Chinese University Students’ Perceptions of Implicit Altruism in a Time of COVID-19 Crisis

Xue Wen,Bing Li,Maonan Zhang

doi:10.54691/bcpssh.v14i.194

Abstract

Drawing on the Associative Propositional Evaluation Model (APE), this study examined the influencing factors of Chinese university students' altruism and voluntary behaviors against the backdrop of global pandemic. A sample of 2172 Chinese university students answered the Self-developed University Students Implicit Altruism Situational Judgment Test (USIA-SJT) and The Self-report Altruism Scale (SRAS). Results show that gender, single child, years of enrollment, political status, parental education, personal/parental experiences and parental participation have statistically significant effects on the participants’ implicit and explicit altruism, which substantially impact their voluntary behaviors during the coronavirus crisis. Both EFA and CFA indicated the sound psychometric property of the Self-developed USIA-SJT, with the construction of the SIX C model, rendering it a robust measure to gauge Chinese university students’ implicit altruism as well as to predict their voluntary behaviors under serious public emergencies.

Highlights

Human routinely behave in ways that benefit others through a range of interactions, from students explaining questions mutually to many individuals sacrificing their lives to help those in need
Hamilton [1] held the idea that altruistic behavior is a common kind of pro-social behavior, which is costly to the actor yet beneficial to the recipients
Research has shown that fetal testosterone (fT) is negatively correlated with empathy and social behavior, while TTT will impair cognitive empathy ability [18,19]

Summary

Introduction

Human routinely behave in ways that benefit others through a range of interactions, from students explaining questions mutually to many individuals sacrificing their lives to help those in need. Such altruistic behaviors are widely occurring in everyday life of ordinary people, including the campus life of university students. When these behaviors happen in the midst of life-threatening crises, say, the COVID-19 crisis, they will be given more serious due consideration. Given the crucial role of altruism in psychological studies, the measurement and prediction of altruistic behavior have already aroused our concern

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion