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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]

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]

Abstract Gratitude is pivotal in promoting and maintaining prosocial interactions in human society. However, it is unclear whether the prosocial function of gratitude can be observed even in situations of uncertainty about whether one can provide benefits to others. Here, we examined whether gratitude promotes prosocial behavior in uncertain situations. Participants (N = 60) were randomly assigned to either a gratitude or neutral group. Following the emotion-induced manipulation, we examined whether participants would choose a non-unique resource when selecting one of four resources (one unique and three non-unique) to leave the choice to the follower. This represented an uncertain situation in which choosing a non-unique resource does not necessarily mean the follower will choose the unique one. Results showed that participants in the gratitude group were more likely to choose non-unique resources than those in the neutral group, suggesting that gratitude promotes prosocial behavior even in uncertain situations. Our findings indicate that gratitude is widely prevalent as a lubricant for interpersonal and cooperative relationships in human society.

Gratitude is pivotal in promoting and maintaining prosocial interactions in human society. However, it is unclear whether the prosocial function of gratitude can be observed even in situations of uncertainty about whether one can provide benefits to others. Here, we examined whether gratitude promotes prosocial behavior in uncertain situations. Participants (N = 60) were randomly assigned to either a gratitude or neutral group. Following the emotion-induced manipulation, we examined whether participants would choose a non-unique resource when selecting one of four resources (one unique and three non-unique) to leave the choice to the follower. This represented an uncertain situation in which choosing a non-unique resource does not necessarily mean the follower will choose the unique one. Results showed that participants in the gratitude group were more likely to choose non-unique resources than those in the neutral group, suggesting that gratitude promotes prosocial behavior even in uncertain situations. Our findings indicate that gratitude is widely prevalent as a lubricant for interpersonal and cooperative relationships in human society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents from difficult families (ADF) is a vulnerable group in China, and there have been few studies focused on them at present. To improve the welfare system for vulnerable groups and gain a better understanding of the situation regarding ADF, it is important to identify the association between peer factors, family functioning, and prosocial behavior among ADF. 1047 adolescents aged 10–15 from difficult families were selected from 21 counties in 7 provinces across China based on the multistage stratified sampling method. Regression analysis and moderation analyses were performed to identify the association of prosocial behavior with peer factors and family functioning. Lower peer quality and poorer family functioning were significantly associated with less prosocial behavior. The was no significant association between peer quantity and prosocial behavior. Family functioning moderated the relationship between peer quality and prosocial behavior. ADF with higher quality peers are more likely to show more prosocial behavior, and poor family functioning would weaken the association between peer quality and prosocial behavior. The protection of ADF can begin by improving family functioning and guiding ADF to form relationships with high-quality peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worldwide pooled prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children is 13.4%. Studying the prevalence of childhood psychiatric disorders across radically different economic systems and social structures could indicate universal factors leading to their development. The prevalence of childhood psychiatric disorders in a mixed-subsistence foraging society has not been studied. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Development and Well-Being Assessment were used to compare the prevalence of behavioural symptoms and psychiatric disorders in Hadza children aged 5–16 years (n = 113) to a nationally representative sample from England (n = 18,029) using a cross-sectional study design. Emotional problems, conduct problems and hyperactivity were lower in the Hadza children. Prosocial behaviour and peer problems were higher in Hadza children. 3.6% of Hadza children met the criteria for a psychiatric disorder compared to 11.8% of English children. All psychiatric disorders in Hadza children were co-morbid with autism spectrum disorder. No child from the Hadza group met the criteria for an emotional, behaviour or eating disorder. Further work should study the factors which lead to the different prevalence of psychiatric disorders in Hadza children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has demonstrated a link between the administration of analgesic drugs and the reduction of empathy levels in humans. This apparent blunting effect of pain medication has been explained through shared neural mechanisms for the first-hand and the empathic experience of pain (simulation theory). Considering that analgesics are among the most consumed drugs in the world and the ability to empathize with others is fundamental to human social interactions, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether the typical day-to-day analgesic consumption rate in Austria and Germany is associated with a reduction in empathy and prosocial behavior. We therefore collected self-reports of analgesic consumption behavior as well as empathy for pain and prosocial behavior measures in an online survey (n = 940). Analyses revealed no significant association between the analgesic intake frequency and measures of empathy or prosocial behavior. However, liberal intake of analgesics (i.e. mind-set of "a pill is a quick solution") was linked to lower empathic concern and helping behavior, which may hint towards a negative effect in people who take pain medication for non-pain related issues or episodes of low pain. Nevertheless, further research is needed to investigate the effects of analgesic drugs in high frequency users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reward for altruism and punishment for selfishness are crucial components for the maintenance of society. Past studies have provided strong evidence that people are willing to incur costs to punish selfish behaviors and to reward altruistic behaviors, but how their willingness to do so depends on their relationship with the individuals conducting the anti-social or pro-social behaviors is much less explored. To probe into this question, we devised a three-stage experiment that combined a revised dictator game and third-party reward or punishment. We employed two payoff frameworks, alignment and conflict, and analyzed how third-party's willingness to reward and punish differed when their interests were either aligned or in conflict with the first-party under observation. We found that due to considerations for personal interests, third-party's reward and punishment levels deviated from what was deemed "legitimate" by society, that is, the level of reward and punishment that enhances society's intrinsic motivations to comply with social norms and act pro-socially. When an anti-social behavior was observed, third-party punished less severely under the alignment framework than under the conflict framework; when a