Black Adolescent Altruism: Exploring the Role of Racial Discrimination and Empathy

• In Event: Resistant and Agentic Outcomes in the Face of Racism Among Black Families

Abstract

The development of prosocial behaviors is an important marker of well-being and social functioning for adolescents (Davis & Carlo, 2019; Davis et al., 2016). Yet, research on prosocial behaviors of Black1 youth is scarce, which is problematic given the importance placed on prosociality as an index of healthy development (Davis & Carlo, 2019; Randall & Wenner, 2014). Black adolescent altruism is best examined in the context of conceptual frames that consider the social and political worlds that Black youth are navigating. This study is guided by two conceptual frames: the Altruism Born of Suffering theory (ABS; Staub & Vollhardt, 2008) and the Cultural Stress and Prosocial Behaviors model (CSPB; Davis & Carlo, 2019). Both theoretical frames draw connections between altruism, empathy, and experiences of cultural stress or suffering, but have not considered these constructs among chronic, everyday encounters with suffering for Black youth in the U.S., in particular.
Thus, we assessed the extent to which empathy and daily experiences of racial discrimination occurring in schools and community contexts contribute to altruism among a sample of self-identified Black/African American adolescents from 3 school districts in the Midwest U.S. (n=1,362; Mage = 14.19, SD = 1.68). We make 6 main hypotheses:
1) Girls will report more frequent altruistic behaviors than boys (H1);
2) School-based racial discrimination and empathy will be positively related to altruism for Black girls;
3) School-based racial discrimination and empathy will be positively related to altruism for Black boys;
4) Community-based experiences of discrimination and empathy will be positively related to altruism for Black girls;
5) Community-based experiences of discrimination and empathy will be positively related to altruism for Black boys;
6) Empathy will moderate the relations between discrimination and altruism across all the models for Black boys and Black girls.
Hierarchical regression models revealed that empathy and discriminatory events experienced in community contexts are positively related to altruistic behaviors for boys and girls. School-based discrimination was positively related to altruism for boys only. Empathy did not significantly moderate the relations between racial discrimination (in schools or community settings) and altruism. Future work should explore how discrimination manifests for boys and girls in school and community contexts, the ways that boys and girls make meaning of these encounters, and the ways that their meaning making may shape their development as prosocial actors. We also suggest that gender role socialization and coping styles are important factors to consider in future investigations of the link between racial discrimination and prosocial behaviors among Black youth. These findings extend previous theories of prosocial behavior in the face of adversity by highlighting the importance of context and gender.

Authors

• Kayla J Fike, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author

• Casta Guillaume, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jacqueline S. Mattis, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Author