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Music listening is enjoyed across the lifespan and around the world. This has spurred many theories on the evolutionary purpose of music. The Music for Social Bonding hypothesis posits that the human capacity to make music evolved for the purpose of creating and preserving relationships between one another. Considering different time periods of music use across the lifespan, adolescence is especially a period of social reorientation away from family towards peers, characterized by new social bonds and increased prosocial behavior. This shift is accompanied by notable structural and functional changes in brain networks supporting reward processing and prosocial behavior. Reviewing the extant literature on developmental cognitive neuroscience and adolescent music use, we propose that neurocognitive changes in the reward system make adolescence an ideal developmental time window for investigating interactions between prosocial behavior and reward processing, as adolescence constitutes a time of relative increase in music reward valuation. Testing this hypothesis may clarify our understanding of developmental trajectories in music reward valuation, and offer insights into why music from adults' adolescence holds a great deal of personal significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Physical and mental health problems of college students are becoming more prominent, and contact with nature has a positive effect on physical and mental health. This paper investigates the psychological recovery effect of different types of campus green space landscape on college students. From the perspective of college students' perception of campus landscape types, the green space, blue space, gray space and movement space of three universities in Anhui Province are investigated. Methods: Through choose campus landscape types and questionnaires, structural equation modeling (SEM) and mediation modeling were constructed on the role of college students' perception of campus landscape types on psychological recovery. Results: It was found that the level of landscape type perception had a significant effect on the effect of psychological recovery and the generation of pro-social behavior, with no significant gender difference, while psychological recovery also had a positive effect on the generation of pro-social behavior. The study also found that campus landscape type not only directly affect students psychological recovery, but also promote psychological recovery through the mediating role of pro-social behavior. Discussion: The study reveals the effects of campus landscape type on college students' psychological recovery, and pro vides a basis for planning campus of different types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Relative deprivation is one of the factors that influences the development of personality and behavior. However, it is still unclear whether and how relative deprivation decreases the prosocial behavior in adolescents. This study aimed to examine the association between relative deprivation and adolescent prosocial behavior and the role of emotion regulation strategies and empathy in modifying this association. Methods: The present study included 609 secondary school students (M = 15.42 years, SD = 0.653) in Fujian Province, China. All participants completed the Relative Deprivation Questionnaire, Emotion Regulation Scale, the Basic Empathy Scale, and Prosocial Behavior Scale. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and Mplus 7.4. Results: Relative deprivation was negatively correlated with cognitive reappraisal, but positively correlated with expressive suppression. Cognitive reappraisal was positively correlated with empathy and prosocial behavior, but expressive suppression was not. Empathy was positively correlated with prosocial behavior. Relative deprivation decreased prosocial behavior through (a) cognitive reappraisal, (b) empathy, and (c) chain mediation of cognitive reappraisal and empathy. No significant mediating effect of expressive suppression was found. Conclusion: The results indicate that relative deprivation decreases adolescent prosocial behavior, and that cognitive reappraisal and empathy are the potential psychological mechanisms that affect the association between relative deprivation and adolescent prosocial behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Deficits in social functioning and decision-making are welldocumented in schizophrenia, but their relationship with positive symptoms and social conflicts is poorly understood. We created a new paradigm based on the Dictator Game (DG) to explore differences in social decision-making between individuals experiencing high levels of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), particularly hallucinations and delusions, and controls with less PLEs. Methods: A large community sample (N = 1,161) completed a DG in an online study whereby extreme groups were built based on the positive subscale of the CAPE. Results: Overall, participants experiencing PLEs did not act less prosocial than controls but showed a somewhat aberrant decision-making behavior, particularly a pattern of behaving more prosocial in fair situations and generally favoring punishment over compensation relative to controls. Mediation analyses suggest that measures of empathy and Machiavellism have predictive power for prosocial behavior beyond group status. Discussion: The present study raises the possibility that individuals with high levels of PLEs may be less able to adapt their behavior to the situation at hand than controls. These irregularities might be due to deficits in social cognition which may elicit conflict, thus compromising social functioning and possibly contributing to the formation of positive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Researchers have identified links between anxious and avoidant attachments and difficulties with self-compassion, giving others compassion, and receiving compassion. However, while compassion requires both awareness of opportunities for compassion and compassionate action, little is known about attachment-related differences in reporting compassionate opportunities. Further, most research relies on retrospective-reports that may not accurately assess compassionate behaviors in everyday life. Method: Consequently, we collected 2,757 experience sampling survey responses from 125 participants (95 women, 27 men, 3 non-binary, Mage = 18.74, SDage = 1.66) to investigate whether attachment anxiety, avoidance, or their interaction were associated with differences in propensity for reporting compassionate opportunities, actions, and emotional responses to opportunities in everyday life across self-compassion, giving compassion, and receiving compassion. Results: Anxiety was associated with greater likelihood of reporting all types of compassionate opportunities and less positive responses to opportunities to receive compassion. Avoidance was associated with less likelihood of reporting opportunities to give and receive compassion and less positive responses to opportunities to give compassion. Those high in anxiety but simultaneously low in avoidance reported fewer self-compassionate actions, but we identified no further differences in compassionate action. Discussion: This study highlights the potential role of awareness of compassionate opportunities in attachment-related differences in compassion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School adjustment affects children’s future lives in many ways. This study examined the relationship between ToM skills, peer relationships, and school adjustment. Specifically, this study determined whether preschool children’s school adjustment could be significantly predicted by theory of mind (ToM) skills and peer relationships. A total of 164 children aged 4 (34.5%), and 5 (38%) years of preschool attendance participated in the study. According to the research, children’s age, theory of mind, peer relations, and school adjustment are closely related. It was also found that the theory of mind significantly predicted school adjustment (school liking/avoidance) and that prosocial and aggressive behavior predicted school liking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social norm interventions hold the potential to change people's behavior. Five field experiments (N = 1,163) examined the effects of a simple and easily realizable social norm nudge based on the social media format "Be like Bill." The nudge consisted of a stick figure named Toni that communicated descriptive and injunctive norms regarding pro-environmental or pro-social behaviors. Nudge conditions were compared to no-intervention control conditions. Experiment 1 (N = 179) focused on paper towel consumption in a women's restroom at a German university. The nudge condition used less paper towels than the control condition, d = 0.48. Experiment 2 (N = 183) replicated this result (d = 0.32) in a more diverse setting of a women's