pro-social behavior was observed, third-party demonstrated self-serving reward under the alignment framework, but they rewarded altruistically under the conflict framework. These findings provided evidence for third-party's self-serving reward and punishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In complex social environments, individuals may interact with not only novel and familiar conspecifics but also kin and non-kin. The ability to distinguish between conspecific identities is crucial for most animals, yet how the brain processes conspecific type and how animals may alter behavior accordingly is not well known. We examined whether the communally breeding spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus) responds differently to conspecifics that vary in novelty and kinship. In a group interaction test, we found that males can distinguish novel kin from novel non-kin, and preferentially spend time with novel kin over familiar kin and novel non-kin. To determine whether kinship and novelty status are differentially represented in the brain, we conducted immediate early gene tests, which revealed the dorsal, but not ventral, lateral septum differentially processes kinship. Neither region differentially processes social novelty. Further, males did not exhibit differences in prosocial behavior toward novel and familiar conspecifics but exhibited more prosocial behavior with novel kin than novel non-kin. These results suggest that communally breeding species may have evolved specialized neural circuitry to facilitate a bias to be more affiliative with kin, regardless of whether they are novel or familiar, potentially to promote prosocial behaviors, thereby facilitating group cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the intricate interplay between ecological and evolutionary processes through the lens of the prisoner's dilemma game. But while previous studies on cooperation amongst selfish individuals often assume instantaneous interactions, we take into consideration delays to investigate how these might affect the causes underlying prosocial behavior. Through analytical calculations and numerical simulations, we demonstrate that delays can lead to oscillations, and by incorporating also the ecological variable of altruistic free space and the evolutionary strategy of punishment, we explore how these factors impact population and community dynamics. Depending on the parameter values and the initial fraction of each strategy, the studied eco-evolutionary model can mimic a cyclic dominance system and even exhibit chaotic behavior, thereby highlighting the importance of complex dynamics for the effective management and conservation of ecological communities. Our research thus contributes to the broader understanding of group decision-making and the emergence of moral behavior in multidimensional social systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-conscious emotions emerge early in human development and they help children navigate social relationships. Little is known about the socialization of self-conscious emotions in early childhood. We theorized that parental mental state language use and warmth would be important for young children's self-conscious emotions and their consequent prosocial behaviors. Ninety-eight children residing in the Netherlands (52% girls) aged 2–5 (M = 48.66 months, SD = 13.50 months) visited the research lab with one parent. First, we observed parental mental state language and warmth. Afterward, children were led to believe that they caused a mishap (i.e., accidentally breaking the experimenter's favorite toy) to evoke their guilt and shame, which we micro-coded. In subsequent tasks, we observed children's helping behaviors toward the experimenter. We found that the combination of frequent parental mental state language and high warmth was associated with children's quicker helping to the previously harmed experimenter across toddlerhood and early childhood. More guilt was related to more helping whereas more shame-like avoidance was related to less helping. Our findings based on the sample of Dutch parents and children suggest that, parental frequent mental state talk, in combination with high warmth, may promote children's ability to repair social relationships and behave prosocially after mishaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiac physiological synchrony is regarded as an important component of social interaction due to its putative role in prosocial behaviour. Yet, the processes underlying physiological synchrony remain unclear. We aim to investigate these processes. 20 dyads (19 men, 21 women, age range 18–35) engaged in a self-paced interpersonal tapping synchronization task under different levels of tapping synchrony due to blocking of sensory communication channels. Applying wavelet transform coherence analysis, significant increases in heart rate synchronization from baseline to task execution were found with no statistically significant difference across conditions. Furthermore, the control analysis, which assessed synchrony between randomly combined dyads of participants showed no difference from the original dyads' synchrony. We showed that interindividual cardiac physiological synchrony during self-paced synchronized finger tapping resulted from a task-related stimulus equally shared by all individuals. We hypothesize that by applying mental effort to the task, individuals changed into a similar mental state, altering their cardiac regulation. This so-called psychophysiological mode provoked more uniform, less variable fluctuation patterns across all individuals leading to similar heart rate coherence independent of subsequent pairings. With this study, we provide new insights into cardiac physiological synchrony and highlight the importance of appropriate study design and control analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reading is a popular leisure activity for children, teenagers, and adults. Several theories agree that reading might improve social cognition, but the empirical evidence remains tentative, with research on adolescents especially lacking. We employed a very large, and nationally representative, longitudinal dataset from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) in Germany to examine this hypothesis. Specifically, we tested whether reading prospectively predicted future self-reported prosocial behavior and social adjustment in adolescents, controlling for a number of covariates. Two-way cross-lagged panel analyses probed the longitudinal relationship between leisure reading and these social outcomes from Grade 6 to Grade 9. In addition, we examined the effect of cumulative reading experience across Grades 5–8 on future social outcomes, using structural equation modeling. We also explored the unique contributions of cumulative reading experience in different literary genres (classic literature, popular literature, nonfiction, comic books). Cumulative reading in general did not predict future prosocial behavior and social adjustment. However, cumulative reading of modern classic literature was positively associated with later prosocial behavior and social adjustment. Protocol registration: The stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 08 November 2021. