From moral judgments to prosocial behavior: Multiple pathways in adolescents and different pathways in boys and girls

Abstract

Moral judgments are positively associated with prosocial behavior in adolescents, but how they are associated and whether there are gender differences in the pathways are not clear. The present study aimed to clarify whether moral judgments were associated with prosocial behavior both directly and indirectly through emotional factors, self-esteem and empathy in adolescents and whether the pathways were different for boys and girls. A total of 494 adolescents completed scales that assessed moral judgments, prosocial behavior, self-esteem and empathy. Path analyses showed that self-esteem and empathy partially mediated the relationship between moral judgments and prosocial behavior in the adolescents. Moreover, multi-group analyses indicated that the associations among moral judgments, empathy and prosocial behavior were moderated by gender. Self-esteem and empathy totally mediated the relationship between moral judgments and prosocial behavior in the girls, and moral judgments were directly associated with prosocial behavior in the boys. Thus, the present study indicates that there are multiple pathways from moral judgments to prosocial behavior in adolescents and different pathways in boys and girls.