Longitudinal Relations Between School Climate and Prosocial Behavior: The Mediating Role of Gratitude

Biao Li,1 Xiao Hu,2 Litao Chen,3 Chuyi Wu4 1School of Education Science, Guangxi Science and Technology Normal University, Laibin, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Education, Shiyuan College of Nanning Normal University, Nanning, People’s Republic of China; 3College of Music, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, People’s Republic of China; 4School of Education Science, Guangxi Minzu University, Nanning, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xiao Hu, Department of Education, Shiyuan College of Nanning Normal University, Nanning, People’s Republic of China, Email huxiaoiris@gmail.comPurpose: The school climate, which refers to the quality and character of school life, is associated with a wide range of developmental outcomes. Although researchers have shown considerable interest in uncovering the links between school climate and prosocial behavior, the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Therefore, the current study was designed to investigate the mediating role of gratitude between school climate and adolescents’ prosocial behavior.Methods: A sample of 632 Chinese adolescents (363 girls and 269 boys; Mage = 16.83 years at time 1, SD = 0.68 years) completed a battery of sociometric and self-report questionnaires that measured school climate, gratitude, and prosocial behavior in three waves.Results: Correlation analysis showed that school climate, gratitude, and prosocial behavior were all significantly and positively intercorrelated across the three waves. Importantly, gratitude completely mediated the relationship between school climate and prosocial behavior (β = 0.005 [95% confidence interval = 0.001, 0.013]) in the three-wave longitudinal mediation model.Conclusion: As a positive disposition, gratitude fosters prosocial behavior and serves as a mediator between school climate and prosocial behavior. This study provides a theoretical explanation for cultivating adolescents’ prosocial behavior and theoretical guidelines for interventions of schools and other socializing agents.Keywords: prosocial behavior, gratitude, school climate, adolescents, longitudinal mediation model