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Background: Proximal and distal factors interact to shape children's development and well-being. The present study aimed to examine socioeconomic status (SES), linguistic skills, and language background as concurrent predictors of socio-emotional and behavioural outcomes in heritage bilingual and monolingual children attending preschool. Methods: Parents of 1810 children (mean age = 63.42 months ± 7.36), attending preschool in Italy, completed the Four Factor Index of SES and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Teachers (n = 99) completed a questionnaire on children's linguistic skills and emotional and behavioural profiles. A subsample of 995 children was administered an expressive vocabulary task in Italian. Results: Regression analyses showed that linguistic skills were the only concurrent predictor of conduct problems, as well as the dominant predictor of hyperactivity/impulsivity, peer problems, and better prosocial behaviour. SES was negatively related to ADHD traits, peer problems, and prosocial behaviour. Finally, heritage bilingualism background was associated, although not as a primary predictor, with increased emotional problems, peer relationship problems, and lower teacher-rated emotional and behavioural skills. However, it was the main factor positively associated with prosocial behaviour. Conclusions: The implications of these findings for research in this area and for educational policy are discussed, highlighting the need for a multidimensional perspective that includes linguistic skills and SES in the assessment of children's emotional and behavioural outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Intergroup contact has long been established as a prejudice‐reduction tool in divided societies, with contact being particularly effective during adolescence. A large proportion of evidence, however, draws on cross‐sectional surveys or analytical approaches that do not distinguish between‐ and within‐person effects. In the present research, we address this by exploring the potential of intergroup contact longitudinally on social cohesion–related outcomes amongst youth (aged 14–19) in Belfast (Study 1, N = 231) and Bradford (Study 2, N = 159). Measures included intergroup contact, outgroup attitudes, intergroup anxiety, outgroup empathy and outgroup prosocial behaviour across three time points. Using random‐intercept cross‐lagged panel models, results demonstrate between‐person associations of contact with our outcomes, but limited within‐person changes. Our findings demonstrate the potential and limitations of intergroup contact for social cohesion–related outcomes for youth growing up in divided societies, pointing to the need for developmental‐focused future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Satisfaction and happiness are two widely studied topics in current literature. Human beings need to find happiness. However, for many authors, satisfaction is a prerequisite for happiness. Satisfaction, in turn, can be approached from different perspectives, such as job satisfaction, health satisfaction, and social life satisfaction. This research analyses the relationship between these variables and their influence on proactive social behaviour. Methods: The present study utilised the European Social Survey, an academic survey conducted across Europe in its round 10, carried out between 2022 and 2023, with a database of 25,311 valid responses. Structural equation modelling analysis conduct using PLS-SEM with the Smart PLS software. Results: The results demonstrate a direct and significant relationship between overall satisfaction and happiness and between happiness and prosocial behaviour. Similarly, a solid indirect relationship exists between satisfaction and prosocial behaviour in society. Furthermore, job satisfaction is among the variables influencing overall satisfaction and happiness. However, it is not the most important, with satisfaction with social life being the most influential on satisfaction. Conclusions and implications: Happiness is one of the main variables that influence people's lives. As we have observed, this happiness has a direct and solid relationship with the individual's level of satisfaction, with job satisfaction and satisfaction with social life being the most influential in this relationship between satisfaction and happiness. Therefore, these conclusions must be understood by both workers and employers and public administrations. Additionally, the relationship between happiness and prosocial behaviour is an interesting topic that the governments of countries and regions in Europe should consider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of self-compassion on athlete wellbeing is well established. Much less researched is the impact of self-compassion, and its related fears (hereafter "fears of compassion") on athletes' prosocial and antisocial behaviours. Indeed, sporting contexts offer opportunities for athletes to demonstrate prosocial and antisocial behaviours towards teammates and competitors, and these behaviours could lead to various performance and wellbeing-related consequences. Given the well-documented benefits of a compassion, and the intention to investigate alternative antecedents or predictors of prosocial and antisocial behaviour in sport, we assessed the longitudinal influences of self-compassion and fears of compassion