restroom at a German Christmas market. Experiment 3 (N = 250) examined differences in the effects of prescriptive (i.e., 'do-norm') versus proscriptive (i.e., 'do not-norm') social norms on paper towel consumption again in a university women's restroom. The effectiveness of both social norm nudge conditions was shown in comparison to the control condition (d = 0.46; d = 0.40), while the prescriptive and proscriptive social norm manipulations did not differ. Experiment 4 (N = 206) applied the nudging approach to the use of plastic lids in a coffee shop, where no effect was found. Finally, Experiment 5 (N = 345) focused on the pro-social behavior of mask wearing in a bakery toward the end of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions in Germany. In the nudge condition, more visitors put on face masks compared to the control group, d = 0.39. Limitations and contextual factors regarding the applicability of our social norm nudge are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on developmental systems and dynamic systems theories, we propose the lifeworld approach--a conceptual framework for research and a hypothesis concerning early social-cognitive development. As a framework, the lifeworld approach recognizes the social embeddedness of development and shifts the focus away from individual developmental outcomes toward the reciprocal interplay of processes within and between individuals that co-constitutes early social-cognitive development. As a hypothesis, the lifeworld approach proposes that the changing developmental system--spanning the different individuals as their subsystems--strives toward attractor states through regulation at the behavioral level, which results in both the emergence and further differentiation of developmental attainments. The lifeworld approach--as a framework and a hypothesis, including key methodological approaches to test it--is exemplified by research on infants' self-awareness, prosocial behavior and social learning. Equipped with, first, a conceptual framework grounded in a modern view on development and, second, a growing suite of methodological approaches, developmental science can advance by analyzing the mutually influential relations between intra-individual and interactional processes in order to identify key mechanisms underlying early social-cognitive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children autonomously make sound moral judgments based on internal criteria, but they tend to make erroneous judgments in the presence of social influences, and the reasons for these errors are not well understood. Thus, the current research investigated how the presence of observers who can see and listen to 3-year-old children's judgments but who do not present their opinions influences children's conformity in moral judgment behavior. In Experiment 1, the children (N = 30) were presented with pictures depicting prosocial behaviors and asked whether the behaviors were acceptable. The children's tendency to change their answers after hearing the counterintuitive opinions of informants was then measured. The results showed that the children's moral judgments were more likely to conform to that of the group in the presence of observers. Experiment 2 aimed to determine the reason children were more likely to conform to a group when being watched by observers in Experiment 1. Children (N = 30) were randomly assigned to two conditions with different observer conditions as follows. Observers were either wearing headsets, indicating that they could not hear the children's responses, or had them hanging around their necks, indicating that they could. The results showed that children's conformity behavior depended on whether observers could hear what they were saying. The current findings are expected to help elucidate not only social factors that affect children's moral judgments but also the developmental mechanism of an observer effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attachment relationships are widely recognized as influential in increasing prosocial tendencies, with existing literature indicating that human attachment can increase empathetic processes, thereby potentially facilitating prosocial behavior. Given that pets frequently fulfill the criteria for attachment figures, this study investigates whether the observed associations among human attachment, empathy, and prosocial attitudes extend to human-animal interactions (HAI). This study examines the relationship between pet attachment, animal empathy, and prosocial attitudes toward humans. The study hypothesizes that animal empathy mediates the association between pet attachment and prosocial attitudes. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 343 Filipino participants, predominantly consisting of single female young adults with college education backgrounds. Participants completed a battery of assessments including the Contemporary Companion Animal Bonding Scale (CCABS), the Animal Empathy Scale (AES), and the Prosocialness Scale for Adults (PSA). Aligned with our hypothesis, our study reveals that animal empathy plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between pet attachment and attitudes toward humans. We found that stronger pet attachment correlates positively with heightened animal empathy, subsequently leading to elevated levels of prosocial attitudes. Our findings prompt discussions on implications for understanding human-animal relationships and suggest avenues for future research exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing a sense of internal safety and security depends mainly on others: numerous neuromodulators play a significant role in the homeostatic process, regulating the importance of proximity to a caregiver and experiencing feelings that enable us to regulate our interdependence with our conspecifics since birth. This array of neurofunctional structures have been called the SEPARATION DISTRESS system (now more commonly known as the PANIC/GRIEF system). This emotional system is mainly involved in the production of depressive symptoms. The disruption of this essential emotional balance leads to the onset of feelings of panic followed by depression. We will focus on the neuropeptides that play a crucial role in social approach behavior in mammals, which enhance prosocial behavior and facilitate the consolidation of social bonds. We propose that most prosocial behaviors are regulated through the specific neuromodulators acting on salient intersubjective stimuli, reflecting an increased sense of inner confidence (safety) in social relationships. This review considers the neurofunctional link between the feelings that may ultimately be at the base of a sense of inner safety and the central neuromodulatory systems. This link may shed light on the clinical implications for the development of early mother-infant bonding and the depressive clinical consequences when this bond is disrupted, such as in post-partum depression, depressive feelings connected to, addiction, neurofunctional disorders, and psychological trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helping and seeing others being helped elicits positive emotions in young children but little is known about the nature of these emotions, especially in middle childhood. Here we examined the specific emotional characteristics and behavioral outcomes of two closely related other-praising moral emotions: elevation and admiration. We exposed 182 6.5- to 8.5-year-old children living in New Zealand, to an elevation- and admiration-inducing video clip. Afterwards children's emotion experiences and prosocial behaviour was measured. Findings revealed higher levels of happiness, care, and warmth after seeing prosociality in others (elevation condition) and higher levels of upliftment after seeing talent in others (admiration condition). We found no differences in prosocial behavior between the elevation and admiration conditions. This is the first study to assess elevation in childhood and offers a novel paradigm to investigate the role of moral emotions as potential motivators underlying helping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Intensive parenting" is a tendency to invest parents' time, money, and energy in their child. This also includes some gender bias concerning a mother being the best person to primarily raise her children. Some psychology scholars have pointed out that this attitude causes much stress, anxiety, depression, and a sense of guilt among mothers. However, its effects on children have yet to be revealed using an extensive survey, and this indicates the need to investigate any possible impact of an intensive parenting attitude on children. The aim of this study was to elucidate a link between a maternal intensive parenting attitude and their children's social competence through maternal parenting behavior. This was based on collecting data from 675 Japanese women who were mothers of preschoolers using the Japanese version of the Intensive Parenting Attitude Questionnaire, the