Prosocial Intentions Research Articles

Cultural diversity approaches in schools and adolescents' willingness to support refugee youth.

Culturally diverse schools contribute to adolescents' intergroup relations. Complex and inclusive social identities are mechanisms that can explain the link between structural school cultural diversity (i.e., proportion of students of immigrant descent and the number of different ethnic groups) and positive intergroup relations. We expected that similar mechanisms might be at play linking cultural diversity approaches in schools with adolescents' intergroup relations. We examined the link between two sub-dimensions of cultural diversity approaches (i.e., equal treatment; heritage and intercultural learning) and adolescents' prosocial intentions and behaviour towards refugee youth. Then, we explored the mediating role of identity inclusiveness (i.e., perceived similarity of the self with others). We sampled culturally diverse eighth grade adolescents from 54 classrooms in Berlin (N = 503, Mage = 13.76 years, 50.6% female). Surveys measured perceived cultural diversity norms, adolescents' perceived identity inclusiveness with refugee youth, prosocial intentions to support refugee youth, and willingness to donate to a project for refugee youth. Multilevel models revealed that adolescents' perception of heritage and intercultural learning predicted adolescents' prosocial intentions towards refugee youth, but not their willingness to donate. Equal treatment was not a significant predictor of adolescents' prosocial intentions towards refugee youth, or their willingness to donate. Identity inclusiveness did not mediate the relation between cultural diversity approaches and prosocial intentions. However, identity inclusiveness did positively relate adolescents' prosocial intentions and willingness to donate. We conclude that culturally diverse schools that engage in heritage and intercultural learning might help to promote positive relations between local and refugee youth in schools and society. Fostering inclusive identities may enhance local adolescent's prosocial intention and behaviour.

Protecting yourself and others: festival tourists’ pro-social intentions for wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and practicing sanitary/hygiene actions

This study investigated the formation of travelers’ pro-social intentions of wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and practicing sanitary/hygiene actions in the festival tourism context by merging the extended norm activation model (NAM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB). The developed theoretical framework was further deepened by evaluating the moderating role of tourists’ perceptions about COVID-19. A sample of 413 Chinese travelers with domestic festival experience before or during the pandemic was used for data analysis. The outcomes revealed that all the hypotheses were statistically supported, and the sufficiency of the proposed model, integrating the NAM and the TPB to predict festival travelers’ pro-social behavioral intentions, was verified. Furthermore, travelers’ perceptions about COVID-19 had a significant moderating effect on four associations: between problem awareness of COVID-19 and ascribed responsibility; ascribed responsibility and anticipated sense of guilt; problem awareness of COVID-19 and attitudes toward pro-social behaviors; and subjective norms and intentions for pro-social behaviors.

The Effect of Firm Expansion in Sustainable Business on Incumbent Product Evaluation

Despite a rising number of firms expanding into market categories with sustainable benefits, we know little about how it affects incumbent market audience. In this study, I explore the extent to which firm expansion in sustainable business may improve consumer evaluation on incumbent products. In particular, I highlight the enhancement effect of prosocial signaling through which firms emphasize their prosocial intention during such expansion. I argue that prosocial signaling has a stronger effect on well-known firms compared to their less-known counterparts, especially when quality perception on incumbent products is low. Using empirical context of the US lightbulb market, I find strong support that salient prosocial signals improve rating on traditional lightbulbs when firms expand their business into energy-saving lightbulbs; this is especially true for brick-or-mortar retailors and when prior product ratings are poor. This study provides one of the first evidence that indicates the benefits of sustainable market expansion on incumbent products. I contribute to research in corporate prosocial engagement, as well as nascent scholarship on the value-laden nature of market category.

Functional Brain Connectivity During Narrative Processing Relates to Transportation and Story Influence.

