Researchers have discovered that mice instinctively exhibit rescue-like behavior towards anesthetized companions-a finding that suggests a biological basis for prosociality.The study,published in PNAS on April 23,2025...Researchers have discovered that mice instinctively exhibit rescue-like behavior towards anesthetized companions-a finding that suggests a biological basis for prosociality.The study,published in PNAS on April 23,2025,was led by Dr.HU Li from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(IPCAS)and Dr.CHEN Zhoufeng from Washington University School of Medicine and the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation.展开更多
Background:Prosocial behavior plays a crucial role in improving interpersonal relationships and social well-being,especially in times of crisis.The COVID-19 pandemic caused a severe humanitarian crisis,prompting gover...Background:Prosocial behavior plays a crucial role in improving interpersonal relationships and social well-being,especially in times of crisis.The COVID-19 pandemic caused a severe humanitarian crisis,prompting governments to implement measures such as social confinement.The main objective of the study was to analyze the psychological and sociodemographic variables that may predict prosocial behavior during quarantine.Methods:The sample consisted of 172 participants from Spain,divided into two groups based on whether they reported an increase in prosocial behaviors during quarantine.An online survey was administered to analyze the psychological and sociodemographic variables.Results:Overall,results demonstrate that emotional regulation,morality and age may predict prosocial behavior.Conclusions:Understanding the predictors of prosocial behavior during social crises is crucial for devising effective policies aimed at fostering community resilience and support networks,with particular attention to factors such as the capacity to regulate emotions,morality,and age.展开更多
Background:Emotional attention refers to the capacity to recognize and properly respond to one’s and others’emotional states.On another note,family is a primary source of socialization that influences the developmen...Background:Emotional attention refers to the capacity to recognize and properly respond to one’s and others’emotional states.On another note,family is a primary source of socialization that influences the development of various social skills.In another line,adolescence is a complex stage that has been associated with emotional difficulties that could be related to competences such as prosociability and inclusion.It is inferred that through the family context and the attention that is processed,a series of competencies are transmitted to the youngsters,but this relationship is still unclear.For this reason,the study’s purpose was to examine the relationship between the emotional attention of mothers and fathers and the social and prosocial competencies of their children.Methods:To accomplish this,a cross-sectional study and ex post facto design were conducted.The Trait-Meta Mood Scale(TMMS-24)-to assess emotional attention-,the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire(SDQ)-to determine the prosociality dimension-,and the Test on Passing Developmental Tasks in Adolescence(TCS-A)-to measure social inclusionwere administered.The participants were N=228 families composed of n=114 mothers/fathers(67.5%females)and n=114 daughters/sons(38.5%females)selected through non-probabilistic sampling using a convenience sample in the Bari region of Italy.A descriptive and inferential analysis-Student’s test and Pearson’s correlation-was performed with the statistic package SPSS version 28(significance level p<0.05).Results:The findings showed that the families possessed an adequate background in emotional attention and that their daughters and sons were also generally well-adjusted in social inclusion and prosociality.It also found certain signs that the prosocial competence of the children could be related to the behavior of their mothers and fathers.Conclusion:In conclusion,social inclusion is related to prosocial behavior,and maybe primarily cultivated within families where parents’emotional self-regulation serves as a model for children although further research is necessary.Comparative studies between different cultures are also proposed.展开更多
Objectives:This study investigates the association between victimization experience and the tendency to defend on behalf of victims during school bullying incidents in public settings,with a focus on the mediating eff...Objectives:This study investigates the association between victimization experience and the tendency to defend on behalf of victims during school bullying incidents in public settings,with a focus on the mediating effect of empathy and the moderating role of school level among Chinese children and adolescents.Methods:Data were collected by a cross-sectional survey.A total of 1491 students in Grades 4–11 participated(Boys=52.8%;Mean_(age)=13.00 years,Standard Deviation_(age)=2.31).Structural equation modeling is employed to test the hypotheses.Results:The results indicate that empathy measures partially mediate the relationship between victimization experience and defending tendency in public in-school bullying situations.In particular,individuals with a history of victimization typically demonstrate lower levels of empathy.They are less likely to protect victims in school bullying situations in the presence of others,which suggests that empathy plays a significant mediating role in this relationship.Group differences were found between primary and secondary school students,which indicates that the hypothesized model should be considered through a developmental perspective.Conclusions:The findings of this study emphasize the importance of children’s benign peer relationships,and practitioners are encouraged to prevent victimization in schools and care for students who have been victimized;specific measures include cultivating empathy,teaching defending skills that have been found to help reduce the adverse effects of victimization,and encouraging prosocial behavior during children's socialization development.展开更多
