Looking forward to helping: The effects of prospection on prosocial intentions and behavior

Longitudinal Changes in Chinese Prosociality

This article presents three studies using data from the World Values Survey, 128 published studies, and China Family Panel Studies to comprehensively examine the longitudinal dynamics of Chinese prosociality, encompassing prosocial attitudes, tendencies, and behaviors, with the overarching goal of shedding light on the evolving nature of prosociality in the Chinese context. These studies reveal a consistent pattern, illustrating a decline followed by a resurgence in all three aspects, with a nadir around 2014. In addition, the study investigates the intricate relationship between economic inequality, prosocial behavior, and prosocial attitudes. The findings suggest that while economic inequality significantly relates to prosocial behavior, it does not entirely explain its fluctuations. Prosocial attitudes partially mediate the connection between economic inequality and prosocial behavior. These insights suggest that addressing inequality could contribute to a more conducive social environment for societal-level prosociality. However, further research is imperative to explore additional determinants of prosociality shifts.

Prospection and delay of gratification support the development of calculated reciprocity

Humans frequently benefit others strategically to elicit future cooperation. While such forms of calculated reciprocity are powerful in eliciting cooperative behaviors even among self-interested agents, they depend on advanced cognitive and behavioral capacities such as prospection (representing and planning for future events) and extended delay of gratification. In fact, it has been proposed that these constraints help explain why calculated reciprocity exists in humans and is rare or even absent in other animals. The current study investigated the cognitive foundation of calculated reciprocity by examining its ontogenetic emergence in relation to key aspects of children's cognitive development. Three-to-five-year-old children from the US (N = 72, mostly White, from mixed socioeconomic backgrounds) first completed a cognitive test battery assessing the cognitive capacities hypothesized to be foundational for calculated reciprocity. In a second session, children participated in a calculated reciprocity task in which they could decide how many resources to share with a partner who later had the opportunity to reciprocate (reciprocity condition) and with a partner who could not reciprocate (control condition). Results indicated a steep developmental emergence of calculated reciprocity between 3 and 5 years of age. Further analyses showed that measures of delay of gratification and prospection were important predictors of children's rate of calculated reciprocity, even when controlling for age and after including a measure of verbal ability. By contrast, theory of mind abilities were unrelated to children's reciprocal behavior. This is the first systematic investigation of essential cognitive capacities for calculated reciprocity. We discuss prospection and delay of gratification as two domain-general capacities that are utilized for calculated reciprocity and which could explain developmental as well as species-differences in cooperation.

The Relationship between Parental Emotional Warmth and Rural Adolescents' Hope: The Sequential Mediating Role of Perceived Social Support and Prosocial Behavior

Parental emotional warmth plays a prominent role in adolescents' hope, but few studies have examined the underlying mechanism between parental emotional warmth and hope in rural adolescents, or have compared the gender differences in the mediation models between parental emotional warmth and hope. Based on the developmental contextualism theory and Bernardo's hope theory, this study examined the sequential mediating effect of perceived social support and prosocial behavior between parental emotional warmth and hope and test the gender differences between them. Seventeen hundred and one rural adolescents were surveyed with the Short-Form Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran (s-EMBU-C), Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), Prosocial Tendency Measure (PTM), and Hope Scale (HS). Correlation analysis showed that there were positive correlations between parental emotional warmth, perceived social support, prosocial behavior, and hope. The structural equation model showed that parental emotional warmth indirectly affected hope through the separate and sequential mediation of perceived social support and prosocial behavior. Multi-group analysis showed that boys were significantly higher than girls in the relationship between perceived social support and prosocial behavior. The results emphasized that improving parental emotional warmth, perceived social support, and encouraging rural adolescents' prosocial behavior could effectively promote their hope.

Optimism and subjective well-being in nursing home older adults: The mediating roles of gratitude and social support

OBJECTIVES

To examine the level of subjective well-being (SWB) and the mediating roles of gratitude and social support in the relationship between optimism and SWB amongst older Chinese people in nursing homes.

METHODS

A total of 354 older adults in Chinese nursing homes completed the World Health Organization's well-being index, Life Orientation Test-Revised, Gratitude Questionnaire-Six-Item Form, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the relationships between optimism, gratitude, social support and SWB.

