagement. Conclusions: Results demonstrate associations between STEM teachers' social emotional learning competencies and social justice teaching beliefs in the development of students' prosocial competence and community engagement and provide directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Methods Results Conclusion To compare trajectories of social functioning in peer problems and prosocial behavior from 5 to 13 years between individuals born very preterm (VPT) and full‐term (FT).Participants were from the Victorian Infant Brain Study (VIBeS) longitudinal cohort, consisting of 224 individuals born VPT and 77 born FT recruited at birth. Social functioning was measured using the parent‐rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) peer problems and prosocial behavior subscales at 5, 7, and 13 years' corrected age. Multilevel mixed effects models were fitted.Peer problems increased with age (adjusted mean difference per year = 0.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.01, 0.07, p = 0.02), with higher peer problems in the VPT compared with the FT group (adjusted mean difference between groups = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.06, 0.86, p = 0.02). Prosocial behavior increased from early to middle childhood and decreased approaching adolescence, but was similar between VPT and FT groups (adjusted mean difference between groups = −0.05, 95% CI = −0.50, 0.40, p = 0.82).Children born VPT are at greater risk for peer problems than FT peers and may benefit from receiving greater early social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the relationship between parental psychological wellbeing, parenting, children's psychological difficulties, and prosocial behavior in Kahramanmaraş earthquake‐affected families living in Türkiye in 2023. To this end, a mediation model was proposed for parental psychological distress that was hypothesized to exert an indirect effect on a child's psychological difficulties and prosocial behavior through parenting. Participants were 358 preschoolers between 4 and 6 years old and their one parent (father or mother) who completed a set of validated self‐report surveys in a cross‐sectional design study. Results showed positive associations between parental psychological distress and child's psychological difficulties but negative association with child's prosocial behavior. Furthermore, quality of parenting mediated the association between parental psychological distress and child's psychological difficulties and prosocial behavior. Our findings suggest that positive parenting may serve as a protective mechanism that mediates the association between parental psychological distress and a child's psychological difficulties and prosocial behaviors among families displaced by a natural disaster like an earthquake. These findings point to the need for supporting positive parent–child relationships in addition to decreasing the psychological distress of parents when exposed to potentially traumatizing events like this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time after the COVID-19 pandemic posed a threat to engagement in prosocial behaviors within charity organizations. In the current study, we intended to test how three motivational paths: affective empathy-based, life satisfaction-based, and perceived social support-based shaped the change in intentions to give money and time to charity organizations over a yearly period (right after revocation of the most essential anti-COVID-19 laws and at the same time, outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, in May 2022 and after a year, in late April-early May 2023). We also tested how past negative and present hedonistic time perspectives–namely, those most robust in predicting emotional states ‐ shaped the changes in the abovementioned motivational paths and giving intentions. We conducted our longitudinal study on the general population of Poland (N = 566). We found that there has been a significant drop in the willingness to give time to organizations over the year after loosening the COVID-19 restrictions and the outbreak of war in Ukraine. We found that affective empathy helped sustain the intentions to give time to organizations, whereas past negative time perspective contributed to the decrease in such intentions. Our study suggests threats to organizations and highlights potential ways to encourage supporting them and caring for their volunteers' well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined children's self‐assessment of their prosociality, relative to average peers, in situations where the recipient is described as “needy” versus “not needy” (at a school of average socioeconomic level in south Israel; N = 158; aged 6–12 years; 51% males, December–May 2021). The results show that older children exhibited the better‐than‐average (BTA) effect by seeing themselves as more generous than peers. In contrast, younger children displayed the worse‐than‐average effect by expecting peers to be more generous than themselves. However, both effects were attenuated (ηp2$$ {\eta}_{\mathrm{p}}^2 $$ = .16) when the recipient was described as “needy,” leading to higher expectations of sharing from oneself and others. This implies that besides children's motivational tendency to self‐evaluate as BTA, they also base their evaluations on actual environmental cues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how individual differences in self‐focused and other‐focused orientations relate to prosocial (e.g., helping, volunteerism) and antisocial (e.g., theft, violence) behaviours/attitudes. Using four datasets (total N = 176,216; across 78 countries), we find that other‐focused orientations (e.g., socially focused values, intimacy motivation, compassionate/communal traits) generally relate positively to prosocial outcomes and negatively to antisocial outcomes. These effects are highly consistent cross‐nationally and across multiple ways of operationalizing constructs. In contrast, self‐focused orientations (e.g., personally focused values, power motivation, assertive/agentic traits) tend to relate positively to both antisocial and prosocial outcomes. However, associations with prosocial outcomes vary substantially across nations and construct operationalizations. Overall, the effects of other‐focused orientations are consistently larger than those of self‐focused orientations. We discuss the implications of these findings for interventions that target self‐focused and other‐focused motivations to influence prosocial and antisocial outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mindfulness has become increasingly popular to improve physical and mental health. Its implementation transcends boundaries of disciplines that study its impact. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze the benefits of mindfulness on mental health, academic performance, well-being, mindfulness and prosocial behavior of university students, as well as to identify the most effective way to achieve habituation to the practice. An analysis and systematic review of papers published in the Scopus database was conducted. It was found that publications on the implementation of mindfulness in higher education began in 2004. Their study has been developed in 22 countries, 15 are European, 3 Asians, 2 North American, one Latin American and one from Oceania. Spain is the only Spanish-speaking country. Academically, mindfulness stimulates creativity, exploratory thinking, critical thinking, attention regulation, increases concentration and improves the learning experience. In addition, immersive virtual reality experiences were found to positively influence habituation towards mindfulness practice among university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractPCIT’s conjoint effect on child conduct problems and psychosocial competencies (i.e., prosociality, compliance, attention) was examined with 15 caregiver-child dyads (Mage = 4.9; SD = 1.2) who completed at least one phase of PCIT’s standard protocol. Caregiver-rated child competencies (Psychosocial Strengths Inventory for Children and Adolescents; PSICA) and conduct problems (Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory; ECBI) were assessed pre-, mid-, and post-treatment. PSICA and ECBI scores correlated negatively across all timepoints (r/ρs = −25, −.64, −.58), and child conduct problems and psychosocial competence (overall and domain-specific) significantly improved during PCIT (ηsp2 = .48–.93) and each phase (|d|s = 0.63–1.23). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten studies (N = 4192) demonstrated that individuals depicted as prosocial were judged to be more physically beautiful. This evaluation of prosocial individuals as more beautiful is influenced by a motivation to be associated with prosocial others. This phenomenon was observed in real‐world settings (Study 1) and applied to both men and women, both as targets and observers (Studies 2a–2b). The effect persisted in scenarios where participants imagined the target without any visual aid (Study 2c) and extended beyond metaphorical interpretations of beauty (Study 3). The effect weakened when prosocial behaviour was an isolated incident, not indicative of the target's prosocial personality (Study 4). The influence of prosociality on beauty evaluations surpassed that of other positive traits such as intelligence or humour (Study 5) and remained significant despite physical imperfections in the target's appearance (Study 6). The effect diminished in situations where forming a relationship was not feasible, thus supporting the motivated cognition rationale (Studies 7–8). These findings highlight the substantial role of prosocial behaviour in influencing evaluations of physical beauty, a crucial element in social interactions and relationship formation, often outweighing other attributes typically linked to physical appearance evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has indicated a link between the moral circle and an individual's prosocial behaviour. However, it remains uncertain whether this relationship holds across a broader range of countries and is influenced by sociocultural contexts. Drawing from an international dataset encompassing 49,540 participants from 57 countries, this study examined the impact of the moral circle on an individual's generosity and the moderating role of cultural religiosity. The results revealed a significant positive association between moral circle and generosity in a cross‐national context. Notably, in religious cultures, the connection between the moral circle and generosity was found to be weaker. Three robustness checks further affirmed that these findings are robust. The research confirmed a positive relationship between the moral circle and generosity in a multinational context but also highlighted the moderating role of cultural religiosity. This finding suggested that future research should further investigate how cultural and religious frameworks influence ethical behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health research demonstrates that prosocial health behaviors, while typically voluntarily, can be influenced by dispositional empathy. However, the motivating circumstances regarding this link between empathy and prosocial health behavior have not been well understood. Self‐determination theory provides a framework for motivating voluntary behavior. Three preregistered studies (ntotal = 630) sought to integrate self‐determination's autonomous and controlled motivation to protect vulnerable populations from illness as potential mediators associated with dispositional empathy and face mask wearing behavior (Studies 1 and 2), and flu vaccination (Study 3). Results demonstrate that autonomous motivation positively mediates the empathy‐prosocial health behavior pathway whereas controlled motivation does not. Findings postulate the importance of identifying motivation in predicting face mask behavior and flu vaccination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undercover videos have become a popular tool among NGOs to influence public opinion and generate engagement for the NGO's cause. These videos are seen as a powerful and cost-effective way of bringing about social change, as they provide first-hand evidence and generate a strong emotional response among those who see them. In this paper, we empirically assess the impact of undercover videos on support for the cause. We in addition analyze whether the increased engagement among viewers is driven by the negative emotional reactions produced by the video. To do so, we design an online experiment that enables us to estimate both the total and emotion-mediated treatment effects on engagement by randomly exposing participants to an undercover video (of animal abuse) and randomly introducing a cooling-off period. Using a representative sample of the French population (N=3,310), we find that the video successfully increases actions in favor of animals (i.e., donations to NGOs and petitions), but we fail to prove that this effect is due to the presence of primary emotions induced by the video. Last, we investigate whether activists correctly anticipate their undercover videos' (emotional) impact via a prediction study involving activists (exploratory analysis). Protocol registration: This manuscript is a Stage-2 working paper of a Registered Report that received In-Principle-Acceptance from Scientific Reports on November 20th, 2023 [Link to Stage-1]. The Stage-1 that received In-Principal-Acceptance can be found here: https://osf.io/8cg2d. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media significantly influences adolescents' prosocial behavior. With smartphones becoming ubiquitous, short videos have emerged as the predominant social media format for adolescents. However, the effects of adolescents' engagement with short videos on their prosocial behavior remain uncertain. This study aims to address the problem of how short videos (content and consequences) affect prosocial behavior in adolescents, and simultaneously explores the differences of this effect among individuals with different social value orientations. Methods: The current study conducted two research laboratory experiments using the between-subject study design of two factors. Study 1 (N=148) reveals that viewing prosocial short videos significantly predicts adolescents' prosocial behavior more so than neutral short videos. The interaction between short video content and social value orientation on prosocial behavior illustrates that the encouraging impact of prosocial content is primarily evident in prosocial individuals, rather than in pro-self individuals. In Study 2 (N=152), we introduce new dimensions by assessing adolescents' response to varying consequences of the same prosocial behavior (ie, reward, punishment) within the short video context. Findings indicate that reward consequences significantly bolster adolescents' prosocial behavior, whereas punitive measures tend to adversely affect it. Furthermore, the interaction between the consequences of prosocial short videos and social value orientation suggests that prosocial individuals exhibit no significant behavioral difference between rewards and punishments; instead, the reward/punishment consequences notably influence the prosocial behavior of pro-self individuals. Conclusion: Short videos (content and consequences) and social value orientations interactively influence adolescents' prosocial behaviors. This study underscores the need to recognize individual differences in adolescents' use of short videos and its impact on their prosocial behavior, particularly highlighting the crucial role of their social value orientations. Practically, the research offers valuable insights for parents and professionals seeking to foster adolescents' prosocial behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study translated and tested the psychometric properties of acute psychedelic effects measures among Spanish-speaking people. The Psychological Insight Questionnaire (PIQ), Challenging Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ), and Mystical Experiences Questionnaire (MEQ) were translated before being incorporated into a web-based survey. We recruited native Spanish-speakers (N = 442; Mage = 30.8, SD = 10.9; Latino/Latina = 62%; Hispanic = 91.4%; male = 71.5%) to assess their previous experience with one of two psychedelics (LSD = 58.4%; Psilocybin = 41.6%) and their acute and enduring effects. Confirmatory factor analysis (confirming factor structure based on the English version) revealed a good fit for the MEQ, PIQ and the CEQ. Repeating our analysis in each drug subsample revealed consistency in factor structure for each assessment tool. Construct validity was supported by significant positive associations between the PIQ and MEQ, and between the PIQ and MEQ and changes in cognitive fusion and negative associations between changes in prosocial behaviors. As a signal of predictive validity, persisting effects (PEQ) were strongly related to scores on the MEQ and PIQ. Findings demonstrate that the Spanish versions of these measures can be reliably employed in studies of psychedelic use or administration in Spanish-speaking populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the effects of prosocial behavior, teacher's attitudes towards bullying, and classroom climate on peer victimization, we collected data from 1,221 students (Mage = 13.60, SD = 0.88) from 47 classrooms and their teachers from three middle schools in Beijing, China. The hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the effect of the classroom climate at both the individual and classroom levels, and the interactions between classroom climate and students' prosocial behavior, as well as student perceptions of teachers' attitudes towards bullying. Results showed that prosocial behaviors, teachers' negative attitudes towards bullying, and authoritative classroom climate (at both individual and classroom levels) predicted less peer victimization. We also found significant cross-level interactions (classroom climate * student perceptions of teachers' attitudes towards bullying and classroom climate * prosocial behavior) in predicting peer victimization. Specifically, student perceptions of teachers' attitudes predicted peer victimization only when the overall authoritative classroom climate was high, or when the classroom-level teacher support was high. Students' prosocial behavior only predicted peer victimization when there was less peer support in the classroom. These findings shed light on the intricate interplay between individual level and classroom level protective factors on peer victimization among Chinese middle school students. Impact Statement This is the first study examining classroom climate and its interaction with prosocial behavior and teachers' attitudes towards bullying to predict victimization among Chinese middle school students. Findings shed light on the intricate interplay between individual level and classroom level protective factors on peer victimization among Chinese middle school students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smooth and effective interactions between customers and customer-contact employees are important for building seamless service delivery. The present study examined the influence of customer courtesy on customer-contact employees' prosocial service behavior. Additionally, the mediating role of organization-based self-esteem and the moderating role of focus of attention at work are investigated. Data were collected from 401 customer-contact employees from the South Korean hospitality industry. The results demonstrated that customer courtesy positively influenced prosocial service behavior, and organization-based self-esteem mediated this relationship. Furthermore, employees' focus of attention at work moderated the relationship between customer courtesy and organization-based self-esteem, such that the relationship was stronger for employees with a high focus of attention. Similarly, the focus of attention also moderated the relationship between organization-based self-esteem and prosocial service behavior. The findings have important theoretical and practical implications by demonstrating the role of external resources to promote prosocial service behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]