Background:Theory of Mind(ToM)and empathy are crucial cognitive and emotional capacities that influence social interactions.While their role in promoting prosocial behavior has been established,the potential moderatin...Background:Theory of Mind(ToM)and empathy are crucial cognitive and emotional capacities that influence social interactions.While their role in promoting prosocial behavior has been established,the potential moderating effect of mindfulness on this relationship remains unexplored.Understanding these complex interactions is vital for developing effective interventions to foster prosocial behavior among college students.This study examines the influence of ToM on college students’prosocial behavior and explores the moderating role of mindfulness in this relationship.Methods:A mixed-methods approach combining questionnaires and experimental design was employed.Study 1:A survey of 759 college students(mean age 22.03 years;477 females)was conducted using the ToM Scale,Interpersonal Reactivity Index,Prosocial Behavior Tendency Scale,and Mindfulness Awareness Scale.Data were analyzed using correlation and moderated mediation analyses.Study 2:An 8-week mindfulness attention training program was implemented for the intervention group and compared with a control group.Mindfulness training served as a moderating variable to validate Model 59 from Study 1.Results:1.Study 1 found:(a)ToM was significantly positively correlated with prosocial behavior(r=0.31,p<0.01).(b)Empathy partially mediated the relationship between ToM and prosocial behavior(β=0.10,p<0.001,95%CI[0.06,0.14]).(c)Mindfulness negatively moderated the direct path between ToM and three dimensions of prosocial behavior,as well as the indirect path between empathy and kin altruism and reciprocal altruism.Specifically,high levels of mindfulness weakened the direct impact of ToM on prosocial behavior.High levels of mindfulness also weakened the indirect influence of ToM on prosocial behavior through empathy.2.Study 2 results showed:(a)The intervention group had significantly higher levels of trait mindfulness compared to the control group(t=2.56,p<0.05).(b)The validity of the moderated mediation model 59 from Study 1 was verified.Conclusion:While ToM and empathy play crucial roles in fostering prosocial behavior,mindfulness exhibits a more complex influence than anticipated,potentially inhibiting prosocial behavior under certain circumstances.These findings offer novel insights into the psychological mechanisms underlying prosocial behavior and underscore the importance of considering multiple interacting factors in its promotion.展开更多
Background:Today,mental illness is one of the most serious social issues in Japan.To proactively prevent psychological disorders and improve and maintain well-being,each individual must take action and engage in small...Background:Today,mental illness is one of the most serious social issues in Japan.To proactively prevent psychological disorders and improve and maintain well-being,each individual must take action and engage in small yet significant daily activities for their well-being on a daily basis.The purpose of this study was to investigate if our daily engagement in oyatsu activities,sharing and giving snacks,can enhance hedonic and eudaimonic well-being.Methods:We conducted a randomized controlled,open-label,parallel-group comparative design trial.Participants were recruited from a community website run by a snack company in Japan.Participants who were 20 years old or older without currently experiencing physical or mental illnesses were included.The participants in the intervention group(n=152)were instructed to do oyatsu activities,defined as sharing or giving snacks to others,for one month intentionally,while the participants in the control group(n=154)were not given any instructions.Hedonic or subjective well-being(SWB)was measured using the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience(SPANE)and Satisfaction with Life Scale(SWLS),and eudaimonic well-being was measured by the Flourishing Scale(FS).A one-way independent t-test was conducted to determine statistically significant differences in the degree of improvement of the scores between the intervention and the control groups.Results:The primary outcome was the difference in change in FS scores from baseline to one-month follow-up between the groups,and the secondary outcome was the difference in change in SWLS and SPANE scores.We found a significant between-group difference in the improvement in FS score from baseline to one-month follow-up(t(280)=2.235,p=0.03),as well as SPANE-P(t(280)=3.514,p<0.001),SPANE-N(t(282)=−2.651,p=0.01)and SWLS(t(281)=2.842,p=0.01).Conclusions:Engaging in oyatsu activities might improve hedonic and eudaimonic well-being partly due to the prosocial nature of oyatsu activities.展开更多
Empathy allows humans and other animals to share the emotional state of another, adopting that individual’s perspective on a given situation. This ability is fundamental for species living in groups. Helping behavior...Empathy allows humans and other animals to share the emotional state of another, adopting that individual’s perspective on a given situation. This ability is fundamental for species living in groups. Helping behavior in laboratory animals has been used to study empathy. In this test, subjects are exposed to a conspecific that is trapped and learn to open the cage to release the other animal. However, the interpretation of helping behavior as an emphatically motivated action is still controversial. Here we review the studies that use the helping behavioral test proposed by Ben-Ami Bartal and colleagues in 2011 to better understand motivational factors for this behavior. In addition, we compare methodological aspects of these studies. In conclusion, helping behavior can be driven by empathy, but other factors such as the desire for social contact and learning components cannot be ruled out as motivators. In addition, studies focused on evaluating neurobiological mechanisms underlying helping behavior in laboratory rodents can help elucidate the factors involved in releasing the trapped co-specific.展开更多
Adult male tree shrews vigorously defend against intruding male conspecifics. However, the characteristics of social behavior have not been entirely explored in these males. In this study, male wild-type tree shrews(T...Adult male tree shrews vigorously defend against intruding male conspecifics. However, the characteristics of social behavior have not been entirely explored in these males. In this study, male wild-type tree shrews(Tupaia belangeri chinensis)and C57 BL/6 J mice were first allowed to familiarize themselves with an open-field apparatus. The tree shrews exhibited a short duration of movement(moving) in the novel environment, whereas the mice exhibited a long duration of movement. In the 30 min social preference-avoidance test, target animals significantly decreased the time spent by the experimental tree shrews in the social interaction(SI)zone, whereas experimental male mice exhibited the opposite. In addition, experimental tree shrews displayed a significantly longer latency to enter the SI zone in the second 15 min session(targetpresent) than in the first 15 min session(targetabsent), which was different from that found in mice.Distinct behavioral patterns in response to a conspecific male were also observed in male tree shrews and mice in the first, second, and third 5 min periods. Thus, social behaviors in tree shrews and mice appeared to be time dependent. In summary,our study provides results of a modified social preference-avoidance test designed for the assessment of social behavior in tree shrews. Our findings demonstrate the existence of social avoidance behavior in male tree shrews and prosocial behavior in male mice toward unfamiliar conspecifics. The tree shrew may be a new animal model, which differs from mice, for the study of social avoidance and prosocial behaviors.展开更多