RESULTS

The mean SWB score of the older people was (63.14 ±15.31), with 21.0% of subjects reporting low SWB. Gratitude and social support in serial partially mediated the relationship of optimism with SWB (total indirect effect: Standardized β = 0.157, 95% CI [0.109,0.216], p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

These findings provide good evidence for the inter-relationship mechanism amongst the protective factors of SWB, suggesting the need to prioritize positive psychological nursing interventions to promote SWB in older people in residential care.

Stuck in the past or living in the present? Temporal focus and the spread of COVID-19

Research has shown that the temporal focus of individuals can have a real effect on behavior. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study posits that temporal focus will affect adherence behavior regarding health control measures, such as social distancing, hand washing and mask wearing, which will be manifested through the degree of spread of COVID-19. It is suggested that social media can provide an indicator of the general temporal focus of the population at a particular time. In this study, we examine the temporal focus of Twitter text data and the number of COVID-19 cases in the US over a 317-day period from the inception of the pandemic, using text analytics to classify the temporal content of 0.76 million tweets. The data is then analyzed using dynamic regression via advanced ARIMA modelling, differencing the data, removing weekly seasonality and creating a stationary time series. The result of the dynamic regression finds that past orientation does indeed have an effect on the growth of COVID-19 cases in the US. However, a present focus tends to reduce the spread of COVID cases. Future focus had no effect in the model. Overall, the research suggests that detecting and managing temporal focus could be an important tool in managing public health during a pandemic.

Future Time Perspective and Perceived Social Support: The Mediating Role of Gratitude

Future time perspective, perceived social support, and dispositional gratitude are topics of interest that positively influence people’s psychological health. Although gratitude has been positively associated with future time perspective and social support, this is the first study to investigate its mediating role in the relationships of future time perspective with perceived social support. A convenience sample of 1256 adults (55.1% women), mean age 34.55 years (SD = 13.92), completed self-reported measures of future time perspective (conceptualized as remaining time and opportunities), dispositional gratitude, and received and given social support. Results indicated that higher dispositional gratitude mediated the relationship between the perception of more remaining time and opportunities and greater perception of received and given social support. These findings highlight the importance of considering dispositional characteristics to better understand the impact of perceived future on the individuals’ subjective experience of social exchanges. Interventions addressing future time perspective and dispositional gratitude might have beneficial effects on individuals’ social well-being.

Distinct Routes to Understand the Relationship Between Dispositional Optimism and Life Satisfaction: Self-Control and Grit, Positive Affect, Gratitude, and Meaning in Life

Over the last years, understanding the implications of prospective thinking toward the future has become of increasing interest. This study aims to delve into the relation between dispositional optimism, one of the most relevant prospective constructs, and life satisfaction. Additionally, we also seek to prove the mediating effect of different cognitive and affective variables associated with both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being on this relationship. A first study is conducted with 275 secondary students to assess the relationship between optimism and life satisfaction through self-control and grit (14.82, SD = 1.07), which indicates a mediating effect of grit but not of self-control. A second study is carried out with 1,356 university students (21.5, SD = 2.35) to demonstrate the mediating effect of positive affect on dispositional optimism and life satisfaction. Results show a strong relationship between optimism and positive affect, but no mediating effect on life satisfaction. Finally, a third study comprising 371 secondary students (14.12, SD = 1.78) demonstrates the existence of a serial multiple mediation from gratitude and meaning in life over the relationship between optimism and life satisfaction. Implications are discussed in terms of how prospective variables like dispositional optimism may lead to an increase in subjective well-being (SWB) through different affective and cognitive mechanisms.

Can helping others strengthen teens? Character strengths as mediators between prosocial behavior and adolescents' internalizing symptoms

INTRODUCTION

Identifying protective factors against internalizing behaviors during adolescence is a public health priority, as rates of depression and anxiety are rising. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine whether prosocial engagement toward strangers and family members is protective against depressive and anxiety symptoms, and whether this link is mediated by character strengths (i.e., hope, persistence, gratitude, and self-esteem).

METHOD

The sample consisted of 500 US adolescents (52% female; 66% European American; 33% from single-parent families). Data across three consecutive yearly waves were utilized in the current study (M_age Time 1 = 13.32).

RESULTS

Results of a longitudinal structural equation model revealed prosocial behavior toward strangers and family members were differentially related to character strengths, and that prosocial behavior toward strangers was indirectly associated with depressive symptoms via self-esteem.

CONCLUSION

Taken together, findings extend the Developmental Cascades model and suggest that prosocial behavior and character strengths protect against depressive symptoms during the adolescent period. Findings are discussed in the context of relevant research and theory, and implications for future research and intervention programs are presented.