Positive and Negative Parenting Scale, and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. The results showed that the "Essentialism," "Fulfillment," and "Child-centered" components of intensive parenting attitude influenced the "involvement and monitoring" and "positive responsivity" of parenting behavior. Furthermore, these two parenting behaviors affected children's prosocial behavior and hyperactivity/inattention. These findings suggest that an intensive parenting attitude has some impact on children as well as mothers, both positively and negatively, pointing to a serious effect on society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the impact of social exclusion on prosocial behavior, examining the roles of relational need threat and regulatory focus. Utilizing a questionnaire study with 483 participants (Study 1) and an experimental study with 100 participants (Study 2), we found that (1) social exclusion negatively predicted prosocial behavior; (2) relational need threat fully mediated the relationship between social exclusion and prosocial behavior; and (3) regulatory focus, categorized as either promotion or prevention, moderated this relationship in opposite directions. In conclusion, our findings reveal that social exclusion does indeed trigger prosocial behavior. Meanwhile, relational need threat and regulatory focus have a co-action impact on this process. These findings have been carefully discussed within the frameworks of the temporal need-threat model and the cognitive-affective personality system theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Poor mental wellbeing is a challenge for societies across the world, as is the increasing threat of climate change, and emerging evidence suggests these challenges are interrelated. Green and social prescribing of non)clinical interventions hold promise as a cost-effective and widely accessible way to improve wellbeing, and interest is growing in whether pro-ecological communal activities have mutual benefits for both people and the planet. Objectives: Communal pro-ecological activities are growing in popularity, and research is gathering pace into whether participation influences mental wellbeing. The present systematic review scopes the existing evidence base to explore what is being done, what is being found, and what additional research is required. Methods: Electronic databases (PsychNET, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) were searched for studies that involved groups of people undertaking pro-ecological activities, where components of mental wellbeing were assessed. Eligibility criteria were purposely broad, including all study designs and participants across the lifespan. Results: Thirty-seven eligible studies were identified. Nearly half of the studies used mixed-method designs, and most studies used surveys or interviews to evaluate outcomes. Most pro-ecological activities involved planting vegetation, and habitat creation, maintenance, or restoration. Methodological quality varied considerably. Among the perceived therapeutic mechanisms reported, the social elements of the interventions were prominent. Discussion: Coherent synthesis of the current evidence base is challenging given the heterogeneous range of methods, samples, and interventions within the studies. However, the results here demonstrate promise that with future research and better methodological rigor, pro-ecological group-based interventions hold the potential to improve mental wellbeing and influence sustainable behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on intertemporal and prosocial decisions has largely developed in separate strands of literature. However, many of the decisions we make occur at the intersection of these two dimensions (intertemporal and prosocial). Trust is an example, where a decision today is made with the expectation that another person will reciprocate (or betray) later. A new literature is emerging to explore the role of time in these types of situations, where time and social considerations are intertwined. In many cases, time introduces (or magnifies) an element of uncertainty about future outcomes and utility that people need to deal with - what will happen, how good will it be, how will it feel. We review this emerging literature on intertemporal prosocial decision-making and discuss how new research can fill existing knowledge gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The popularization and widespread use of smartphones and other electronic devices have led to the occurrence of "parents phubbing", which may have a negative impact on child-parent relationship and preschoolers' prosocial behavior. Methods: To clarify this process, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 3,834 parents from 20 kindergartens in Zhuhai, China. This study examined the relationship between between parents phubbing, closeness child-parent relationship, authoritative parenting style and children's prosocial behavior. Results: According to the study, we found a significant negative correlation between parents phubbing and preschoolers' prosocial behavior. Closeness child-parent relationship mediated between parents phubbing and preschoolers' prosocial behavior through mediation effects analysis. In other words, parent phubbing was negatively associated with closeness child-parent relationship, which in turn predicted less child prosocial behavior. In addition, authoritative parenting styles have a moderating effect. As the level of authoritative parenting style increases, the negative impact of parent phubbing on the prosocial behavior of preschool children is attenuated. Discussion: This study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between parents phubbing and prosocial behaviors of preschool children, as well as the internal mechanisms at work. Practically, the study suggests that parents should reduce the incidence of phubbing in their contact with their children and, at the same time, work to improve the child-parent relationship and promote the development of prosocial behaviors in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study sought to uncover the relationship between physical education courses integrated with civic education (PECICE) and prosocial behavior among university students. Additionally, we aimed to decipher the mediating roles of cultural confidence and self-esteem within this relationship. Methods: Employing a questionnaire-based approach, we assessed the relationship among PECICE, cultural confidence, self-esteem, and prosocial behavior in university students. The instrument comprised four distinct scales: the Perceived Effectiveness Scale for PECICE, the Cultural Confidence Scale, the Self-Esteem Scale, and the Prosocial Behavior Scale. Our sample encompassed 293 Chinese college students, consisting of 137 men and 156 women, with an average age of 21.39 years (SD = 2.1). Results: PECICE demonstrated significant positive associations with cultural confidence (r = 0.29, p < 0.001), self-esteem (r = 0.35, p < 0.001), and prosocial behavior (r = 0.40, p < 0.001). The influence of PECICE on prosocial behavior among university students was mediated through three channels: solely via cultural confidence (mediating effect value: 0.14), solely via selfesteem (mediating effect value: 0.22), and through the combined influence of both cultural confidence and self-esteem (mediating effect value: 0.2). Conclusion: The intertwined mediating roles of cultural confidence and selfesteem highlight their pivotal significance in enhancing the efficacy of PECICE. These insights offer a valuable reference for both educators and policymakers striving to augment prosocial behavior in university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Awe could increase prosocial behavior, but little is known about its effects on interpersonal forgiveness. This study aims to explore the potential impact of awe on interpersonal forgiveness and the underlying mechanism of this process, using a combination of questionnaires, economic game and computational modeling. In Study 1, we utilized Trait Awe Scale (TAS) and Forgiveness Trait Scale (FTS) to examine the association between trait awe and trait forgiveness. In Study 2, we employed pre-screened video to induce awe, happy and neutral emotions, then evaluated the effects of induced awe on small-self and interpersonal forgiveness in hypothetical interpersonal offensive situations (Study 2a) and two economic interaction situations (Study 2b). Results from Study 1 indicate that there is a positive correlation between trait awe and trait forgiveness. Study 2 reveal that awe can enhance interpersonal forgiveness in both interpersonal conflict situations and economic interaction situations, and this effect is mediated by the sense of small-self elicited by awe. Overall, these findings contribute to our understanding of the potential impact of awe on interpersonal forgiveness and provide valuable insights into the mechanisms through which awe may influence