Daily Prosocial Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic Contribute to Giving Behavior in Adolescence

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Moral Development

Abstract

With the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated social distancing regulations, adolescents experience significant changes in their social environment. Prior studies have shown the potential negative impact of limited opportunities for social interactions on adolescents’ mental health (e.g., Orben, Tomova, & Blakemore, 2020). However, there are also factors that may mitigate negative outcomes, such as the extent to which adolescents show prosocial actions. Prosocial actions fulfill adolescents’ need for autonomy and impact and the need to be a contributing member of society (Fuligni, 2020). In our preregistered study (see https://osf.io/uf9dn/), we investigated whether daily prosocial experiences lead to positive outcomes during the pandemic. Specifically, we examined the relationship between daily prosocial experiences and giving to others, with personality characteristics potentially moderating this relationship. We invited 482 adolescents (aged 10-18) and 404 university students (aged 17-25) to participate in our two-week daily diary study during the COVID-19 lockdown in the Netherlands (May 2020). We used Dictator Games (Van de Groep et al., 2020) to examine familiarity, need, and deservedness effects on giving to ecologically valid COVID-19 pandemic related targets. Results showed that adolescents gave most of their resources to a doctor in a hospital (67%, deserving target), a COVID-19 patient (62%) and an individual with a poor immune system (59%, targets in need), whereas they gave less of their resources to a friend (50%, familiar target) and an unknown peer (33%). This suggests larger effects of deservedness and need than familiarity on giving during the pandemic. Younger adolescents had higher giving levels than older adolescents, especially to COVID-19 targets (see Figure 1). Besides, adolescents showed prosocial experiences on a daily basis, with more daily prosocial experiences directed towards friends than family members. Here, adolescents aged 16 to 20 showed a peak in prosocial experiences with friends (see Figure 2). These daily prosocial experiences with friends and family during the pandemic were positively associated with giving behavior, specifically to those in need (i.e., COVID-19 patients and individuals with a poor immune system) and who are deserving (i.e., doctors in a hospital). Moderation analyses demonstrated the effects of emotion awareness and social reward sensitivity on this positive relationship. Overall, our study sheds light on the importance of prosocial experiences for adolescents and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Providing prosocial opportunities helps adolescents to fulfill their fundamental needs for autonomy, impact and contribution to society (Fuligni, 2020). This, in turn, may protect adolescents against detrimental outcomes of the pandemic. Our results suggest that prosocial opportunities are crucial for adaptive sensitivity to societal needs (e.g., related to need and deservedness), as evidenced by the positive association with giving to pandemic-specific targets.

Authors

• Sophie W. Sweijen, Erasmus University Rotterdam
  Presenting Author

• Suzanne van de Groep, Erasmus University Rotterdam
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kayla Green, Erasmus University Rotterdam
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lysanne Te Brinke, Utrecht University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Moniek Buijzen, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rebecca de Leeuw, Radboud University Nijmegen
  Non-Presenting Author

• Eveline A. Crone, Erasmus University
  Non-Presenting Author