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/KSWY7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prosociality and cooperation are key to what makes us human. But different cultural norms can shape our evolved capacities for interaction, leading to differences in social relations. How people share resources has been found to vary across cultures, particularly when stakes are high and when interactions are anonymous. Here we examine prosocial behavior among familiars (both kin and non-kin) in eight cultures on five continents, using video recordings of spontaneous requests for immediate, low-cost assistance (e.g., to pass a utensil). We find that, at the smallest scale of human interaction, prosocial behavior follows cross-culturally shared principles: requests for assistance are very frequent and mostly successful; and when people decline to give help, they normally give a reason. Although there are differences in the rates at which such requests are ignored, or require verbal acceptance, cultural variation is limited, pointing to a common foundation for everyday cooperation around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prosocial behavior, defined as voluntary behavior intended to benefit another, has long been regarded as a primarily human characteristic. In recent years, it was reported that laboratory animals also favor prosocial choices in various experimental paradigms, thus demonstrating that prosocial behaviors are evolutionarily conserved. Here, we investigated prosocial choices in adult male and female C57BL/6 laboratory mice in a task where a subject mouse was equally rewarded for entering any of the two compartments of the experimental cage, but only entering of the compartment designated as "prosocial" rewarded an interaction partner. In parallel we have also assessed two traits that are regarded as closely related to prosociality: sensitivity to social reward and the ability to recognize the affective state of another individual. We found that female, but not male, mice increased frequency of prosocial choices from pretest to test. However, both sexes showed similar rewarding effects of social contact in the conditioned place preference test, and similarly, there was no effect of sex on affective state discrimination measured as the preference for interaction with a hungry or relieved mouse over a neutral animal. These observations bring interesting parallels to differences between sexes observed in humans, and are in line with reported higher propensity for prosocial behavior in human females, but differ with regard to sensitivity to social stimuli in males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the role of dispositional mindfulness in the association between intelligence and prosocial behavior. A total of 759 college students (mean age is 22.03; 477 females) participated in exchange for extra credit in psychology course. The results confirmed a positive relationship between intelligence and prosocial behavior as revealed by many studies, with empathy serving as a potential mediator. Mindfulness negatively moderated all the hypothesized pathways between research variables. Specifically, with the increase of the levels of dispositional mindfulness, (1) the intelligence-prosociality association changed from positive to negative, (2) the intelligence-empathy association changed from positively significant to insignificant, (3) the empathy-prosociality association changed from stronger to weaker. These findings may suggest some limitations of mindfulness. That is, present moment awareness and acceptance of the status quo may result in reduced arousal when witnessing others suffering, thereby preventing high intelligence individuals from helping the sufferers to get rid of trouble. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seminal studies suggest that being mimicked increases experienced social closeness and prosocial behavior to a mimicking confederate (i.e., interaction partner). Here we reexamine these results by considering the role of empathy-related traits, an indirect proxy for endorphin uptake, and their combined effects as an explanation for these results. 180 female participants were mimicked or anti-mimicked in an interaction with a confederate. The effects of being mimicked versus anti-mimicked in relation to empathy-related traits and endorphin release (assessed indirectly via pain tolerance) on experienced closeness and prosocial behavior were assessed using Bayesian analyses. Our results suggest that high individual empathy-related traits increase social closeness to the anti-mimicking and mimicking confederate and to one's romantic partner, as compared to mimicry alone. Results furthermore strongly suggest that high individual empathy-related traits increase prosocial behavior (donations and willingness to help) as compared to mimicry alone. These findings extend previous work by highlighting that empathy-related traits are more influential in creating positive effects on social closeness and prosocial behavior than a one-shot mimicking encounter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many studies investigated basic facets of empathy, less is known about the association with early life adversity (ELA). To investigate a possible association of empathy with ELA, we assessed self-reported ELA, using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) for mother and father, and empathy, using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), in a sample of N = 228 (83% female, agemean = 30.51 ± 9.88 years, agerange = 18–60). Further, we measured willingness to donate a certain percentage of study compensation to a charity as an index of prosocial behavior. In line with our hypotheses that stated a positive association of empathy with ELA, increased levels of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and emotional and physical neglect were positively correlated with personal distress in response to others' suffering. Likewise, higher parental overprotection and lower parental care were related to higher personal distress. Furthermore, while participants with higher levels of ELA tended to donate more money on a merely descriptive level, only higher levels of sexual abuse were significantly related to larger donations after correction for multiple statistical tests. Other facets of the IRI (empathic concern, perspective taking and fantasy) were not related to any other ELA measure. This suggests ELA only affects levels of personal distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In pairwise interactions, where two individuals meet and play a social game with each other, assortativity in cognition means that pairs where both decision-makers use the same cognitive process are more likely to occur than what happens under random matching. In this paper, we show theoretically that assortativity in cognition may arise as a consequence of assortativity in other dimensions. Moreover, we analyze an applied model where we investigate the effects of assortativity in cognition on the emergence of cooperation and on the degree of prosociality of intuition and deliberation, which are the typical cognitive processes postulated by the dual process theory in psychology. In particular, with assortativity in cognition, deliberation is able to shape the intuitive heuristic toward cooperation, increasing the degree of prosociality of intuition, and ultimately promoting the overall cooperation. Our findings rely on agent-based simulations, but analytical results are also obtained in a special case. We conclude with examples involving different payoff matrices of the underlying social games, showing that assortativity in cognition can have non-trivial implications in terms of its societal desirability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathy enables us to understand the emotions of others and is an important determinant of prosocial behavior. Investigating the relationship between mindfulness and empathy could therefore provide important insights into factors that promote interpersonal understanding and pathways that contribute to prosocial behavior. As prior studies have yielded only inconsistent results, this