Examining the Relationship between Social Trust, Empathic Concern, the Principle of Care, and Low-cost and High-cost Prosocial Behaviors in Sociodemographic Contexts

Abstract

Humans have an enormous capacity to act prosocially, yet global trends indicate a decline in such behaviors. Considering the importance of prosocial behaviors for individuals and society, it is crucial to explore the various factors and contexts influencing prosocial behaviors. Existing gaps in the literature limit a deeper understanding of the contributors to prosocial behaviors. Studies on prosocial behaviors have typically focused on emotional contributors, while cognitive and social factors like the principle of care and social trust have been less examined. In addition, few studies have treated prosocial behaviors as a multidimensional construct, while the majority of studies on prosocial behaviors have utilized youth samples from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) backgrounds. The current study utilizes data from 1,339 participants in the 2004 National Opinion Research Center General Social Survey. This study examines the relationships between empathic concern, the principle of care, social trust, and the frequency of low- and high-cost prosocial behaviors across various sociodemographic contexts. Additionally, this study examined the similarities and differences in these relationships across the sociodemographic contexts of racial and ethnic background, gender, socioeconomic status, and age. A series of One-Way Welch ANOVAs revealed significant sociodemographic differences in contributors and types of prosocial behaviors. A path analysis showed that while the principle of care was associated with both high- and low-cost prosocial behaviors, social trust was associated with only high-cost prosocial behaviors, and empathic concern was associated with only low-cost prosocial behaviors. Furthermore, the results of a series of multigroup path analyses demonstrated the stability of the principle of care's importance on prosocial behaviors across sociodemographic contexts, while the degree of relationship between empathic concern, social trust, and prosocial behaviors varied significantly across racial and ethnic background, gender, socioeconomic status, and age. These findings highlight the importance of considering emotional, cognitive, and social contributors, different types of prosocial behaviors, and various sociodemographic contexts when researching prosocial behaviors. Furthermore, professionals who are designing programs and interventions to promote prosocial behaviors need to tailor their approaches based on the participants’ sociodemographic backgrounds and influences of different emotional, cognitive, and social factors.