on athletes' prosocial and antisocial behaviours. The study used a repeated measures design, where 324 athletes (174 male, 150 female) from 35 different sports (22 individual sports, 13 team sports) completed surveys at baseline and the 4th and 8th month. Conditional latent growth curve modelling revealed higher self-compassion and lower fears of receiving compassion from others at baseline were associated with greater prosocial behaviours, whilst higher fears of self-compassion were associated with higher antisocial behaviour, over eight months. Results also revealed a trend for antisocial behaviour to increase across the study period. Compassion-based interventions may be of value to athletes to improve prosocial behaviours in sport contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand human prosocial behaviour, one must consider not only the helpers and the requesters, but also the characteristics of the beneficiaries. To this aim, this articles reviews research on beneficiary effects in prosocial decision making, which implies that some human lives are valued higher than others. We focus on eight beneficiary attributes that increase willingness to help: (1) Temporal proximity, (2) Young age, (3) Female gender, (4) Misery, (5) Innocence, (6) Ingroup, (7) Identifiability (8) High proportion. We demonstrate that different psychological mechanisms explain different beneficiary effects, that the size and direction of beneficiary effects varies as a function of response mode (separate evaluation, joint evaluation, or forced choice), and outcome measure (attitudes or helping behaviour). We propose that beneficiary attributes differ in their evaluability, justifiability, and prominence, and conclude by discussing theoretical, moral, and applied aspects of beneficiary effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The academic development and widespread adoption of meditation practices for well-being and therapy have predominantly focused on secularised adaptations of Buddhist and Hindu techniques. This study aims to expand the field by investigating Christian and Islamic meditation that emphasize the spiritual significance of the heart through elements of visualisation and recitation. It compares the effects of spiritual heart-centred meditation with mindfulness meditation and a waitlist control, focusing on dimensions of social functioning, psychophysiology, cognition, and mental health. Method: This study employs a stratified 3-arm randomised controlled method with mixed-method repeated measures across three assessment time points: before intervention (T1), after an 8-week intervention (T2), and at a 3-month follow up (T3). The three conditions include spiritual meditation (either Christian or Islamic), mindfulness meditation (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction – MBSR), and a waitlist. Participants will be stratified into Christian and Muslim samples and randomly allocated to the spiritual meditation, MBSR, or waitlist control conditions. Importantly, participants assigned to the spiritual meditation condition will be matched to the spiritual meditation program corresponding to their religion. The intervention will be administered through a mobile phone app with daily 20-minute guided meditation sessions for eight weeks. Primary outcomes pertain to the domain of interpersonal functioning, focusing on prosociality, forgiveness, empathy, and perspective taking. Secondary outcomes include physiology: pain tolerance, pain intensity, stress reactivity assessed via heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV), psychophysiological reactivity associated with a forgiveness task as measured through HR and HRV, attention (alerting, orienting, and executive attention networks), and mental health (stress, depression, anxiety, subjective well-being, positive and negative affect). Discussion: This trial aims to test the effects of an app-based Christian and Islamic meditation, compared to secular mindfulness and a waitlist, using a randomised controlled trial. If the results yield positive outcomes, this study will support the efficacy of these contemplations, offering practitioners a way to enhance their well-being within their religious framework. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT06136676. Registered on 18 November 2023. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06136676. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how individual differences in self‐focused and other‐focused orientations relate to prosocial (e.g., helping, volunteerism) and antisocial (e.g., theft, violence) behaviours/attitudes. Using four datasets (total N = 176,216; across 78 countries), we find that other‐focused orientations (e.g., socially focused values, intimacy motivation, compassionate/communal traits) generally relate positively to prosocial outcomes and negatively to antisocial outcomes. These effects are highly consistent cross‐nationally and across multiple ways of operationalizing constructs. In contrast, self‐focused orientations (e.g., personally focused values, power motivation, assertive/agentic traits) tend to relate positively to both antisocial and prosocial outcomes. However, associations with prosocial outcomes vary substantially across nations and construct operationalizations. Overall, the effects of other‐focused orientations are consistently larger than those of self‐focused orientations. We discuss the