Engaging with narratives involves a complex array of cognitive and affective processes. These processes make stories persuasive in ways that standard arguments are not, though the underlying reasons for this remain unclear. Transportation theory proposes a potential explanation for this: narratives are processed in a way which makes individuals feel immersed in the world of a story, which in turn leads people to resonate emotionally with the events of the story. Recent fMRI studies have shown that the posterior medial cortex (PMC) and anterior insula (AI) play important roles in understanding the meaning of stories and experiencing the feelings they produce. In this study, we aimed to explore the AI’s and PMC’s role in narrative processing by measuring their functional connectivity with the rest of the brain during story listening, and how connectivity changes as a function of narrative transportation and the persuasiveness of the story. We analyzed data from 36 right-handed subjects who listened to two stories, obtained from podcasts, inside the fMRI scanner. After the scan, subjects were asked a series of questions, including a measure of how transported into the story they felt, how likely they would be to donate to causes related to the messages of the stories. We used searchlight multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to classify functional connectivity maps using seeds in both the AI and PMC and to compare these maps between participants who differed in transportation and prosocial intention. We found that connectivity to various regions successfully distinguished between high and low ratings on each of these behavioral measures with accuracies over 75%. However, only one pattern of connectivity was consistent across both stories: PMC-inferior frontal gyrus connectivity successfully distinguished high and low ratings of narrative transportation in both stories. All other findings were not consistent across stories. Instead, we found that patterns of connectivity may relate more to the specific content of the story rather than to a universal way in which narratives are processed.

Differences in Mechanisms Linking Motivation and Turnover Intention for Public and Private Employees: Evidence From China

Drawing on motivated information processing theory, this study examined and compared the mechanism of prosocial motivation and intrinsic motivation on turnover intention among public and private employees. A valid sample of 328 public and private respondents was selected from the responses to the module of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) in the 2015 Chinese General Survey. The t-test was used to examine the differences in prosocial motivation, intrinsic motivation, and turnover intention through SPSS, and the methods of multigroup structural equation modeling and bootstrapping were adopted to examine and compare the mediation effects through AMOS. The results indicated that there were significant differences in prosocial motivation, intrinsic motivation, and turnover intention between public and private employees. Additionally, the indirect effects of prosocial motivation and intrinsic motivation on turnover intention were significantly mediated by affective commitment and then job satisfaction. There were significant public-private differences in the mediation mechanism. The findings suggest the chain mediation mechanism that prosocial motivation and intrinsic motivation are critical in facilitating organizational commitment, enhancing job satisfaction, and reducing turnover intention. This research contributes to a better understanding of the motivational mechanisms impacting turnover intention in the Chinese indigenous context, and suggests that so-called “good soldiers” and “good aspirants” are more likely to emerge in the public sector and remain in the public sector organizations.

The Process of Determining of Pro-Social Tourism Behavior Intention according to the Perception of the Risk of COVID-19 : Utilizing the Norm Activation Model

The Process of Determining of Pro-Social Tourism Behavior Intention according to the Perception of the Risk of COVID-19 : Utilizing the Norm Activation Model

Prosociality during COVID-19: Globally focussed solidarity brings greater benefits than nationally focussed solidarity.

Many charities are appealing for donations to address problems caused by the COVID‐19 crisis. Two survey studies (total N = 500) tested predictors of donation intentions of British participants to help those suffering from the crisis in Britain (ingroup donations) and overseas (outgroup donations). Perceptions of international, global common fate in our success in managing and overcoming the crisis was positively associated with prosocial intentions towards both national ingroup and outgroup targets. In contrast, a desire to ‘close ranks’ within the national ingroup in the face of the pandemic threat was associated with more prosocial intentions towards national ingroup targets only, but it was associated with fewer prosocial intentions towards outgroup targets. This suggests that a focus on global solidarity (in the form of global common fate and identification with all humans) has positive effects on helping both within and across group boundaries, whereas a focus on national solidarity (in the form of ‘closing ranks’ in the face of the pandemic threat) has positive effects on helping within the national group but negative effects on prosocial tendencies towards outgroup members. The effect of perceived global common fate on both ingroup and outgroup helping was mediated by identification with all of humanity. Findings are discussed in terms of practical implications for managing the COVID‐19 crisis. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

The effects of constructive television news reporting on prosocial intentions and behavior in children: The role of negative emotions and self-efficacy