forgiveness. Further research in this area could help to elucidate the potential applications of awe-based interventions in promoting forgiveness and positive social interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectification is a daily experience with various negative consequences. In four studies (N = 877), we tested whether and how objectification experience contributes to decreased prosociality. Using correlational designs (Studies 1 and 2), we found that participants' objectification experience negatively predicted their prosocial intention and that self-dehumanization could account for the negative association between objectification and prosocial intention. Next, by manipulating participants' objectification experience, we found the negative effect of objectification on prosocial intention, as well as the mediating role of self-dehumanization (Studies 3 and 4). Additionally, we tested the mediating role of self-dehumanization in comparison with relative deprivation (another potential mediator), and consistently found that self-dehumanization was a stronger mediator in accounting for the effect of objectification on prosocial intention (Studies 1, 2, and 4). Together, our findings support the process of self-dehumanization following objectification and offer new insights into the relationship between objectification and prosociality. The implications and limitations of the research were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies suggest that leisure activities enhance well-being. In line with this perspective, a recent study indicates that augmenting indoor leisure activities to compensate for diminished outdoor pursuits could sustain or enhance wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study was designed to identify personality traits that predict such behavioral shifts in indoor versus outdoor leisure activities during the pandemic. The present study included 657 participants (Mage = 41.08) and measured 12 personality traits that a previous study reported were associated with health-protective behaviors during COVID-19. Our findings indicate that the rise in indoor leisure activities correlated with prosocial tendencies toward family and friends/acquaintances (but not strangers), self-centered interest, resilience, and Big Five personality traits. Conversely, the decline in outdoor activities was linked solely to prosociality toward family and friends/acquaintances. Further interaction analysis uncovered that prosocial tendencies toward close relations predicted increased indoor activities as an alternative to outdoor engagements. We concluded that prosociality promoted behavioral changes that significantly prevented infections in intimate others, and it could maintain personal well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic by facilitating behavior change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionResearchers have identified links between anxious and avoidant attachments and difficulties with self-compassion, giving others compassion, and receiving compassion. However, while compassion requires both awareness of opportunities for compassion and compassionate action, little is known about attachment-related differences in reporting compassionate opportunities. Further, most research relies on retrospective-reports that may not accurately assess compassionate behaviors in everyday life.MethodConsequently, we collected 2,757 experience sampling survey responses from 125 participants (95 women, 27 men, 3 non-binary, Mage = 18.74, SDage = 1.66) to investigate whether attachment anxiety, avoidance, or their interaction were associated with differences in propensity for reporting compassionate opportunities, actions, and emotional responses to opportunities in everyday life across self-compassion, giving compassion, and receiving compassion.ResultsAnxiety was associated with greater likelihood of reporting all types of compassionate opportunities and less positive responses to opportunities to receive compassion. Avoidance was associated with less likelihood of reporting opportunities to give and receive compassion and less positive responses to opportunities to give compassion. Those high in anxiety but simultaneously low in avoidance reported fewer self-compassionate actions, but we identified no further differences in compassionate action.DiscussionThis study highlights the potential role of awareness of compassionate opportunities in attachment-related differences in compassion.

Awe could increase prosocial behavior, but little is known about its effects on interpersonal forgiveness. This study aims to explore the potential impact of awe on interpersonal forgiveness and the underlying mechanism of this process, using a combination of questionnaires, economic game and computational modeling. In Study 1, we utilized Trait Awe Scale (TAS) and Forgiveness Trait Scale (FTS) to examine the association between trait awe and trait forgiveness. In Study 2, we employed pre-screened video to induce awe, happy and neutral emotions, then evaluated the effects of induced awe on small-self and interpersonal forgiveness in hypothetical interpersonal offensive situations (Study 2a) and two economic interaction situations (Study 2b). Results from Study 1 indicate that there is a positive correlation between trait awe and trait forgiveness. Study 2 reveal that awe can enhance interpersonal forgiveness in both interpersonal conflict situations and economic interaction situations, and this effect is mediated by the sense of small-self elicited by awe. Overall, these findings contribute to our understanding of the potential impact of awe on interpersonal forgiveness and provide valuable insights into the mechanisms through which awe may influence forgiveness. Further research in this area could help to elucidate the potential applications of awe-based interventions in promoting forgiveness and positive social interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Limited research focused on the association between parenting practices and children's prosocial and externalizing behaviors comparing same- and different-gender parent families. The present study considered 76 Italian families (73% same-gender and 27% different-gender parent families) with 8-year-old (SD = 2.17; 49% assigned female at birth) children born through assisted reproductive techniques, to explore parenting practices and children's prosocial and externalizing behaviors. Method: We ran a Multiple-group-by-couple Structural Equation Model in which we estimated the predictive role of parenting on children's behaviors, controlling for age, gender, and family socioeconomic status using the Maximum Likelihood estimation. Results: Results showed that both same- and different-gender parent families reported high levels of parental warmth and very low levels of hostility and rejection; regarding children's behaviors, both same- and different-gender parent families reported high levels of prosociality and low levels of externalizing behaviors. In addition, same-gender parents reported significantly higher levels of children's prosociality and parental warmth than different-gender parents. Regarding associations between parenting practices and behaviors, we found a positive association between positive parenting practices and increasing children's prosocial behaviors and decreasing children's externalizing behaviors, in both same- and different-gender families, controlling for family background characteristics. Conclusion: The present study encourages future research to investigate how specific parenting practices can influence behavioral adjustment in children, focusing on same-gender parent families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of the watching eyes effect suggests that the presence of eye or eye-like cues can influence individual altruistic behavior. However, few studies have investigated the effects of imagined eyes on altruistic behaviors and the psychological measures of dictators and recipients in the dictator game. This study used a 2 (Presentation Mode: Imagined/Visual) 2 (Cue Type: Eye/Flower) between-subject design and measured the effects of recipients' psychological variables and the communication texts between the dictator and the recipient. The results showed that there was a significant interaction between Presentation Mode and Cue Type. In the imagined condition, the dictator exhibited more altruistic behavior than in the visual condition. However, there was no significant difference in altruistic behavior between the Imagined Eye and Imagined Flower conditions. In addition, the study found that the Cue Type had a significant main effect on the recipients' satisfaction with the allocation outcome. Notably, in the Visual Flower condition, the dictator used more egoistic norm words when communicating with the recipient than other conditions. This study provides novel evidence on the effect of imagined social cues on individual behavior in the dictator game, and to some extent validates the