Shyness and online prosocial behavior: A study on multiple mediation mechanisms

Abstract

Internet technologies provide more opportunities for social interactions. However, previous literature suggests that the convenience provided by the Internet in establishing social connection may not facilitate shy individuals to engage in online positive behaviors (e.g., prosocial behavior) as frequently as others. In contrast to larger effort devoted to studying negative outcomes in cyberspace, insufficient interest has been focused on online prosocial behavior. This study aims to investigate the association between shyness and online prosocial behavior and related mechanisms. According to the Cognitive and Affective Processing Systems of personality, cognitive (social self-efficacy) and affective (empathy) factors were introduced as mediators. Self-reported measures were administrated to 805 Chinese undergraduate students in 2017. Results showed that shyness was negatively correlated with online prosocial behavior, and this association was completely mediated by social self-efficacy, perspective taking, and empathic concern. Specifically, shyness exerted a negative influence on the abovementioned mediators, thereby decreasing the tendency to act prosocially online. Moreover, the mediating effect of social self-efficacy was larger than that of perspective taking and empathic concern. Identifying these mediators further enables us to work out effective measures to encourage shy individuals to engage in more prosocial behavior online that will promotes their psychological and social well-being.