Abstract To reduce negative emotional responses and to stimulate prosociality, constructive journalism promotes the inclusion of positive emotions and solutions in news. This study experimentally tested whether including those elements indeed increased prosocial intentions and behavior among children, and whether negative emotions and self-efficacy are mediators in this regard. To this end, children (N = 468; 9 to 13 years old) were exposed to an emotion-based, solution-based, or non-constructive news video. Results showed that emotion-based and solution-based news reduced children’s negative emotions compared to non-constructive news. No direct effects for prosocial intentions were found, but solution-based news led to less prosocial behavior (i. e., money donated) than emotion-based and non-constructive news. Moreover, negative emotions served as a mediator, self-efficacy did not. The more negative emotions were elicited by a news story, the higher the prosocial intentions and behavior. In conclusion, a constructive style of reporting helps to reduce children’s negative emotional responses but subsequently hinders prosociality.

Accueil des réfugiés en France : le point de vue des Français d’origine maghrébine et des Français « natifs »

Studies on attitudes towards refugees in France have only focused on “native” French people. Extending the study beyond the majority group is important, given the multicultural composition of contemporary Western societies. To this end, 144 “native” French and 109 Maghrebi-French were surveyed. We first tested the model whereby the link between national identification and prosocial intentions towards refugees is mediated by the threat perception, with the group of origin as a moderating variable. This model only applies to “native” French. We then took a closer look at the precursors of prosocial intentions among Maghrebi-French (national identity misrecognition , individualistic/collectivistic orientation). Identity misrecognition correlates positively with prosocial intentions. When controlling for other variables, collectivism is the factor that best predicts the expression of these intentions. Overall, our study showed that depending on the group of origin (“natives” vs. Maghrebi-French), we react differently to refugees. However, even if the feeling of identity misrecognition among Maghrebi-French seems to be associated with the expression of prosocial intentions, the extent of its negative consequences should not be overlooked.

The Bright and Dark Side of Eudaimonic Emotions: A Conceptual Framework

Based on a review of eudaimonic emotion concepts, definitional and empirical overlaps between the concepts are identified and a framework of eudaimonic emotions is developed. The framework proposes that feelings of elevation, awe, tenderness, and being moved can be differentiated based on their feeling components, thus constituting the feeling-specific types of eudaimonic emotions. A variety of other emotion concepts rely on reference to their elicitors, such as moral elevation (i.e., being moved by moral virtue), aesthetic awe (i.e., being moved by beauty), kama muta (i.e., being moved by communal sharing) and admiration (i.e., being moved by achievements), thus constituting elicitor-specific types of eudaimonic emotions. Structuring eudaimonic emotions along these lines allows for integrating research on these emotions. This integration leads to the proposition of general eudaimonic effects and value-specific effects of positive eudaimonic emotions on behaviour. Considering these effects can enhance understanding of how positive eudaimonic emotions affect pro-social intentions—the bright side of being moved—as well as the manipulating effects of propaganda—the dark side of being moved.

Media influences on group-serving attribution and prosocial intention: Testing the mediation of group identification and the moderation of independent self-construal

Two experiments (ns = 98 and 193 college students) were conducted to examine how news stories highlighting either the positive or negative qualities displayed by in-group members during a natural disaster might affect people’s group-serving attribution and prosocial intentions towards those affected by the disaster, and the roles of group identification and independent self-construal played. In both experiments, Chinese participants were asked to recall news featuring positive or negative qualities during the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. The results revealed that participants in the positive news condition reported more external attribution for the losses suffered in the Earthquake and higher prosociality toward the sufferers. Additionally, we found that (a) ingroup identification mediated the effects of news on both outcomes (Studies 1 & 2) and (b) the mediation only worked for those who had a lower level of independent self-construal (Study 2). The roles of identity processes involved in the consumption of news were discussed.