robustness of the watching eyes effect under manipulation of higher-level verbal cognitive processes. At the same time, the study is the first to explore the impacts on recipients' psychological variables and the communication texts. These efforts offer new insights into the psychological and cognitive mechanisms underlying the watching eyes effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Prosocial behavior during childhood has been associated with numerous positive developmental and behavioral outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. Prosocial behavior, which includes cooperation and helping others, develops within a bioecological context. Considering it through such a lens enhances the understanding of the roles of different bioecological factors in its development. Methods: Using data from a longitudinal study of adopted children and children reared with their biological parents, this paper examined if positive aspects of a child's bioecological system at age 7 predict prosocial behavior in early adolescence (age 11), and whether these bioecological factors could offset risk due to biological family psychopathology and/or maternal prenatal substance use. The analyses incorporated variables from different levels of Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model (the individual, microsystem, exosystem, and macrosystem) and examined the promotive, and potentially protective, effect of each contextual factor, while also considering their interplay with biological family psychopathology and prenatal substance use. Results: Results from linear regression models indicated that the microsystem variable of parental warmth at age 7 had a promotive effect on age 11 prosocial behavior. Further, in addition to its main effect, parental warmth was protective against maternal substance use during pregnancy when children were raised with their biological parent (s). Household type (biological family) and biological family internalizing psychopathology were the only other significant predictors in the model, with each associated with lower prosocial behavior at age 11. Discussion: Study results extend prior work on the benefits of parental warmth on child outcomes by employing a strength-based, bioecological approach to the development of prosocial behavior during early adolescence and examining "for whom" the effects of parental warmth are most protective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“Intensive parenting” is a tendency to invest parents’ time, money, and energy in their child. This also includes some gender bias concerning a mother being the best person to primarily raise her children. Some psychology scholars have pointed out that this attitude causes much stress, anxiety, depression, and a sense of guilt among mothers. However, its effects on children have yet to be revealed using an extensive survey, and this indicates the need to investigate any possible impact of an intensive parenting attitude on children. The aim of this study was to elucidate a link between a maternal intensive parenting attitude and their children’s social competence through maternal parenting behavior. This was based on collecting data from 675 Japanese women who were mothers of preschoolers using the Japanese version of the Intensive Parenting Attitude Questionnaire, the Positive and Negative Parenting Scale, and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. The results showed that the “Essentialism,” “Fulfillment,” and “Child-centered” components of intensive parenting attitude influenced the “involvement and monitoring” and “positive responsivity” of parenting behavior. Furthermore, these two parenting behaviors affected children’s prosocial behavior and hyperactivity/inattention. These findings suggest that an intensive parenting attitude has some impact on children as well as mothers, both positively and negatively, pointing to a serious effect on society.

Research on intertemporal and prosocial decisions has largely developed in separate strands of literature. However, many of the decisions we make occur at the intersection of these two dimensions (intertemporal and prosocial). Trust is an example, where a decision today is made with the expectation that another person will reciprocate (or betray) later. A new literature is emerging to explore the role of time in these types of situations, where time and social considerations are intertwined. In many cases, time introduces (or magnifies) an element of uncertainty about future outcomes and utility that people need to deal with – what will happen, how good will it be, how will it feel. We review this emerging literature on intertemporal prosocial decision-making and discuss how new research can fill existing knowledge gaps.

This document is an editorial published in Frontiers in Psychology titled "Online prosocial behavior and altruism in adolescence and youth." The editorial highlights the importance of studying positive actions such as prosocial behavior in adolescents and young people's use of social networks. It emphasizes the interdependence of online and offline life and the transformative effect of the digital context on adolescent development. The editorial presents four articles that explore various aspects of online prosocial behavior, including the influence of family functioning on cyberbullying bystanders, the contribution of online and offline prosocial behaviors to identity development, the impact of social media campaigns on online donations, and the effect of mindfulness interventions on online charitable behavior. The editorial concludes by emphasizing the need for further research on online prosocial behavior and its role in psychosocial development during adolescence and young adulthood. [Extracted from the article]

Certain segments of the population reply on charitable or other nongovernmental organizations as their main source of support, with these organizations largely funded by those in society who can afford to give. The present study investigated to what extent information transparency influences donation decisions, and whether specific preferences for charities influences information seeking behavior. We recruited 114 participants via Prolific and employed a binary online Dictator Game to address these two study objectives. The results showed that participants' actual donation behavior was not influenced by their charity preference or the level of information transparency. However, they were more prone to seek out additional information when deciding about the most preferred category of charity. These results raise important questions as to whether the perceived anonymity of online choices may differ from choices carried out in person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Theoretical and empirical studies on stress generation suggest four event generation processes: (1) vulnerability factors predict more negative interpersonal events; (2) vulnerability factors predict fewer positive interpersonal events; (3) resiliency factors predict fewer negative interpersonal events; and (4) resiliency factors predict more positive interpersonal events. However, few studies have examined these four processes simultaneously within a single analytic model. Therefore, it is unclear whether vulnerability and resiliency factors make unique and differential contributions to the occurrences of negative and positive interpersonal events. General objectives: This study aimed to fill this important gap by examining whether social withdrawal and excessive reassurance-seeking (vulnerable interpersonal behaviors) and prosocial behaviors (a resilient interpersonal behavior) uniquely and differentially predict the occurrences of negative and positive peer events among young adolescents. This study also examined the sex differences in these relationships. Methods: One hundred and ninety-eight students (109 girls) were recruited from a public middle school in Japan. A multiple-group path analysis was conducted to examine possible sex differences. Results: Social withdrawal uniquely predicted more negative peer events for boys and fewer positive peer events for boys and girls. Excessive reassurance-seeking uniquely predicted both more negative peer events and more positive peer events for boys and girls. Prosocial behavior uniquely predicted more positive peer events for boys and girls. Conclusion: This study underscores the unique and differential roles of vulnerable and resilient interpersonal behaviors in predicting negative and positive peer events among young adolescents. These findings not only advance our understanding of stress generation processes but also have broader implications for adolescent development and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study sought to uncover the relationship between physical education courses integrated with civic education (PECICE) and prosocial behavior among university students. Additionally, we aimed to decipher the mediating roles of cultural confidence and self-esteem within