Objectives:The present study examined the relationship between college students’moral elevation and prosocial behavior.As well as the mediating role of perceived social support and the moderating role of moral identi...Objectives:The present study examined the relationship between college students’moral elevation and prosocial behavior.As well as the mediating role of perceived social support and the moderating role of moral identity.Methods:A sample of 489 college students were recruited for the study.They were asked to complete a series of questionnaires,including Moral Elevation Scale(MES),Perceived Social Support Scale(PSSS),Moral Identity Scale(MIS)and Prosocial Tendency Measure(PTM).As part of the data analysis,we used correlation analysis and the method of constructing latent variable structural equation model to explore the mechanism of action among variables.Results:After controlling for gender,discipline,the research found that:(1)Moral elevation positively predicted the prosocial behavior among the college students;(2)Perceived social support mediated the relationship between moral elevation and prosocial behavior;(3)Moral identity moderated the second half of the model(i.e.,the link between perceived social support and prosocial behavior).Specifically,the mediating effect of perceived social support was stronger for college students with high-level moral identity compared to those with low-level moral identity.Conclusions:Moral identity significantly moderates the mediating effect of perceived social support,and the mediating model with moderated is established.展开更多
Background:Prosocial crowdfunding helps the underprivileged obtain non-profitseeking loans from multitudinous lenders.Some platforms introduce teamcompetition to motivate member participation and may thus induce team ...Background:Prosocial crowdfunding helps the underprivileged obtain non-profitseeking loans from multitudinous lenders.Some platforms introduce teamcompetition to motivate member participation and may thus induce team rivalry.Methods:We investigate how team rivalry affects lending decisions using data fromKiva.org.We argue that a rivalry relationship may engage teams to compete directlyagainst rivals by lending to the same project or prevent them from doing sobecause they intend not to cooperate.Result:We find that a team is less likely to lend to a project that has receivedfunding from its rival team,suggesting that rival teams tend to avoid cooperation.Conclusions:We discuss the implications of our findings for crowdfundingand competition-based motivation mechanisms in general.展开更多
Children's skills of social interaction is a significant index of their following psychological development. Prosocial behaviors which influenced by many factors are fundamental representatives of social interacti...Children's skills of social interaction is a significant index of their following psychological development. Prosocial behaviors which influenced by many factors are fundamental representatives of social interaction. Present essay illustrates an indepth review of literature concerning the impacts of family,peers, school and media in Children's prosocial behaviors and also indicates the limitations of each research.展开更多
The literature suggests inconsistent evidence regarding the influence of danger on prosocial behavior.We explore this issue through a nationwide survey of 8567 households in China during the COVID-19 Omicron variant o...The literature suggests inconsistent evidence regarding the influence of danger on prosocial behavior.We explore this issue through a nationwide survey of 8567 households in China during the COVID-19 Omicron variant outbreak in 2022.In a zero-COVID policy,China chose to quarantine all neighborhoods with viral infections.The almost random presence of infected cases provides an opportunity to examine the relationship between the proximity of danger(i.e.potential Omicron infection)and the prosocial behavior of residents in quarantine zones.For the first time,we find an inverted U-shape relationship:residents exhibit a stronger prosocial behavior when living closer to infected cases in the neighborhood,but this positive effect diminishes when they are too close to each other.Furthermore,such non-linear relationship is salient in residents’interpersonal helping but not in their cooperative behavior.Policymakers should be mindful of the different prosocial responses and target their efforts to help communities navigate quarantine periods more effectively.展开更多
While advanced Large Language Models(LLMs)can simulate human-like prosocial behaviors,the degree to which they align with human prosocial values and the underlying afective mechanisms remain unclear.This study address...While advanced Large Language Models(LLMs)can simulate human-like prosocial behaviors,the degree to which they align with human prosocial values and the underlying afective mechanisms remain unclear.This study addressed these gaps using the third-party punishment(TPP)paradigm,comparing LLM agents(GPT and DeepSeek series)with human participants(n=100).The LLM agents(n=500,100 agents per model)were one-to-one constructed based on the demographic and psychological features of human participants.Prompt engineering was employed to initiate TPP games and record punitive decisions and afective responses in LLM agents.Results revealed that:(1)GPT-4o,DeepSeek-V3,and DeepSeek-R1 models demonstrated stronger fairness value alignment,choosing punitive options more frequently than humans in TPP games;(2)all LLMs replicated the human pathway from unfairness through negative afective response to punitive decisions,with stronger mediation efects of negative emotions observed in DeepSeek models than GPT models;(3)only DeepSeek-R1 exhibited the human-like positive feedback loop from previous punitive decisions to positive afective feedback and subsequent punitive choices;(4)most LLMs(excluding GPT-3.5)showed signifcant representational similarity to human afect-decision patterns;(5)notably,all LLMs displayed rigid afective dynamics,characterized by lower afective variability and higher afective inertia than the fexible,contextsensitive fuctuations observed in humans.These fndings highlight notable advances in prosocial value alignment but underscore the necessity to enhance their afective dynamics to foster robust,adaptive prosocial LLMs.Such advancements could not only accelerate LLMs'alignment with human values but also provide empirical support for the broader applicability of prosocial theories to LLM agents.展开更多