Festival travellers’ pro-social and protective behaviours against COVID-19 in the time of pandemic

ABSTRACT With the uncertain pandemic situation on a global scale, pro-social and sustainable tourism performance has been continuously valued and called for. Undoubtedly, the sustainable festival tourism tactics and formation of festival tourists’ personal norms and pro-social intentions urgently need to be investigated. This study has verified the intricate relations where problem awareness of COVID-19, ascription of responsibility, positive and negative anticipated feelings, descriptive and injunctive social norms and a sense of obligation to take pro-social behaviours efficiently affect travellers’ pro-social intentions for mask-wearing, social-distancing and sanitation activities. Moreover, psychological risk perception of COVD-19 and gender as the significant moderators ably broadened the proposed theoretic framework. This research not only enriched the current COVID-19 tourism literature and contributed valuable research direction of pro-social festival tourism from the theoretical perspective, but also provided practical suggestions for promoting the sustainable and pro-social tourism performance.

Prosocial rule breaking on health information security at healthcare organisations in South Korea

AbstractRegulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), establish standards to protect patients' medical records from security breaches. Insiders' prosocial misbehaviour within healthcare organisations can cause significant damage to relevant stakeholders. Such behaviour without malicious intention needs to be better understood and carefully managed from the perspective of prosocial behaviour. For this study, a research model was developed that includes the factors influencing student nurses' intention to disclose patient health information. The model was empirically tested with nursing students in South Korea with a scenario‐based experiment. We find that both altruistic (impact on others) and egoistic (impact on the self) motivations are significantly important in raising situational empathy. On the other hand, an egoistic motivation (impact on the self) significantly affects people's perception of their responsibility, which mediates the relationship between situational empathy and prosocial intention to disclose. The implications of our findings are discussed.

How Does Personalization in News Stories Influence Intentions to Help With Drought? Assessing the Influence of State Empathy and Its Antecedents

Personalized stories are a powerful tool for communicating about science, particularly when a scientific topic is complex or unfamiliar. One example of such a topic is drought, something many regions of the world face regularly. Like other environmental challenges, drought recovery efforts benefit from a mobilized collective response through prosocial action, including volunteering and donations. The objective of this study was to examine how storytelling about drought influences emotional responses and empathic processes that in turn contribute to prosocial action. Using data collected from an online survey (N= 249) with undergraduate students, the current study tests the hypothesis that, relative to non-personalized stories, personalized news stories about drought will increase audiences' cognitive and emotional responses, including perceived suffering, narrative engagement, and state empathy. In addition, this study examines how emotional responses to personalized news stories influence readers' intentions to donate to farmers suffering from drought. Results reveal that personalized news stories are more likely than non-personalized stories to increase readers' state empathy and perceptions of others' suffering. Perceived suffering was directly related to the affective and cognitive dimensions of state empathy. Narrative engagement (i.e., transportation) was also directly related to the affective and cognitive dimensions of state empathy and indirectly associated with intentions to donate to assist those suffering from drought. Affective state empathy was directly associated with donation intentions, suggesting that an emotional response to media portrayals of suffering may promote prosocial intentions. We discuss the potential implications for using personalized news stories about drought and other natural disasters to motivate prosocial action.

The Impact of Writing About Gratitude on the Intention to Engage in Prosocial Behaviors During the COVID-19 Outbreak.

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has quickly swept the globe leaving a devastating trail of lost human lives and leading to a public health and economic crisis. With this in mind, prosociality has been heralded as a potential important factor to overcome the negative effects of the pandemic. As such, in this study, we examined the effectiveness of a brief reflexive writing exercise about recent experiences of gratitude on individuals’ intentions to engage in prosocial behaviors using a sample of 253 participants living in Portugal and 280 participants living in Brazil. Participants were randomly assigned to either a condition in which they were asked to write about recent experiences of gratitude or a control group in which they were asked to write about daily tasks. We predicted that the gratitude intervention would increase state gratitude and, consequently, increase positive affect and empathic concern, and decrease negative affect, leading to increased intentions to engage in prosocial behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. A moderated serial–parallel mediation analysis, in which we controlled for gender, age, and level of religiosity, indicated that our manipulation led to increases in state gratitude, which in turn increased positive emotions and empathic concern, leading to increased prosocial intentions in both countries. A content analysis of participants’ responses in the gratitude group revealed that relationships with others and health and well-being were the central themes of their gratitude experiences during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Moral elevation increases support for humanitarian policies, but not political concessions, in intractable conflict