this relationship. Methods: Employing a questionnaire-based approach, we assessed the relationship among PECICE, cultural confidence, self-esteem, and prosocial behavior in university students. The instrument comprised four distinct scales: the Perceived Effectiveness Scale for PECICE, the Cultural Confidence Scale, the Self-Esteem Scale, and the Prosocial Behavior Scale. Our sample encompassed 293 Chinese college students, consisting of 137 men and 156 women, with an average age of 21.39 years (SD = 2.1). Results: PECICE demonstrated significant positive associations with cultural confidence (r = 0.29, p < 0.001), self-esteem (r = 0.35, p < 0.001), and prosocial behavior (r = 0.40, p < 0.001). The influence of PECICE on prosocial behavior among university students was mediated through three channels: solely via cultural confidence (mediating effect value: 0.14), solely via self-esteem (mediating effect value: 0.22), and through the combined influence of both cultural confidence and self-esteem (mediating effect value: 0.2). Conclusion: The intertwined mediating roles of cultural confidence and selfesteem highlight their pivotal significance in enhancing the efficacy of PECICE. These insights offer a valuable reference for both educators and policymakers striving to augment prosocial behavior in university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we consider prosociality through the lens of an Indigenous "ethics of belonging" and its two constitutive concepts: kin relationality and ecological belonging. Kin relationality predicates that all living beings and phenomena share a familial identity of interdependence, mutuality, and organization. Within the value system of ecological belonging, an individual's identity is constituted in relation to the natural environment, centered on the sentiments of responsibility and reverence for Nature. We detail how Indigenous perspectives upon prosociality differ from Western scientific accounts in terms of the motives, scope, and rewards of altruistic action. Grounded in this understanding, we then profile three self-transcendent states, compassion, gratitude, and awe, and their similarities across Indigenous and Western approaches, and how kin relationality and ecological belonging give rise to cultural variations. We consider convergent insights across Indigenous and Western science concerning the role of ritual and narrative and the cultural cultivation of kin relationality and ecological belonging. We conclude by highlighting how these two core concepts might guide future inquiry in cultural psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January 2023, the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) at UCSF hosted an online salon to discuss the relationship between fairness and brain health equity. We aimed to address two primary questions: first, how is fairness perceived by the public, and how does it manifest in societal constructs like equity and justice? Second, what are the neurobiological foundations of fairness, and how do they impact brain health? Drawing from interdisciplinary fields such as philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, the salon served as a platform for participants to share diverse perspectives on fairness. Fairness is a multifaceted concept encompassing equity, justice, empathy, opportunity, non-discrimination, and the Golden Rule, but by delving into its evolutionary origins, we can verify its deeprooted presence in both human and animal behaviors. Real-world experiments, such as Frans de Waal's capuchin monkey study, have proven enlightening, elucidating many mechanisms that have shaped our neurobiological responses to fairness. Contemporary cognitive neuroscience research further emphasizes the role of neuroanatomical areas and neurotransmitters in encoding fairness-related processes. We also discussed the critical interconnection between fairness and healthcare equity, particularly its implications for brain health. These values are instrumental in promoting social justice and improving health outcomes. In our polarized social landscape, there are rising concerns about a potential decrease in fairness and prosocial behaviors due to isolated social bubbles. We stress the urgency for interventions that enhance perspective-taking, reasoning, and empathy. Overall, fairness is vital to fostering an equitable society and its subsequent influence on brain health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between mental health and perceived social support has been well-established in previous studies. While previous research indicates that perceived social support is related to prosocial behavior, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. In order to address this gap, a recent study investigated the mediating effects of moral identity and moral sensitivity on the relationship between perceived social support and prosocial behavior. Specifically, the study surveyed 978 college students using a questionnaire to examine the relationship between these variables. The results of the study showed that, after controlling for gender and age, perceived social support, moral identity, and moral sensitivity were significantly and positively correlated, all of which were also significantly and positively related to prosocial behavior. In addition, the study found that perceived social support was able to influence prosocial behavior through both independent mediation by moral identity and moral sensitivity, as well as through chain mediation. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of the factors that shape prosocial behavior and offer suggestions for promoting such behavior in individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans have an irresistible inclination to coordinate actions with others, leading to species-unique forms of cooperation. According to the highly influential Shared Intentionality Theory (SITh), human cooperation is made possible by shared intentionality (SI), typically defined as a suite of socio-cognitive and motivational traits for sharing psychological states with others, thereby enabling individuals to engage in joint action in the mutually aware pursuit of shared goals. SITh theorises that SI evolved as late as 400,000 years ago, when our ancestors (in particular, Homo heidelbergensis) turned to a kind of food procurement that obligatorily required joint coordinated action. SI is, thus, hypothesized to be absent in other extant species, including our closest genetic relatives, the nonhuman great apes ("apes"). According to SITh, ape psychology is exclusively driven by individualistic motivations, as opposed to human psychology which is uniquely driven by altruistic motivations. The evolutionary scenario proposed by SITh builds on a series of findings from socio-cognitive research with apes and human children, and on the assumption that abilities expressed early in human development are human universals, unlikely to have been shaped by socio-cultural influences. Drawing on the primatological and developmental literature, we provide a systematic - albeit selective - review of SITh-inconsistent findings concerning psychological and behavioural traits theorised to be constitutive of SI. The findings we review pertain to all three thematic clusters typically addressed in SITh: (i) recursive mind reading; (ii) prosociality; (iii) imitation and cumulative culture. We conclude that such alternative data undermine two core SITh claims: the late evolutionary emergence of SI and the radical divide between ape and human psychology. We also discuss several conceptual and methodological limitations that currently hamper reliable comparative research on SI, in particular those engendered by Western-centric biases in the social sciences, where an overreliance on Western samples has promoted the formulation of Western-centric conceptualisations, operationalisations and methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the embodied cognition framework, cognitive functions are not confined to the brain but are also shaped by the mutual interactions between the brain, body, and external environment. In this regard, a theory developed in 2012, called enclothed cognition, suggests an effect on wearing specific clothing on various psychological processes. However, the neuro-cognitive mechanisms underlying the impact of clothing on behavior have received less systematic investigation. The present study examined the influence of clothing on prosocial behaviors, and focused on sense of agency, and empathy for pain as neurocognitive processes of interest. Participants (40 in total) wore civilian, military, and Red Cross uniforms. They were paired up and assigned as either agents or victims. Agents had the option to administer real electric shocks to victims for a monetary reward of +€0.05. They could choose to shock freely (free condition) or follow the experimenter's instructions (coerced condition). We measured prosocial behavior by counting the number of shocks prevented, neural empathic