With the market’s growing concern for corporate social responsibility,consumers’purchasing decisions are gradually influenced by their prosocial behaviors,which leads more and more consumers to prefer brands and pro...With the market’s growing concern for corporate social responsibility,consumers’purchasing decisions are gradually influenced by their prosocial behaviors,which leads more and more consumers to prefer brands and products associated with charity events.Based on this,cause-related marketing(CRM),as an innovative marketing model that combines product sales with public welfare,is gradually being favoured by various enterprises.Considering the market proportion of prosocial consumers,this paper explores the pricing decisions and CRM strategy of supply chain members by examining a supply chain system consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer,where the manufacturer produces two donation behaviors.By developing a Stackelberg model for two scenarios,including the donations for each unit sold(UCM strategy)and donations for one-off(OCM strategy),this paper finds that the proportion of the market with prosocial consumers and their sensitivity to CRM,as well as the additional utility generated by this group of consumers under the OCM strategy,are key to the manufacturer’s choice of CRM strategy.The larger the additional utility generated under the UCM strategy,the more likely the manufacturer is to choose the OCM strategy.When the additional utility generated under the UCM strategy is small,the manufacturer’s CRM strategy is determined by the proportion of the market with prosocial consumers and their sensitivity to CRM:if the proportion of the market with prosocial consumers and their sensitivity to CRM are both moderate or large,the manufacturer should choose the OCM strategy;conversely,it is more favourable to choose the UCM strategy.Furthermore,the model is extended to that the retailer implements the CRM strategy which also have the same donation strategy options.The results indicate that CRM strategy in the supply chain and total donations areh less affected by the implementing entity.展开更多
The application of artificial intelligence(AI)in customer service becomes ubiquitous.In response to the advocacy in the“2021 Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence”,it is crucial to understand how to leverage A...The application of artificial intelligence(AI)in customer service becomes ubiquitous.In response to the advocacy in the“2021 Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence”,it is crucial to understand how to leverage AI customer service chatbots for societal welfare.Across two scenario studies and one lab experiment,this research investigates the impact of AI chatbots’communication styles on consumers’subsequent prosocial intentions irrelevant to the AI-human interaction contents.The combined evidence suggests that consumers exhibit higher prosocial intentions after interacting with social-oriented(vs.task-oriented)AI chatbots.The findings reveal the chain-mediating roles of social presence and empathy.Moreover,the current research investigates the boundary effect of consumers’goal focus(process focus vs.outcome focus),and shows that AI chatbots’communication styles have stronger impact on prosocial intentions for customers with outcome focus.These results revealed the important externality of the AI application in marketplace and provide a novel perspective for companies to implement the corporate social responsibility(CSR)strategy.展开更多
Humans are the most prosocial primate species and they often exhibit high levels of prosocial behavior toward genetically unrelated individuals.Traditional evolutionary theories are not sufficient to explain the indiv...Humans are the most prosocial primate species and they often exhibit high levels of prosocial behavior toward genetically unrelated individuals.Traditional evolutionary theories are not sufficient to explain the individual differences and mechanisms related to prosociality.In this study,we focused on the gene–situation interaction in prosocial behaviors,and the patterns of genotype variance related to cooperation and comforting in different situations.We explored the interaction between the oxytocin receptor(OXTR)gene and situations,and the genotype variance under low and high prosociality situations between outgroup and ingroup recipients in a sample of 422 Chinese males.Prosociality was tested by measuring the prosocial tendencies,and prosocial behaviors were tested in cooperation and comforting tasks.OXTR single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.The results suggested that the relationship between OXTR SNPs(specifically rs13316193,rs1042778 and rs237887)and prosocial behavior varied across different situations,and that the associations were moderated by the recipient’s identity and the prosocial cost.Our findings indicate the action of a moderating mechanism between the OXTR gene and prosocial behaviors according to situational factors.展开更多
This study investigated the efects of boarding at school on students'prosocial behaviors in rural China using data from the National Children's Study of China.The instrumental variable(IV)approach was used to ...This study investigated the efects of boarding at school on students'prosocial behaviors in rural China using data from the National Children's Study of China.The instrumental variable(IV)approach was used to control for potential endogeneity,and the IVs were the proportion of boarding students in higher grades and the school area per student.The ordinary least squares and IV estimates showed that boarding students exhibited more prosocial behaviors,including compliance with rules,positive traits,and altruistic attitudes.These results were robust.Heterogeneity analyses suggested that students from low-income families,children who were not"left behind,"high-grade students,and female students were more likely to benefit from boarding.We found that these effects were primarily due to boarding students developing stronger feelings of trust and support from their peers and teachers and participating in more school-organized events and team activities.展开更多
Cyberspace has significantly influenced people’s perceptions of social interactions and communication.As a result,the conventional theories of kin selection and reciprocal altruism fall short in completely elucidatin...Cyberspace has significantly influenced people’s perceptions of social interactions and communication.As a result,the conventional theories of kin selection and reciprocal altruism fall short in completely elucidating online prosocial behavior.Based on the social information processing model,we propose an analytical framework to explain the donation behaviors on online platform.Through collecting textual and visual data from Tencent Gongyi platform pertaining to disease relief projects,and employing techniques encompassing text analysis,image analysis,and propensity score matching,we investigate the impact of both internal emotional cues and external contextual cues on donation behaviors.It is found that positive emotions tend to attract a larger number of donations,while negative emotions tend to result in higher per capita donation amounts.Furthermore,these effects manifest differently under distinct external contextual conditions.展开更多
文摘Researchers have discovered that mice instinctively exhibit rescue-like behavior towards anesthetized companions-a finding that suggests a biological basis for prosociality.The study,published in PNAS on April 23,2025,was led by Dr.HU Li from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(IPCAS)and Dr.CHEN Zhoufeng from Washington University School of Medicine and the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation.