study extended previous findings and investigated for the first time the associations of two important factors of mindfulness (Self-regulated Attention [SRA] and Orientation to Experience [OTE]) with two commonly proposed components of empathy (cognitive empathy and affective empathy). Using a community sample of N = 552 German-speaking adults, the two mindfulness factors were differentially associated with cognitive and affective empathy. SRA correlated positively with cognitive empathy (r = 0.44; OTE: r = 0.09), but OTE correlated negatively with affective empathy (r = − 0.27; SRA: r = 0.11). This negative association was strongest for one specific aspect of affective empathy, emotional contagion. Revisiting previously reported mediating effects of emotion regulation, we found that emotional awareness mediated the associations with both components of empathy, but only for SRA. Together, these findings imply that mindfulness benefits the cognitive understanding of others' emotions via two distinct pathways: by promoting emotional awareness (SRA) and by limiting the undue impact of others' emotions on oneself (OTE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the instability of prosociality in the real world by looking at the age-specific non-linear relationship between disaster exposure and prosocial behavior. We employed unique microdata from two communities in Japan that were hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami disaster in 2011. Exploiting exogenous variations in disaster exposure, we find age-specific heterogeneous effects of disaster exposure on prosocial behavior captured by the behavior of sending New Year's cards as well as attitudinal survey questions. Among the older groups, disaster damages undermine prosociality, whereas the younger groups show reinforced prosocial behaviors. These findings can be explained consistently by combining two possible determinants of prosocial behavior: pure or impure altruism and self-enforcements in repeated interactions at workplaces. Age information can help disentangle these two elements at least partially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the indirect mechanisms relevant to converting young adults' prosocial attitudes and individual responsibility into their prosocial behavior. Our results are based on a sample of 530 young adults studying at three public regional business schools in South East Europe. They show a significant favorable influence on young adults' civic and political involvement, mediating the relationship between individual responsibility attitudes and prosocial behavior. However, this would not have been expected based on previous research. Another indirect path between the same variables is modeled using a hypothesized moderated mediation effect. The institutional influence of higher education proves to be a significant mediator of the proposed relationship, moderated by the amount of educational content in the fields of ethics, social and environmental responsibility. At mid-and-high levels of exposure to relevant educational content, this indirect path significantly influences the developing young adults' pro-environmental behaviors. The study results are discussed from the viewpoint of peripheral regions with a history of dysfunctional social capital mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans form complex societies in which we routinely engage in social decision-making regarding the allocation of resources among ourselves and others. One dimension that characterizes social decision-making in particular is whether to prioritize self-interest or respect for others—proself or prosocial. What causes this individual difference in social value orientation? Recent developments in the social dual-process theory argue that social decision-making is characterized by its underlying domain-general learning systems: the model-free and model-based systems. In line with this "learning" approach, we propose and experimentally test the hypothesis that differences in social preferences stem from which learning system is dominant in an individual. Here, we used a non-social state transition task that allowed us to assess the balance between model-free/model-based learning and investigate its relation to the social value orientations. The results showed that proselfs depended more on model-based learning, whereas prosocials depended more on model-free learning. Reward amount and reaction time analyses showed that proselfs learned the task structure earlier in the session than prosocials, reflecting their difference in model-based/model-free learning dependence. These findings support the learning hypothesis on what makes differences in social preferences and have implications for understanding the mechanisms of prosocial behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in online media use and mental health problems have prompted investigations into their association, although most literature is focussed on deleterious effects. We assessed the aetiology of media use and mental health associations (M age = 22.14, SD = 0.85) using twin (n = 4000 pairs) and polygenic score methods (n = 6000 unrelated individuals) in the Twins Early Development Study. Beyond the traditionally explored negative uses of online media (online victimisation and problematic internet use), we investigate general media uses such as posting online and watching videos and distinguish both positive (pro-social behaviour) and negative (anxiety, depression, peer and behaviour problems) mental health measures. Negative media use correlated with poor mental health (r = 0.11–0.32), but general media use correlated with prosocial behaviour (r = 0.20) and fewer behavioural problems (r = − 0.24). Twin analyses showed that both general and negative media use were moderately heritable (ranging from 20 to 49%) and their associations with mental health were primarily due to genetic influences (44–88%). Genetic sensitivity analysis combining polygenic scores with heritability estimates also suggest genetic confounding. Results indicate research on the mental health impact of media use should adopt genetically informed designs to strengthen causal inference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive load reduces both empathy and prosocial behaviour. However, studies demonstrating these effects have induced cognitive load in a temporally limited, artificial manner that fails to capture real-world cognitive load. Drawing from cognitive load theory, we investigated whether naturally occurring cognitive load from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic moderated the relationship between empathy and prosocial behaviour (operationalised as support for public health measures). This large study in an Australian sample (N = 600) identified negative relationships between pandemic fatigue, empathy for people vulnerable to COVID-19, and prosocial behaviour, and a positive relationship between empathy and prosocial behaviour. Additionally, we found that the negative effect of the pandemic on prosocial behaviour depended on empathy for vulnerable others, with pandemic fatigue's effects lowest for those with the highest empathy. These findings highlight the interrelationships of cognitive load and empathy, and the potential value of eliciting empathy to ease the impact of real-world cognitive load on prosocial behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a world with rapidly increasing population that competes for the earth's limited resources, cooperation is crucial. While research showed that empathizing with another individual in need enhances prosociality, it remains unclear whether correctly inferring the other's inner, mental states on a more cognitive level (i.e., mentalizing) elicits helping behavior as well. We applied a video-based laboratory task probing empathy and a performance measure of mentalizing in adult volunteers (N = 94) and assessed to which extent they were willing to help the narrators in the videos. We replicate findings that an empathy induction leads to more prosocial decisions. Crucially, we also found that correct mentalizing increases the willingness to help. This evidence helps clarify an inconsistent picture of the relation between mentalizing and prosociality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The drivers of divergent scleral morphologies in primates are currently unclear, though white sclerae are often assumed to underlie human hyper-cooperative behaviours. Humans are unusual in possessing depigmented sclerae whereas many other extant primates, including the closely-related chimpanzee, possess dark scleral pigment. Here, we use phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) analyses with previously generated species-level scores of proactive prosociality, social tolerance (both n = 15 primate species), and conspecific lethal aggression (n = 108 primate species) to provide the first quantitative, comparative test of three existing hypotheses. The 'self-domestication' and 'cooperative eye' explanations predict white sclerae to be associated with cooperative, rather than competitive, environments. The 'gaze camouflage' hypothesis predicts that dark scleral pigment functions as gaze direction camouflage in competitive social environments. Notably, the experimental evidence that non-human primates draw social information from conspecific eye movements is unclear, with the latter two hypotheses having recently been challenged. Here, we show that white sclerae in primates are associated with increased cooperative behaviours whereas dark sclerae are associated with reduced cooperative behaviours and increased conspecific lethal violence. These results are consistent with all three hypotheses of scleral evolution, suggesting that primate scleral morphologies evolve in relation to variation in social environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covering the face with masks in public settings has been recommended since the start of the pandemic. Because faces provide information about identity, and that face masks hide a portion of the face, it is plausible to expect individuals who wear a mask to consider themselves less identifiable. Prior research suggests that perceived identifiability is positively related to prosocial behavior, and with two pre-registered field studies (total N = 5706) we provide a currently relevant and practical test of this relation. Our findings indicate that mask wearers and non-wearers display equivalent levels of helping behavior (Studies 1 and 2), although mask wearers have a lower level of perceived identifiability than those without a mask (Study 2). Overall, our findings suggest that claims that face masks are related to selfish behavior are not warranted, and that there is no practical link between perceived identifiability and prosocial behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peripersonal space is the space surrounding our body, where multisensory integration of stimuli and action execution take place. The size of peripersonal space is flexible and subject to change by various personal and situational factors. The dynamic representation of our peripersonal space modulates our spatial behaviors towards other individuals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this spatial behavior was modified by two further factors: social distancing and wearing a face mask. Evidence from offline and online studies on the impact of a face mask on pro-social behavior is mixed. In an attempt to clarify the role of face masks as pro-social or anti-social signals, 235 observers participated in the present online study. They watched pictures of two models standing at three different distances from each other (50, 90 and 150 cm), who were either wearing a face mask or not and were either interacting by initiating a hand shake or just standing still. The observers' task was to classify the model by gender. Our results show that observers react fastest, and therefore show least avoidance, for the shortest distances (50 and 90 cm) but only when models wear a face mask and do not interact. Thus, our results document both pro- and anti-social consequences of face masks as a result of the complex interplay between social distancing and interactive behavior. Practical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigated the effect of prosociality on outcome evaluation without involving social comparison and reward processing in face-to-face competition tasks. The results showed that when faced with medium and large outcome feedback, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) amplitude induced in high-prosocial individuals was significantly more negative than that of low-prosocial individuals. In addition, the P300 amplitude induced in high-prosocial individuals was smaller than that in low-prosocial individuals in the face of large outcome feedback; hence, the prosociality score was significantly correlated with FRN amplitude. However, there was no significant difference in FRN between high-and low-prosocial individuals in the face of small outcome feedback. It was concluded that individual prosocial traits can moderate outcome evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The questions of whether and how socioeconomic status (SES) predicts prosocial behavior have sparked an interest from different disciplines, yet experimental evidence is inconclusive. We embedded two types of dictator games in a web survey with 7772 participants from Germany, Poland, Sweden, and the US. Each participant was asked to split a sum of money and a fixed amount of time between themself and a recipient. While higher-SES individuals are more generous than lower-SES individuals in the money game, they are more egoistic in the time game. In addition, the SES of the recipient matters more in the money game than in the time game. These results point towards the relevancy of a situationally contingent social norm of redistribution in studying the relationship between SES and prosocial behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing literature largely focuses on health risks and other pharmacodynamics of using cannabis, with fewer investigations of other normative psychological effects from consumption among otherwise healthy people. We measured several basic constructs of social psychology corresponding to the concept of prosociality among 146 healthy young adults between 18 and 25 years (M = 18.9, SD = 1.4) with varying detectable levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in their urine, controlling for participant's sex, age, ethnicity, and childhood socio-economic status. Compared to THC-free individuals, cannabis users scored higher than non-users on validated measures of Prosocial Behaviors (d =.34, p =.04), the Empathy Quotient (d =.36, p <.01), Moral Harmlessness (d =.76, p <.01) and Moral Fairness (d =.49, p <.01), but exhibited a lower sense of Ingroup Loyalty (d =.33, p =.04). Relative to THC-free, same-sex individuals, female cannabis users scored significantly higher on measurements of Aggression (ds =.65 and.57, ps <.05) and male users scored higher on the Agreeableness dimension of personality (d =.91, p <.01).. Linear associations were found between the recency of last cannabis usage and the Prosocial Behaviors, Empathy Quotient, Moral Harmlessness, Moral Fairness and Agreeableness personality scores (rs from −.24 to.38, ps <.05). The findings suggest cannabis usage is associated