response using electroencephalography with the P3 and the LPP, and sense of agency through an implicit method based on interval estimates. Findings showed that wearing the Red Cross uniform led to more prosocial behavior compared to civilian clothing. The Red Cross uniform also increased neural response to pain when participants witnessed shocks, compared to civilian or military clothing. Moreover, wearing a military uniform increased the sense of agency in the free condition, as compared to civilian clothing. This study broadens our knowledge on the impact of enclothed cognition on cognitive and psychological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Placebo responsiveness is highly variable across individuals. In the domain of pain, it may range from pronounced hypoalgesia to no response at all. Which factors predict such variation awaits clarification, as the available literature is characterized by mixed and inconclusive results. Particularly interesting in this case are social factors such as empathy or prosocial behavior, as prior work has stressed the connection between feeling pain yourself and empathizing with pain observed in others. Methods: In a mixed confirmatory and exploratory approach, this study investigated potential psychological and structural brain differences between placebo responders and non-responders in the domain of pain. We aggregated data of four behavioral and neuroimaging studies that had been designed to investigate the effects of placebo analgesia on empathy. Results: Analyses comparing groups of placebo responders and non-responders showed significant group differences in trait characteristics, with responders reporting increased helping behavior and lower psychopathic traits compared to non-responders. Uncorrected results further showed higher pain-related empathic concern in responders vs. non-responders. These results were accompaniedby tentative group differences in brain structure: placebo analgesia non-responders exhibited increased gray matter volume in left inferior temporal and parietal supramarginal cortical areas, and an increased cortical surface area in bilateral middle temporal cortex. Discussion: Together, our findings suggest that modifiability of one's pain perception by means of placebo effects is linked to personality traits characterizing social emotions and behavior. They also hint that these psychological as well as brain structural characteristics might be beneficial for the identification of placebo responders. At the same time, they stress the importance of considering contextual factors such as the study setting or paradigm when investigating the association between individual characteristics and placebo responding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Relative deprivation is one of the factors that influences the development of personality and behavior. However, it is still unclear whether and how relative deprivation decreases the prosocial behavior in adolescents. This study aimed to examine the association between relative deprivation and adolescent prosocial behavior and the role of emotion regulation strategies and empathy in modifying this association. Methods: The present study included 609 secondary school students (M = 15.42 years, SD = 0.653) in Fujian Province, China. All participants completed the Relative Deprivation Questionnaire, Emotion Regulation Scale, the Basic Empathy Scale, and Prosocial Behavior Scale. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and Mplus 7.4. Results: Relative deprivation was negatively correlated with cognitive reappraisal, but positively correlated with expressive suppression. Cognitive reappraisal was positively correlated with empathy and prosocial behavior, but expressive suppression was not. Empathy was positively correlated with prosocial behavior. Relative deprivation decreased prosocial behavior through (a) cognitive reappraisal, (b) empathy, and (c) chain mediation of cognitive reappraisal and empathy. No significant mediating effect of expressive suppression was found. Conclusion: The results indicate that relative deprivation decreases adolescent prosocial behavior, and that cognitive reappraisal and empathy are the potential psychological mechanisms that affect the association between relative deprivation and adolescent prosocial behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionProsocial behavior during childhood has been associated with numerous positive developmental and behavioral outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. Prosocial behavior, which includes cooperation and helping others, develops within a bioecological context. Considering it through such a lens enhances the understanding of the roles of different bioecological factors in its development.MethodsUsing data from a longitudinal study of adopted children and children reared with their biological parents, this paper examined if positive aspects of a child’s bioecological system at age 7 predict prosocial behavior in early adolescence (age 11), and whether these bioecological factors could offset risk due to biological family psychopathology and/or maternal prenatal substance use. The analyses incorporated variables from different levels of Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model (the individual, microsystem, exosystem, and macrosystem) and examined the promotive, and potentially protective, effect of each contextual factor, while also considering their interplay with biological family psychopathology and prenatal substance use.ResultsResults from linear regression models indicated that the microsystem variable of parental warmth at age 7 had a promotive effect on age 11 prosocial behavior. Further, in addition to its main effect, parental warmth was protective against maternal substance use during pregnancy when children were raised with their biological parent (s). Household type (biological family) and biological family internalizing psychopathology were the only other significant predictors in the model, with each associated with lower prosocial behavior at age 11.DiscussionStudy results extend prior work on the benefits of parental warmth on child outcomes by employing a strength-based, bioecological approach to the development of prosocial behavior during early adolescence and examining “for whom” the effects of parental warmth are most protective.

Certain segments of the population reply on charitable or other non-governmental organizations as their main source of support, with these organizations largely funded by those in society who can afford to give. The present study investigated to what extent information transparency influences donation decisions, and whether specific preferences for charities influences information seeking behavior. We recruited 114 participants via Prolific and employed a binary online Dictator Game to address these two study objectives. The results showed that participants’ actual donation behavior was not influenced by their charity preference or the level of information transparency. However, they were more prone to seek out additional information when deciding about the most preferred category of charity. These results raise important questions as to whether the perceived anonymity of online choices may differ from choices carried out in person.

According to the embodied cognition framework, cognitive functions are not confined to the brain but are also shaped by the mutual interactions between the brain, body, and external environment. In this regard, a theory developed in 2012, called enclothed cognition, suggests an effect on wearing specific clothing on various psychological processes. However, the neuro-cognitive mechanisms underlying the impact of clothing on behavior have received less systematic investigation. The present study examined the influence of clothing on prosocial behaviors, and focused on sense of agency, and empathy for pain as neuro-cognitive processes of interest. Participants (40 in total) wore civilian, military, and Red Cross uniforms. They were paired up and assigned as either agents or victims. Agents had the option to administer real electric shocks to victims for a monetary reward of +€0.05. They could choose to shock freely (free condition) or follow the experimenter’s instructions (coerced condition). We measured prosocial behavior by counting the number of shocks prevented, neural empathic response using electroencephalography with the P3 and the LPP, and sense of agency through an implicit method based on interval estimates. Findings showed that wearing the Red Cross uniform led to more prosocial behavior compared to civilian clothing. The Red Cross uniform also increased neural response to pain when participants witnessed shocks, compared to civilian or military clothing. Moreover, wearing a military uniform increased the sense of agency in the free condition, as compared to civilian clothing. This study broadens our knowledge on the impact of enclothed cognition on cognitive and psychological processes.