基金supported by the Ministry of Education,Culture and Sport(Predoctoral Contract University Faculty Training Program:FPU15/04335)later by the Spanish Public Administration“Ministerio de Universidades”and the European Union through the“NextGeneration EU”(Postdoctoral contract Margarita Salas).
文摘Background:Prosocial behavior plays a crucial role in improving interpersonal relationships and social well-being,especially in times of crisis.The COVID-19 pandemic caused a severe humanitarian crisis,prompting governments to implement measures such as social confinement.The main objective of the study was to analyze the psychological and sociodemographic variables that may predict prosocial behavior during quarantine.Methods:The sample consisted of 172 participants from Spain,divided into two groups based on whether they reported an increase in prosocial behaviors during quarantine.An online survey was administered to analyze the psychological and sociodemographic variables.Results:Overall,results demonstrate that emotional regulation,morality and age may predict prosocial behavior.Conclusions:Understanding the predictors of prosocial behavior during social crises is crucial for devising effective policies aimed at fostering community resilience and support networks,with particular attention to factors such as the capacity to regulate emotions,morality,and age.
文摘Background:Emotional attention refers to the capacity to recognize and properly respond to one’s and others’emotional states.On another note,family is a primary source of socialization that influences the development of various social skills.In another line,adolescence is a complex stage that has been associated with emotional difficulties that could be related to competences such as prosociability and inclusion.It is inferred that through the family context and the attention that is processed,a series of competencies are transmitted to the youngsters,but this relationship is still unclear.For this reason,the study’s purpose was to examine the relationship between the emotional attention of mothers and fathers and the social and prosocial competencies of their children.Methods:To accomplish this,a cross-sectional study and ex post facto design were conducted.The Trait-Meta Mood Scale(TMMS-24)-to assess emotional attention-,the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire(SDQ)-to determine the prosociality dimension-,and the Test on Passing Developmental Tasks in Adolescence(TCS-A)-to measure social inclusionwere administered.The participants were N=228 families composed of n=114 mothers/fathers(67.5%females)and n=114 daughters/sons(38.5%females)selected through non-probabilistic sampling using a convenience sample in the Bari region of Italy.A descriptive and inferential analysis-Student’s test and Pearson’s correlation-was performed with the statistic package SPSS version 28(significance level p<0.05).Results:The findings showed that the families possessed an adequate background in emotional attention and that their daughters and sons were also generally well-adjusted in social inclusion and prosociality.It also found certain signs that the prosocial competence of the children could be related to the behavior of their mothers and fathers.Conclusion:In conclusion,social inclusion is related to prosocial behavior,and maybe primarily cultivated within families where parents’emotional self-regulation serves as a model for children although further research is necessary.Comparative studies between different cultures are also proposed.
基金supported by the Philosophy and Social Science Foundation of Hunan Province(Grant Number 21YBQ005).
文摘Objectives:This study investigates the association between victimization experience and the tendency to defend on behalf of victims during school bullying incidents in public settings,with a focus on the mediating effect of empathy and the moderating role of school level among Chinese children and adolescents.Methods:Data were collected by a cross-sectional survey.A total of 1491 students in Grades 4–11 participated(Boys=52.8%;Mean_(age)=13.00 years,Standard Deviation_(age)=2.31).Structural equation modeling is employed to test the hypotheses.Results:The results indicate that empathy measures partially mediate the relationship between victimization experience and defending tendency in public in-school bullying situations.In particular,individuals with a history of victimization typically demonstrate lower levels of empathy.They are less likely to protect victims in school bullying situations in the presence of others,which suggests that empathy plays a significant mediating role in this relationship.Group differences were found between primary and secondary school students,which indicates that the hypothesized model should be considered through a developmental perspective.Conclusions:The findings of this study emphasize the importance of children’s benign peer relationships,and practitioners are encouraged to prevent victimization in schools and care for students who have been victimized;specific measures include cultivating empathy,teaching defending skills that have been found to help reduce the adverse effects of victimization,and encouraging prosocial behavior during children's socialization development.
基金supported by the 2023 School Level Scientific Research Project of Hechi University(No.2023XJPT004).