Moral elevation is an emotional experience elicited after witnessing acts of exceptional moral goodness and involves feeling moved and inspired. Previous research has demonstrated that experiences of moral elevation can lead to increased altruism. We examined whether the benefits of moral elevation on prosocial intentions extend to the context of intractable intergroup conflict, by testing whether moral elevation increases support for outgroup-favorable policies. We hypothesized that moral elevation would increase support for humanitarian policies, but not political concessions, as only the former are considered to be within the moral domain. To test this, we ran three studies in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including a preregistered replication, and found overall support for our hypothesis. This research is the first to demonstrate that moral elevation can play an important role in the context of intractable conflict by increasing support for alleviating outgroup suffering, but it also suggests that the effect of elevation is limited in that it does not extend to increasing support for political compromises.

Moral identity, moral self-efficacy, and moral elevation: A sequential mediation model predicting moral intentions and behaviour

ABSTRACT Witnessing acts of uncommon moral virtue can elicit feelings of moral elevation, which translate further into prosocial intentions and behaviour. Recent findings suggest that moral identity strengthens the elevation response after witnessing such acts. In the present paper, we propose that the positive relationship between moral identity and elevation is mediated by perceived moral self-efficacy (i.e. perceived ability to behave up to one’s moral standards), as a result of the moral vicarious experience. We present a set of five studies that tested the effect of moral identity (either measured or manipulated) and moral self-efficacy on elevation, prosocial intentions, and behaviour, following exposure to an act of uncommon virtue. Results supported a sequential mediation model: the positive effect of moral identity on elevation was mediated by moral self-efficacy; and elevation then mediated the effect of moral identity on prosocial intentions (Studies 3a-3b-4) and behaviour (Study 4). Implications and limitations are outlined.

Supplemental Material for Emotions for Solidarity: The Relations of Moral Outrage and Sympathy With Hierarchy-Challenging and Prosocial Hierarchy-Maintaining Action Intentions in Support of Refugees

Supplemental Material for Emotions for Solidarity: The Relations of Moral Outrage and Sympathy With Hierarchy-Challenging and Prosocial Hierarchy-Maintaining Action Intentions in Support of Refugees

Thwarted beneficence: Not getting to help lowers mood

ABSTRACT Prosocial behavior benefits happiness, making such behavior an important strategy for achieving well-being. The present studies investigate if depriving people of the opportunity to help others lowers happiness. In Study 1 (N = 162), participants were randomly assigned to rate how they would feel if they intended to help someone and were able to help, if they intended to help someone but someone else helped first, or if they did not want to help someone. Participants who wanted to help but were deprived of this opportunity showed the lowest level of happiness (vs. other scenario conditions). Study 2 (N = 196) showed that thwarted autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfaction partially mediated the association between being deprived of helping someone and lower happiness. Study 3 (N = 234) replicated this effect with a different type of scenario and investigated an additional condition – when the target helps themselves. Moreover, Study 3 showed that thwarting of a fourth possible need, for beneficence, added to the mediation of the effect. These studies add to the literature on prosocial behavior and happiness by showing that being thwarted in enacting one’s prosocial intentions has negative consequences. They also add to emerging findings suggesting that beneficence may be a basic psychological need.

A critical review of interdisciplinary perspectives on the paradox of prosocial compared to antisocial manifestations of empathy

Empathy is the ability to experience affective and cognitive states of another person, whilst maintaining a distinct self, in order to understand the other. It is a multidimensional phenomenon, ranging from vicarious distress to near complete understanding, with many shades in between. As an almost universal and integral human construct, empathy has been considered in many disciplines and contexts, from evolution to gender, politics, economics, ethics, human rights and neuroscience. Each of these disciplines offers a range of definitions of empathy, and provides unique insights into the role of empathy in achieving different types of social outcomes, including those with both prosocial and antisocial intentions. The conceptualization generated from interdisciplinary perspectives is important because it allows us to identify commonalities that could be mobilized synergistically to achieve greater social benefit through prosocial empathy. This review discusses the benevolent and malevolent manifestations of empathy from the perspective of social, legal and psychological sciences in order to lay the foundation for a theoretical discussion on the potential of harnessing prosocial empathy to advance equality and non-discrimination.