Digital mindfulness-based interventions (d-MBIs) have garnered significant research interest in recent years due to their psychological benefits. However, little is known about their impact on prosocial behaviors. This study investigates how d-MBIs impact prosocial behaviors where time spent is money, with Chinese adolescents as the subjects, through an online charity task (www.freerice. com). 119 students from a high school in China, who were inexperienced with mindfulness meditation, participated in this randomized controlled trial. The d-MBI group (N = 39) received online MBI guidance, while the face-to-face mindfulness-based intervention (f-MBI, N = 43) group underwent mindfulness intervention under personal tutors. The active control group (N = 37) completed a crossword task. Data analysis first involved repeated measures variance analysis, including pre-and post-intervention assessments. Subsequently, a two-way variance analysis was performed, with gender (female and male) and group (d-MBI, f-MBI, active control) as independent variables and the number of grains as dependent variables for the three groups of participants. Results showed that d-MBIs effectively improved empathy and compassion in Chinese adolescents, leading to increased rice donations to the United Nations World Food Program. These results underscore the positive effect of d-MBIs on prosociality and suggest their applicability in beneficial real-world situations involving prosocial behaviors, extending beyond previous research primarily conducted in artificial and hypothetical scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nordic high-trust societies are underpinned by prosociality, a term denoting cooperation and working for the good of others. State-funded voluntarism provides opportunities for altruism that appears to contribute to the Nordics' exceptional level of well-being. Altruists are rewarded by a warm, lasting affect that enhances personal well-being, thus motivating further prosociality. Humanity's evolutionary past coded into us a desire to strengthen our community by helping those in need--a biocultural drive that is corrupted when authoritarian regimes enforce unselfish behavior on disempowered populations. Such coercive altruism has a line of adverse long-term consequences for communal functionality and individual flourishing. Our study examines how sociocultural context influences people's prosocial strategies, and how sharing insights and practices from democratic and authoritarian traditions can lead to new, revitalized forms of altruism. Our in-depth interviews (n = 32) of Nordic and Slavonic helpers of Ukrainian refugees in Norway (1) illuminate the impact of culture and memory on altruistic practices, (2) define points of tension between systemic and anti-systemic modes of prosociality, and (3) identify cross-cultural interactions that generate trust, well-being, and social innovation. The post-communist experience of the Slavonic informants motivated anti-systemic altruism, which highlights spontaneity, improvisation, and occasional rule breaking. Norwegian systemic altruism is based on trust, efficacy, and rule-following. Our evolutionary approach to cultural psychology substantiates how important it is for development and immigration policies to align our knowledge of human nature with insights into the workings of cultural legacies. A better understanding of the biocultural mainsprings of altruism could be of crucial importance in our era of reemerging authoritarianism and increasing migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the influence of supportive parent-adolescent relationships on adolescent adjustment (i.e., prosocial behavior, aggression, depressive symptoms) both directly and indirectly (via adolescent emotion regulation). Scholars have posited that adolescent emotion regulation (ER) may serve as an underlying mechanism in the link between parenting and adolescent adjustment. Supportive parent-adolescent relationships (i.e., openness, acceptance, emotional responsiveness) may be a key emotion socialization mechanism influencing adolescent ER. Methods: The sample included 206 adolescents (Age Range= 10–18years; 51% female; 70.4% ethnic minorities) and one primary caregiver (83.3% biological mothers, 38.7% single parents). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was implemented to investigate the direct and indirect (via adolescent ER) effects of supportive parent-adolescent relationships on adolescent adjustment. We also explored whether these indirect and direct effects varied by adolescent sex and age. Results: Results suggested direct and indirect (via adolescent ER) links between supportive parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent prosocial behavior, aggressive behavior, and depressive symptoms. Moreover, evidence indicated that many of these pathways were significant for boys but not girls. No evidence of youth age as a moderator was found. Discussion: These findings highlight the important role supportive parent-adolescent relationships play in adolescent emotional and behavioral adjustment. Parenting programs could focus on facilitating a mutually responsive parent-adolescent relationship with a specific focus on the dynamic nature of emotion socialization during adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suffering is inevitable in human life. Our perspective paper theorizes on precise mechanisms for how self-transcendence—the state in which an individual looks beyond the self and adopts a larger perspective including concern for others and the world—may help people endure the experience of suffering. From an examination of empirical literature ranging from social psychology to clinical research, we propose that self-transcendence may aid the endurance of suffering along three psychological levels: (1) On the level of affect, the unique profundity and positivity of self-transcendent experiences (e.g., awe, flow, compassion) may supersede and reduce the salience of negative affect arising from suffering (e.g., fear, despair, depressive mood). (2) On the level of cognition, the larger frame of reference provided by self-transcendent thinking may contextualize one’s suffering as something comprehendible, thereby helping to resolve the challenges of making meaning from suffering (e.g., that one’s existing meaning systems are unable to explain the suffering event). (3) On the level of motivation, the drive to fulfill one’s need for self-transcendence may counterbalance the more hedonically-oriented motivations that can promote negative coping strategies in response to suffering (e.g., avoidance, substance abuse). All three mechanisms may also provoke downstream prosocial behaviors that help embed the individual into networks of social support. Altogether, by synthesizing specific mechanisms from affective, cognitive, and motivational self-transcendent processes, our paper establishes a theoretical framework for how self-transcendence may help people endure and transcend suffering, thereby elevating the conditions and experiences of our existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prosocial behavior is crucial for adolescent socialization and plays a positive role in all aspects of adolescent development. Based on ecosystem theory and selfdetermination theory, this study aimed to explore the relationship among school climate, perceived social support, psychological resilience, and prosocial behavior. With 1,688 high school students being sampled, we utilized the Perceived School Climate Questionnaire, the Perceived Social Support Scale, the Chinese Version of Mental Resilience Scale, and the Adolescent Prosocial Tendency Scale. The results showed that: (1) school climate, perceived social support, psychological resilience, and prosocial behavior were all positively correlated; (2) perceived social support and psychological resilience could independently mediate the relationship between school climate and prosocial behavior; these two mediating variables could develop a chain mediation effect to influence the link between school climate and prosocial behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]