文摘Background:Theory of Mind(ToM)and empathy are crucial cognitive and emotional capacities that influence social interactions.While their role in promoting prosocial behavior has been established,the potential moderating effect of mindfulness on this relationship remains unexplored.Understanding these complex interactions is vital for developing effective interventions to foster prosocial behavior among college students.This study examines the influence of ToM on college students’prosocial behavior and explores the moderating role of mindfulness in this relationship.Methods:A mixed-methods approach combining questionnaires and experimental design was employed.Study 1:A survey of 759 college students(mean age 22.03 years;477 females)was conducted using the ToM Scale,Interpersonal Reactivity Index,Prosocial Behavior Tendency Scale,and Mindfulness Awareness Scale.Data were analyzed using correlation and moderated mediation analyses.Study 2:An 8-week mindfulness attention training program was implemented for the intervention group and compared with a control group.Mindfulness training served as a moderating variable to validate Model 59 from Study 1.Results:1.Study 1 found:(a)ToM was significantly positively correlated with prosocial behavior(r=0.31,p<0.01).(b)Empathy partially mediated the relationship between ToM and prosocial behavior(β=0.10,p<0.001,95%CI[0.06,0.14]).(c)Mindfulness negatively moderated the direct path between ToM and three dimensions of prosocial behavior,as well as the indirect path between empathy and kin altruism and reciprocal altruism.Specifically,high levels of mindfulness weakened the direct impact of ToM on prosocial behavior.High levels of mindfulness also weakened the indirect influence of ToM on prosocial behavior through empathy.2.Study 2 results showed:(a)The intervention group had significantly higher levels of trait mindfulness compared to the control group(t=2.56,p<0.05).(b)The validity of the moderated mediation model 59 from Study 1 was verified.Conclusion:While ToM and empathy play crucial roles in fostering prosocial behavior,mindfulness exhibits a more complex influence than anticipated,potentially inhibiting prosocial behavior under certain circumstances.These findings offer novel insights into the psychological mechanisms underlying prosocial behavior and underscore the importance of considering multiple interacting factors in its promotion.
基金supported by the Morinaga&Co.,Ltd.,R&D Institute.
文摘Background:Today,mental illness is one of the most serious social issues in Japan.To proactively prevent psychological disorders and improve and maintain well-being,each individual must take action and engage in small yet significant daily activities for their well-being on a daily basis.The purpose of this study was to investigate if our daily engagement in oyatsu activities,sharing and giving snacks,can enhance hedonic and eudaimonic well-being.Methods:We conducted a randomized controlled,open-label,parallel-group comparative design trial.Participants were recruited from a community website run by a snack company in Japan.Participants who were 20 years old or older without currently experiencing physical or mental illnesses were included.The participants in the intervention group(n=152)were instructed to do oyatsu activities,defined as sharing or giving snacks to others,for one month intentionally,while the participants in the control group(n=154)were not given any instructions.Hedonic or subjective well-being(SWB)was measured using the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience(SPANE)and Satisfaction with Life Scale(SWLS),and eudaimonic well-being was measured by the Flourishing Scale(FS).A one-way independent t-test was conducted to determine statistically significant differences in the degree of improvement of the scores between the intervention and the control groups.Results:The primary outcome was the difference in change in FS scores from baseline to one-month follow-up between the groups,and the secondary outcome was the difference in change in SWLS and SPANE scores.We found a significant between-group difference in the improvement in FS score from baseline to one-month follow-up(t(280)=2.235,p=0.03),as well as SPANE-P(t(280)=3.514,p<0.001),SPANE-N(t(282)=−2.651,p=0.01)and SWLS(t(281)=2.842,p=0.01).Conclusions:Engaging in oyatsu activities might improve hedonic and eudaimonic well-being partly due to the prosocial nature of oyatsu activities.
文摘Empathy allows humans and other animals to share the emotional state of another, adopting that individual’s perspective on a given situation. This ability is fundamental for species living in groups. Helping behavior in laboratory animals has been used to study empathy. In this test, subjects are exposed to a conspecific that is trapped and learn to open the cage to release the other animal. However, the interpretation of helping behavior as an emphatically motivated action is still controversial. Here we review the studies that use the helping behavioral test proposed by Ben-Ami Bartal and colleagues in 2011 to better understand motivational factors for this behavior. In addition, we compare methodological aspects of these studies. In conclusion, helping behavior can be driven by empathy, but other factors such as the desire for social contact and learning components cannot be ruled out as motivators. In addition, studies focused on evaluating neurobiological mechanisms underlying helping behavior in laboratory rodents can help elucidate the factors involved in releasing the trapped co-specific.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(81671344,31500859)Major International(Regional)Joint Research Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(81920108018)+1 种基金1.3.5 Project for Disciplines of Excellence,Special Foundation for Brain Research from the Science and Technology Program of Guangdong(2018B030334001)West China Hospital of Sichuan University(ZY2016103,ZY2016203)。
文摘Adult male tree shrews vigorously defend against intruding male conspecifics. However, the characteristics of social behavior have not been entirely explored in these males. In this study, male wild-type tree shrews(Tupaia belangeri chinensis)and C57 BL/6 J mice were first allowed to familiarize themselves with an open-field apparatus. The tree shrews exhibited a short duration of movement(moving) in the novel environment, whereas the mice exhibited a long duration of movement. In the 30 min social preference-avoidance test, target animals significantly decreased the time spent by the experimental tree shrews in the social interaction(SI)zone, whereas experimental male mice exhibited the opposite. In addition, experimental tree shrews displayed a significantly longer latency to enter the SI zone in the second 15 min session(targetpresent) than in the first 15 min session(targetabsent), which was different from that found in mice.Distinct behavioral patterns in response to a conspecific male were also observed in male tree shrews and mice in the first, second, and third 5 min periods. Thus, social behaviors in tree shrews and mice appeared to be time dependent. In summary,our study provides results of a modified social preference-avoidance test designed for the assessment of social behavior in tree shrews. Our findings demonstrate the existence of social avoidance behavior in male tree shrews and prosocial behavior in male mice toward unfamiliar conspecifics. The tree shrew may be a new animal model, which differs from mice, for the study of social avoidance and prosocial behaviors.