with an increased sense of prosociality and prioritization of humanitarian behaviors that declines with time following cannabis consumption. Further research should focus on heterogeneity in the effects of cannabis consumption across users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home assistant chat-bots, self-driving cars, drones or automated negotiation systems are some of the several examples of autonomous (artificial) agents that have pervaded our society. These agents enable the automation of multiple tasks, saving time and (human) effort. However, their presence in social settings raises the need for a better understanding of their effect on social interactions and how they may be used to enhance cooperation towards the public good, instead of hindering it. To this end, we present an experimental study of human delegation to autonomous agents and hybrid human-agent interactions centered on a non-linear public goods dilemma with uncertain returns in which participants face a collective risk. Our aim is to understand experimentally whether the presence of autonomous agents has a positive or negative impact on social behaviour, equality and cooperation in such a dilemma. Our results show that cooperation and group success increases when participants delegate their actions to an artificial agent that plays on their behalf. Yet, this positive effect is less pronounced when humans interact in hybrid human-agent groups, where we mostly observe that humans in successful hybrid groups make higher contributions earlier in the game. Also, we show that participants wrongly believe that artificial agents will contribute less to the collective effort. In general, our results suggest that delegation to autonomous agents has the potential to work as commitment devices, which prevent both the temptation to deviate to an alternate (less collectively good) course of action, as well as limiting responses based on betrayal aversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer presence can elicit maladaptive adolescent decision-making, potentially by increasing sensitivity to the rewards one receives. It remains unknown whether peer presence also increases adolescents' sensitivity to others' outcomes, which could have an adaptive effect in contexts allowing pro-social behaviors. Here, we combine social utility modeling and real-time decision process modeling to characterize how peer presence alters adolescents' processing of self and other outcomes. We found that adolescents behaved selfishly when privately allocating monetary rewards for themselves and a peer in an incentive-compatible task. In peer presence, however, adolescents became more altruistic. Real-time decision process estimates collected using computer mouse tracking showed that altruistic behavior was associated with relatively earlier influence of peer-outcomes relative to self-outcomes, and that peer presence sped the influence of peer-outcomes without altering the time at which self-outcomes began to influence the decision process. Our results indicate a mechanism through which peer presence prompts greater prosocial behavior by altering how adolescents process prosocial outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A prominent line of cultural evolutionary theory hypothesizes that religiously inspired prosocial behavior enhances the fecundity of pious groups, causing them to outcompete non-religious communities and spread their prosocial values. We present evidence concerning contemporary workplace safety, in the United States, that unexpectedly tested implications of this cultural evolutionary hypothesis. Avoiding workplace injury requires cooperation and injury influences fitness, thus cultural evolutionary theory would anticipate that religious communities should exhibit fewer workplace injuries. Indeed, we find that the proportion of a community adhering to a religion correlates negatively with rates of workplace injury in its private-sector establishments. This correlation emerges primarily when secular workplace safety authorities are not prominent, thus echoing evidence that religiously inspired prosocial behavior mainly occurs absent "earthly" sanctioning authorities. Furthermore, the percent of religiously affiliated individuals in a community correlates with safety investments, suggesting that workplace injury reductions in religious communities result from individually costly, group-benefitting cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the importance of social affect and cognition is indisputable throughout the adult lifespan, findings of how empathy and prosociality develop and interact across adulthood are mixed and real-life data are scarce. Research using ecological momentary assessment recently demonstrated that adults commonly experience empathy in daily life. Furthermore, experiencing empathy was linked to higher prosocial behavior and subjective well-being. However, to date, it is not clear whether there are adult age differences in daily empathy and daily prosociality and whether age moderates the relationship between empathy and prosociality across adulthood. Here we analyzed experience-sampling data collected from participants across the adult lifespan to study age effects on empathy, prosocial behavior, and well-being under real-life circumstances. Linear and quadratic age effects were found for the experience of empathy, with increased empathy across the three younger age groups (18 to 45 years) and a slight decrease in the oldest group (55 years and older). Neither prosocial behavior nor well-being showed significant age-related differences. We discuss these findings with respect to (partially discrepant) results derived from lab-based and traditional survey studies. We conclude that studies linking in-lab experiments with real-life experience-sampling may be a promising venue for future lifespan studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specialized guidelines are required for the health behaviors of vulnerable populations such as children. This is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, wherein major lifestyle changes have occurred, especially among young children. The present study aims to use longitudinal data to understand changes in the physical activity, screen time, sleep, and mental health of preschoolers in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to pre-pandemic period. Subjective and objective measures were used to assess the variables of interest longitudinally. It was found that physical activity, adherence to WHO-recommended screen time, and prosocial behaviors decreased significantly. On the other hand, sedentary time and hyperactivity increased. Our results are consistent with findings from other countries. The implications with respect to outdoor playtime, screen-time in the context of online learning during the pandemic, and the effects of parents' mental health on preschool-aged children are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interpersonal synchrony is a fundamental part of human social interaction, with known effects on facilitating social bonding. Moving in time with another person facilitates prosocial behaviour, however, it is unknown if the degree of synchronisation predicts the degree of social bonding. Similarly, while people readily fall in synchrony even without being instructed to do so, we do not know whether such spontaneous synchronisation elicits similar prosocial effects as instructed synchronisation. Across two studies, we investigated how context (social vs non-social stimulus) and instruction (instructed vs uninstructed) influenced synchronisation accuracy and bonding with the interaction partner in adults and children. The results revealed