implications of these findings for interventions that target self‐focused and other‐focused motivations to influence prosocial and antisocial outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify the way in which the motivational climate generated by Physical Education (PE) teachers influences engagement in prosocial-altruistic behaviour in a sample of 714 12-to-18-year-old Spaniards adolescents. To this end, the following objectives were proposed: (1) to identify the types of motivational climates established by teachers in PE classes and their impact on facilitating or limiting student engagement in altruistic prosocial behaviours, and (2) to examine the existence of gender differences and describe whether they are also influenced by the climates generated by teachers. A descriptive, non-randomized and relational research design was employed. The students were applied instruments for the 3 × 2 motivational climate and prosocial behavior in relation to their experiences in physical education classes. Findings reveal that an other-oriented climate, whether approach or avoidance oriented, reduces engagement in altruistic prosocial activities in the physical education classroom. Data analysis lead to the conclusion that a more comparative and negatively competitive perception (climates oriented towards how I perform in front of others) decreases engage-ment in altruistic prosocial behaviour, mainly in boys, promoting instead rivalry and competitive behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are attributions of motives for prosocial behaviour modulated by the actor's wealth? We provide evidence for people attributing higher reputational motives to rich prosocial actors than poor ones across four studies. This effect persists across different kinds of prosocial behaviours, including helping (Study 1), volunteering (Study 2), and donating money (Studies 3–4). Furthermore, rich (vs. poor) prosocial actors are perceived to be less likely to be driven by altruistic motives and to have lower moral character than poor actors (Studies 2–3). Attribution of reputational motives and altruistic motives mediates the effect of target wealth on the perception of moral character (Study 2–3). Study 4 demonstrates that the judgement gap disappears when reputational benefits are implausible: voluntary privacy eliminates the wealth‐based gap in motive attributions and judgement of moral character. These findings highlight that suspicion of motives prevents people from giving credit to rich prosocial actors. The implications for understanding motive inferences and prosocial credit are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Research has identified a range of intrapersonal variables associated with moral behaviors in sport. However, research investigating how perfectionism and burnout are associated with prosocial and antisocial behavior toward teammates and opponents in sport has received scant attention. In the present study, we address this issue by examining whether perfectionism is associated with prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport directly and indirectly via burnout and moral disengagement. Method: A total of 312 team sport players completed validated measures for each variable. Results: Path analyses revealed that perfectionistic concerns had a negative relationship with prosocial behavior toward teammates and an indirect positive association with antisocial behavior toward both teammates and opponents via being positively associated with burnout, which in turn, was positively associated with moral disengagement. In contrast, perfectionistic strivings had a positive association with prosocial behavior toward teammates, and an indirect positive association with antisocial behavior toward teammates and opponents via moral disengagement. Conclusion: Our findings offer new insights into how perfectionism and burnout are associated with prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport, as well as highlight the need to consider perfectionistic tendencies and approaches to help reduce burnout and moral disengagement in the regulation of antisocial behavior in sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study makes new theoretical propositions that reconceptualize what we know about prosocial behaviours in a tourism context. Based on qualitative in-depth interviews and observations involving 27 domestic tourists, it was found that positive emotional gratifications of joy, gratitude, contentment, and happiness accompanied prosocial behaviours involving group photo-taking and sharing on social media, group dining, buying local pastries in support of the local economy and well-being, and interacting with others. The co-existence of benefits to others (altruism) and the self (egoistic) in prosocial engagement questions whether prosocial behaviours are purely altruistic. Rather than taking a binary conceptualization of prosocial motives, it is argued that prosocial behaviours involve the complementary interaction between altruism and egoistically-motivated behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explored the costs and the benefits of elite African players' prosocial activities in their home countries. Through the players' Twitter and Instagram posts and qualitative interviews, their prosocial activities were examined with regard to the costs and benefits for their career and life courses. The findings show that