基金the Chinese National Office for Education Sciences Planning(Grant No.DBA190311).
文摘Objectives:The present study examined the relationship between college students’moral elevation and prosocial behavior.As well as the mediating role of perceived social support and the moderating role of moral identity.Methods:A sample of 489 college students were recruited for the study.They were asked to complete a series of questionnaires,including Moral Elevation Scale(MES),Perceived Social Support Scale(PSSS),Moral Identity Scale(MIS)and Prosocial Tendency Measure(PTM).As part of the data analysis,we used correlation analysis and the method of constructing latent variable structural equation model to explore the mechanism of action among variables.Results:After controlling for gender,discipline,the research found that:(1)Moral elevation positively predicted the prosocial behavior among the college students;(2)Perceived social support mediated the relationship between moral elevation and prosocial behavior;(3)Moral identity moderated the second half of the model(i.e.,the link between perceived social support and prosocial behavior).Specifically,the mediating effect of perceived social support was stronger for college students with high-level moral identity compared to those with low-level moral identity.Conclusions:Moral identity significantly moderates the mediating effect of perceived social support,and the mediating model with moderated is established.
基金the startup fund from City University of Hong Kong.
文摘Background:Prosocial crowdfunding helps the underprivileged obtain non-profitseeking loans from multitudinous lenders.Some platforms introduce teamcompetition to motivate member participation and may thus induce team rivalry.Methods:We investigate how team rivalry affects lending decisions using data fromKiva.org.We argue that a rivalry relationship may engage teams to compete directlyagainst rivals by lending to the same project or prevent them from doing sobecause they intend not to cooperate.Result:We find that a team is less likely to lend to a project that has receivedfunding from its rival team,suggesting that rival teams tend to avoid cooperation.Conclusions:We discuss the implications of our findings for crowdfundingand competition-based motivation mechanisms in general.
文摘Children's skills of social interaction is a significant index of their following psychological development. Prosocial behaviors which influenced by many factors are fundamental representatives of social interaction. Present essay illustrates an indepth review of literature concerning the impacts of family,peers, school and media in Children's prosocial behaviors and also indicates the limitations of each research.
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(72033003,12071088,91846302 and 71973107).
文摘The literature suggests inconsistent evidence regarding the influence of danger on prosocial behavior.We explore this issue through a nationwide survey of 8567 households in China during the COVID-19 Omicron variant outbreak in 2022.In a zero-COVID policy,China chose to quarantine all neighborhoods with viral infections.The almost random presence of infected cases provides an opportunity to examine the relationship between the proximity of danger(i.e.potential Omicron infection)and the prosocial behavior of residents in quarantine zones.For the first time,we find an inverted U-shape relationship:residents exhibit a stronger prosocial behavior when living closer to infected cases in the neighborhood,but this positive effect diminishes when they are too close to each other.Furthermore,such non-linear relationship is salient in residents’interpersonal helping but not in their cooperative behavior.Policymakers should be mindful of the different prosocial responses and target their efforts to help communities navigate quarantine periods more effectively.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.32271110,62441614)the Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program(Grant No.20235080047)。
文摘While advanced Large Language Models(LLMs)can simulate human-like prosocial behaviors,the degree to which they align with human prosocial values and the underlying afective mechanisms remain unclear.This study addressed these gaps using the third-party punishment(TPP)paradigm,comparing LLM agents(GPT and DeepSeek series)with human participants(n=100).The LLM agents(n=500,100 agents per model)were one-to-one constructed based on the demographic and psychological features of human participants.Prompt engineering was employed to initiate TPP games and record punitive decisions and afective responses in LLM agents.Results revealed that:(1)GPT-4o,DeepSeek-V3,and DeepSeek-R1 models demonstrated stronger fairness value alignment,choosing punitive options more frequently than humans in TPP games;(2)all LLMs replicated the human pathway from unfairness through negative afective response to punitive decisions,with stronger mediation efects of negative emotions observed in DeepSeek models than GPT models;(3)only DeepSeek-R1 exhibited the human-like positive feedback loop from previous punitive decisions to positive afective feedback and subsequent punitive choices;(4)most LLMs(excluding GPT-3.5)showed signifcant representational similarity to human afect-decision patterns;(5)notably,all LLMs displayed rigid afective dynamics,characterized by lower afective variability and higher afective inertia than the fexible,contextsensitive fuctuations observed in humans.These fndings highlight notable advances in prosocial value alignment but underscore the necessity to enhance their afective dynamics to foster robust,adaptive prosocial LLMs.Such advancements could not only accelerate LLMs'alignment with human values but also provide empirical support for the broader applicability of prosocial theories to LLM agents.