improved visuomotor synchrony within a social, compared to non-social, context in adults and children. Children, but not adults, synchronised more accurately when instructed to synchronise than when uninstructed. For both children and adults, synchronisation in a social context elicited stronger social bonding towards an interaction partner as compared to synchronisation in a non-social context. Finally, children's, but not adults', degree of synchrony with the partner was significantly associated with their feelings of social closeness. These findings illuminate the interaction of sensorimotor coupling and joint action in social contexts and how these mechanisms facilitate synchronisation ability and social bonding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than a decade of neuroimaging and brain stimulation studies point to a crucial role for the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) in prosocial behavior. The intuitive prosociality model postulates that the rDLPFC controls intuitive prosocial behavior, whereas the reflective model assumes that the rDLPFC controls selfish impulses during prosocial behavior. The intuitive prosociality model implies that the transient disruption of the rDLPFC should increase voluntary transfers in both dictator and generosity games. In contrast, the reflective model suggests that the transient disruption of the rDLPFC should decrease transfers in the dictator game, without affecting voluntary transfers in the generosity game, in which selfish motives are minimized. The aim of this paper was to compare predictions of the intuitive and reflective models using the classic dictator game and generosity game and continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS). In this study, two groups of healthy participants (dictators) received either cTBS over the rDLPFC or right extrastriate visual areas. As shown by the results, the transient disruption of the rDLPFC significantly promoted prosocial motives in the dictator game only, particularly in the trials with the lowest dictator's costs. These findings partially support the notion that the rDLPFC controls intuitive prosocial behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Birth order is a crucial environmental factor for child development. For example, later-born children are relatively unlikely to feel secure due to sibling competition or diluted parental resources. The positive effect of being earlier-born on cognitive intelligence is well-established. However, whether birth order is linked to social behavior remains controversial, and the neural correlates of birth order effects in adolescence when social cognition develops remain unknown. Here, we explored the birth order effect on prosociality using a large-scale population-based adolescent cohort. Next, since the amygdala is a key region for sociality and environmental stress, we examined amygdala substrates of the association between birth order and prosociality using a subset neuroimaging cohort. We found enhanced prosociality in later-born adolescents (N = 3160), and observed the mediating role of larger amygdala volume (N = 208) and amygdala-prefrontal functional connectivity with sex-selective effects (N = 183). We found that birth order, a non-genetic environmental factor, affects adolescent social development via different neural substrates. Our findings may indicate the later-born people's adaptive survival strategy in stressful environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pro-social behavior is crucial to the sustainable governance of common-pool resources such as fisheries. Here, we investigate how key socioeconomic characteristics influence fishers' pro-social and bargaining behavior in three types of experimental economic games (public goods, trust, and trade) conducted in fishing associations in Chile. Our games revealed high levels of cooperation in the public goods game, a high degree of trust, and that sellers rather than buyers had more bargaining power, yet these results were strongly influenced by participants' socioeconomic characteristics. Specifically, gender, having a secondary income source, age, and being the main income provider for the household all had a relationship to multiple game outcomes. Our results highlight that engagement in pro-social behaviors such as trust and cooperation can be influenced by people's socioeconomic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory posits that situations of existential threat will enhance prosociality in general and particularly toward others perceived as belonging to the same group as the individual (parochial altruism). Yet, the global character of the COVID-19 pandemic may blur boundaries between ingroups and outgroups and engage altruism at a broader level. In an online experiment, participants from the U.S. and Italy chose whether to allocate a monetary bonus to a charity active in COVID-19 relief efforts at the local, national, or international level. The purpose was to address two important questions about charitable giving in this context: first, what influences the propensity to give, and second, how is charitable giving distributed across different levels of collective welfare? We found that personal exposure to COVID-19 increased donations relative to those not exposed, even as levels of environmental exposure (numbers of cases locally) had no effect. With respect to targets of giving, we found that donors predominantly benefitted the local level; donations toward country and world levels were half as large. Social identity was found to influence charity choice in both countries, although an experimental manipulation of identity salience did not have any direct effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-immigration rhetoric in the mass media has intensified over the last two decades, potentially decreasing prosocial behavior and increasing outgroup hostility toward immigrants, and fostering ingroup favoritism toward natives. We aim to understand the effects of negative and positive discourses about immigration on prosociality at different levels of societal ethnic diversity. In two studies (student sample, nationally representative sample), we conduct a survey and a 3X3 between-subject experiment, including money-incentivized behavioral games measuring prosociality. We manipulate media representations of immigrants and the probability of interacting with immigrants (the latter measuring diversity). Results show that negative news affects prosociality as a function of the probability of interacting with immigrants. Negative portrayals increase altruism and trustworthiness in ethnically homogenous settings relative to unknown and ethnically-mixed contexts. These results are stronger for right-wing and high-prejudice respondents. Moreover, negative media portrayals of immigrants increase the testosterone-cortisol ratio, which is a proxy for proneness to social aggression. Negative news also increases outgroup-related perceived health risk, outgroup anxiety and outgroup threat less in ethnically-homogeneous contexts. Overall, negative portrayals of immigrants generate physiological and emotional hostility toward the outgroup, and ingroup favoritism in economic transactions, possibly determining efficiency losses in ethnically-diverse markets, relative to ethnically-homogeneous markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we provide unique photo documentation and observational evidence of rescue behaviour described for the first time in wild boar. Rescue behaviour represents an extreme form of prosocial behaviour that has so far only been demonstrated in a few species. It refers to a situation when one individual acts to help another individual that finds