A person-centered examination of community characteristics and prosocial behaviors among young adults

• In Event: Is altruism born of suffering? Prosocial development in the wake of adverse life experiences

Abstract

Considering the role of social contexts in shaping young adults’ social behaviors is a priority among scholars. One context that might be particularly salient in shaping behaviors is neighborhood environments. Young adults living in low-resource communities tend to be surrounded by concentrated poverty and limited access to resources, while middle class and affluent young adults might have easier access to a variety of resources (Odgers & Adler, 2018). While community characteristics may be associated with maladaptive social behaviors, such experiences might also be linked to prosocial behaviors. Prosocial behaviors are defined as actions intended to benefit others, and are indicators of health and well-being among adolescents (Carlo & Randall, 2002; Randall & Wenner, 2014). One defining characteristics of prosocial behaviors is considering the target of such behaviors (e.g., friends versus strangers). The majority of research examining context and prosocial behaviors has utilized variable centered analyses that allow the researcher to examine whether variation in contextual variables predicts prosocial behaviors. However, this perspective does not allow for an understanding of cumulative factors and their simultaneous effects. Person centered analyses, such as latent profile analyses, examine underlying patterns in the data based on the predictors included (Bergman & Magnusson, 1997). Therefore, the goal of the current study was to examine patterns among young adults based on three indicators: neighborhood risk, social cohesion, and community self-efficacy.
One characteristic associated with neighborhood risk is exposure to violence in the broader community (Gorman-Smith & Tolan, 1998). Such exposure might predict prosocial behaviors among young adults because individuals who are exposed to violence might lose trust in others (both community members and outsiders) and might be hesitant to approach others in order to protect themselves (Horowitz et al., 2005). Social cohesion (connections in one’s social network and perceptions of solidarity among members; Kawachi & Berkman, 2000) might act as a protective factor for youth, as neighborhood belonging has positively predicted prosocial behaviors (Edwards & Bromfield, 2009). Additionally, community self-efficacy might also be a salient predictor of prosocial behaviors, primarily toward strangers, as efficacy in engaging in community change has been linked to higher levels of prosocial behaviors (McMahon et al., 2013). The current study aimed to explore whether these three predictors combine to predict prosocial behaviors directed specifically toward friends and strangers.
The final sample consisted of 202 emerging adults (M age = 20.94 years; 76.5% girls; 50.5% Latino/a). Participants completed measures of their neighborhood risk (Sampson, Raudenbush, & Earls, 1997), social cohesion (Sampson et al., 1997), community self-efficacy (Flanagan, Syvertsen, & Stout, 2007), and prosocial behaviors toward friends and strangers (Peterson & Selegman, 2004). The results demonstrated three groups of emerging adults (see Figure 1), and group membership was also marginally associated with prosocial behaviors toward both friends and strangers. Discussion will focus on the role of contexts in shaping social responding of emerging adults with an emphasis on factors that promote helping behaviors.

Authors

• Sahitya Maiya, University of New Hampshire
  Presenting Author

• Alexandra Nicole Davis, University of New Mexico
  Non-Presenting Author