基金supported by the National Social Science Foundation Project under Grant No.24BGL116Major Program of The Universities Philosophy and Social Science Foundation of Jiangsu under Grant No.2024SJZD057Postgraduate Research&Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province under Grant No.KYCX24_1098.
文摘With the market’s growing concern for corporate social responsibility,consumers’purchasing decisions are gradually influenced by their prosocial behaviors,which leads more and more consumers to prefer brands and products associated with charity events.Based on this,cause-related marketing(CRM),as an innovative marketing model that combines product sales with public welfare,is gradually being favoured by various enterprises.Considering the market proportion of prosocial consumers,this paper explores the pricing decisions and CRM strategy of supply chain members by examining a supply chain system consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer,where the manufacturer produces two donation behaviors.By developing a Stackelberg model for two scenarios,including the donations for each unit sold(UCM strategy)and donations for one-off(OCM strategy),this paper finds that the proportion of the market with prosocial consumers and their sensitivity to CRM,as well as the additional utility generated by this group of consumers under the OCM strategy,are key to the manufacturer’s choice of CRM strategy.The larger the additional utility generated under the UCM strategy,the more likely the manufacturer is to choose the OCM strategy.When the additional utility generated under the UCM strategy is small,the manufacturer’s CRM strategy is determined by the proportion of the market with prosocial consumers and their sensitivity to CRM:if the proportion of the market with prosocial consumers and their sensitivity to CRM are both moderate or large,the manufacturer should choose the OCM strategy;conversely,it is more favourable to choose the UCM strategy.Furthermore,the model is extended to that the retailer implements the CRM strategy which also have the same donation strategy options.The results indicate that CRM strategy in the supply chain and total donations areh less affected by the implementing entity.
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC),under Grants Nos.72301034 and 72272016Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under Grant No.2025ZZ048.
文摘The application of artificial intelligence(AI)in customer service becomes ubiquitous.In response to the advocacy in the“2021 Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence”,it is crucial to understand how to leverage AI customer service chatbots for societal welfare.Across two scenario studies and one lab experiment,this research investigates the impact of AI chatbots’communication styles on consumers’subsequent prosocial intentions irrelevant to the AI-human interaction contents.The combined evidence suggests that consumers exhibit higher prosocial intentions after interacting with social-oriented(vs.task-oriented)AI chatbots.The findings reveal the chain-mediating roles of social presence and empathy.Moreover,the current research investigates the boundary effect of consumers’goal focus(process focus vs.outcome focus),and shows that AI chatbots’communication styles have stronger impact on prosocial intentions for customers with outcome focus.These results revealed the important externality of the AI application in marketplace and provide a novel perspective for companies to implement the corporate social responsibility(CSR)strategy.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.31371040,81501184 and 31571134)。
文摘Humans are the most prosocial primate species and they often exhibit high levels of prosocial behavior toward genetically unrelated individuals.Traditional evolutionary theories are not sufficient to explain the individual differences and mechanisms related to prosociality.In this study,we focused on the gene–situation interaction in prosocial behaviors,and the patterns of genotype variance related to cooperation and comforting in different situations.We explored the interaction between the oxytocin receptor(OXTR)gene and situations,and the genotype variance under low and high prosociality situations between outgroup and ingroup recipients in a sample of 422 Chinese males.Prosociality was tested by measuring the prosocial tendencies,and prosocial behaviors were tested in cooperation and comforting tasks.OXTR single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.The results suggested that the relationship between OXTR SNPs(specifically rs13316193,rs1042778 and rs237887)and prosocial behavior varied across different situations,and that the associations were moderated by the recipient’s identity and the prosocial cost.Our findings indicate the action of a moderating mechanism between the OXTR gene and prosocial behaviors according to situational factors.
基金by the Science and Technology Project of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission(Nos.KJQN202100309 and KJZD-K202200307)the Chongqing Education Science Project(No.2018-GX-006)the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics under the 111 Project Research Base(No.B16040).
文摘This study investigated the efects of boarding at school on students'prosocial behaviors in rural China using data from the National Children's Study of China.The instrumental variable(IV)approach was used to control for potential endogeneity,and the IVs were the proportion of boarding students in higher grades and the school area per student.The ordinary least squares and IV estimates showed that boarding students exhibited more prosocial behaviors,including compliance with rules,positive traits,and altruistic attitudes.These results were robust.Heterogeneity analyses suggested that students from low-income families,children who were not"left behind,"high-grade students,and female students were more likely to benefit from boarding.We found that these effects were primarily due to boarding students developing stronger feelings of trust and support from their peers and teachers and participating in more school-organized events and team activities.
文摘Cyberspace has significantly influenced people’s perceptions of social interactions and communication.As a result,the conventional theories of kin selection and reciprocal altruism fall short in completely elucidating online prosocial behavior.Based on the social information processing model,we propose an analytical framework to explain the donation behaviors on online platform.Through collecting textual and visual data from Tencent Gongyi platform pertaining to disease relief projects,and employing techniques encompassing text analysis,image analysis,and propensity score matching,we investigate the impact of both internal emotional cues and external contextual cues on donation behaviors.It is found that positive emotions tend to attract a larger number of donations,while negative emotions tend to result in higher per capita donation amounts.Furthermore,these effects manifest differently under distinct external contextual conditions.