itself in a dangerous or stressful situation and it is considered by some authors as a complex form of empathy. We documented a case in which an adult female wild boar manipulated wooden logs securing the door mechanism of a cage trap and released two entrapped young wild boars. The whole rescue was fast and particular behaviours were complex and precisely targeted, suggesting profound prosocial tendencies and exceptional problem-solving capacities in wild boar. The rescue behaviour might have been motivated by empathy because the rescuer female exhibited piloerection, a sign of distress, indicating an empathetic emotional state matching or understanding the victims. We discuss this rescue behaviour in the light of possible underlying motivators, including empathy, learning and social facilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal norms consist of individuals' attitudes about the appropriateness of behaviour. These norms guide adolescents' behaviour in countless domains that are fundamental for their social functioning and well-being. Peers are known to have a marked influence on adolescent risk-taking and prosocial behaviour, but little is known about how peers shape personal norms underlying those behaviours. Here we show that adolescents' personal norms are decisively moulded by the norms of the majority and popular peers in their social network. Our experiment indicates that observing peer norms substantially impacts adolescents' normative evaluation of risk-taking and prosocial behaviours. The majority norm had a stronger impact than the norm of a single popular peer, and norm adjustments were largest when adolescents observed strong disapproval of risk-taking or strong approval of prosocial behaviour. Our study suggests that learning about peer norms likely promotes adolescents to hold views and values supporting socially desirable behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3; medians, peer alone = 933, peer watched = 726; d = 0.57, W = 618, z = 3.18, I p i = 0.001; Watched SB 1 sb only: medians, peer alone = 922 ms, peer watched = 757 ms; d = 0.47, W = 164, z = 2.20, I p i = 0.03). Peer presence did not have a statistically significant effect upon self-reward latency (medians, alone = 668 ms, watched = 615 ms; d = 0.27, W = 328, z = 0.85, I p i = 0.40; Watched SB 1 sb participants only: medians, alone = 674 ms, watched = 621 ms; d = 0.33, W = 79, z = 1.08, I p i = 0.28). Peer presence did not have a statistically significant effect upon self-reward latency (medians, alone = 668 ms, watched = 615 ms; d = 0.27, W = 328, z = 0.85, I p i = 0.40; Watched SB 1 sb participants only: medians, alone = 682 ms, watched = 628 ms; d = 0.33, W = 86, z = 0.93, I p i = 0.35). [Extracted from the article]

How do young children develop a concept of equity? Infants prefer dividing resources equally and expect others to make such distributions. Between the ages of 3–8, children begin to exhibit preferences to avoid inequitable outcomes in their distributions, dividing resources unequally if the result of that distribution is a more equitable outcome. Four studies investigated children's developing preferences for generating equitable distributions, focusing on the mechanisms for this development. Children were presented with two characters with different amount of resources, and then a third character who will distribute more resources to them. Three- to 8-year-olds were asked whether the third character should give an equal number of resources to the recipients, preserving the inequity, or an unequal number to them, creating an equitable outcome. Starting at age 7, children showed a preference for equitable distributions (Study 1, N = 144). Studies 2a (N = 72) and 2b (N = 48) suggest that this development is independent of children's numerical competence. When asked to take the perspective of the recipient with fewer resources, 3- to 6-year-olds were more likely to make an equitable distribution (Study 3, N = 122). These data suggest that social perspective taking underlies children's prosocial actions, and supports the hypothesis that their spontaneous capacity to take others' perspectives develops during the early elementary-school years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, developing and maintaining sustainable societies is becoming a notable social concern, and studies on altruism and prosociality toward future generations are increasing in importance. Although altruistic behaviors toward future generations have previously been observed in some experimental situations, it remains unknown whether prosocial preferences toward future others are based on equality or joint outcome orientations. In the present research, we exploratorily investigated preferences regarding resource distribution by manipulating the time points (i.e., present/future) of the participants and their imaginary partners. The results indicate that prosocial preference toward future others was as strong as that toward present others and seemed to be based on a joint outcome prosocial preference. Notably, when participants and their partners were at different time points, participants preferred to leave resources for the persons in the future. The findings indicate that the type of altruistic preference toward future others may differ from that toward present others, which is mainly equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tension between selfishness and prosocial behavior is crucial to understanding many social interactions and conflicts. Currently little is known how to promote prosocial behaviors, especially in naturally occurring relationships outside the laboratory. We examined whether a psychological micro-intervention would promote prosocial behaviors in couples. Across two studies, we randomized dyads of couples to a micro-intervention (15 min), which increased prosocial behaviors by 28% and decreased selfish behaviors by 35% a week later in behavioral games in a dose–response manner. Using event sampling methodology, we further observed an increase in prosocial behaviors across one week that was most pronounced in participants who received the intervention. These results from the laboratory and everyday life are important for researchers interested in prosocial behavior and selfishness and have practical relevance for group interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As prosociality is key to facing many of our societies' global challenges (such as fighting a global pandemic), we need to better understand why some individuals are more prosocial than others. The present study takes a neural trait approach, examining whether the temporal dynamics of resting EEG networks are associated with inter-individual differences in prosociality. In two experimental sessions, we collected 55 healthy males' resting EEG, their self-reported prosocial concern and values, and their incentivized prosocial behavior across different reward domains (money, time) and social contexts (collective, individual). By means of EEG microstate analysis we identified the temporal coverage of four canonical resting networks (microstates A, B, C, and D) and their mutual communication in order to examine their association with an aggregated index of prosociality. Participants with a higher coverage of microstate A and more transitions from microstate C to A were more prosocial. Our study demonstrates that temporal dynamics of intrinsic brain networks can be linked to complex social behavior. On the basis of previous findings on links of microstate A with sensory processing, our findings suggest that participants with a tendency to engage in bottom-up processing during rest behave more prosocially than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]