African players' transnational prosocial acts are both altruistic (placing costs) and mutualistic (generating benefits). This exploratory paper adds to the existing literature by pointing out both the material and non-material consequences of players' transnational social responsibility activities. Further, it reveals the complex implications of these practices. For example, while participation in the national team is often viewed primarily from the perspective of positive and beneficial contributions to players' careers, it may also pose a very significant cost to African players, as they risk jeopardising their club careers. The practical implication of this study is that football governing bodies need to do more to eliminate administrative practices that discriminate against players based on their nationality and also ensure that African players who choose to honour national team duties are protected from undue disadvantages at their clubs arising from their international duties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed the psychometric properties of the Dutch translation of the Prosocial Behavior Questionnaire (PBQ-NL), a self-report questionnaire that distinguishes altruistic, reactive, and proactive prosocial behaviours. Participants were 381 Dutch adolescents and young adults aged 13–30 (Mage = 18.62, SD = 2.59, 65.1% female). Test-retest reliability data were available for 199 participants. A Confirmatory Factor Analyses supported the three-factor structure of the questionnaire, with adequate six-month test-retest reliability. Altruistic and reactive prosocial behaviours correlated significantly and positively with prosocial behaviours directed at family/peers and the larger society, but not with depression or aggression. Conversely, proactively motivated prosocial behaviour correlated significantly and negatively with prosocial behaviour directed at family and positively with experienced opportunities for contribution to the larger society, aggression, and depression. These findings show that the PBQ-NL is a reliable measure to disentangle self- and other-serving motivations that underly prosociality during adolescence and young adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prosocial behaviours – acts that benefit others – are of crucial importance for many species including humans. However, adolescents with conduct problems (CP), unlike their typically developing (TD) peers, demonstrate markedly reduced engagement in prosocial behaviours. This pattern is particularly pronounced in adolescents with CP and high levels of callous‐unemotional traits (CP/HCU) who are at increased risk of developing psychopathy in adulthood. While a substantial amount of research has investigated the cognitive‐affective mechanisms thought to underlie antisocial behaviour, much less is known about the mechanisms that could explain reduced prosocial behaviours in adolescents with CP. Methods: Here we examined the willingness to exert effort to benefit oneself (self) and another person (other, prosocial condition) in children with CP/HCU, CP and lower levels of CU traits (CP/LCU) and their TD peers. The task captured both prosocial choices, and actual effort exerted following prosocial choices, in adolescent boys aged 11–16 (27 CP/HCU; 34 CP/LCU; 33 TD). We used computational modelling to reveal the mechanistic processes involved when choosing prosocial acts. Results: We found that both CP/HCU and CP/LCU groups were more averse to initiating effortful prosocial acts than TD adolescents – both at a cognitive and at a behavioural level. Strikingly, even if they chose to initiate a prosocial act, the CP/HCU group exerted less effort following this prosocial choice than other groups. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that reduced exertion of effort to benefit others may be an important factor that differentiates adolescents with CP/HCU from their peers with CP/LCU. They offer new insights into what might drive low prosocial behaviour in adolescents with CP, including vulnerabilities that may particularly characterise those with high levels of CU traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to deepen our understanding of the dynamics of prosociality in organizations by examining how organizational citizenship behaviour relates to perceived prosocial impact. First, we propose that a sense of prosocial impact is a rewarding experience that could motivate employees to engage in more prosocial behaviour over time, thus predicting increased OCB. Second, organizational citizenship behaviour can be directed towards other individuals (OCBI) or towards the organization (OCBO), with partly different antecedents and consequences. We propose that engaging in OCBI is prone to increase perceived prosocial impact as there the helping is aimed at concrete individuals, while engaging in OCBO, in being more indirectly prosocial, is either a weaker or non-existent predictor of future perceived prosocial impact. Using longitudinal data collected in three waves (N1 = 631, N2 = 240, and N3 = 148), we found that OCBI (but no OCBO), prospectively predicts perceptions of prosocial impact. Additionally, we find evidence for perceptions of prosocial impact prospectively predicting both subsequent OCBI and subsequent OCBO. As such, our research shows a virtuous cycle of prosociality between individually focused prosocial behaviours at work and perceived prosocial impact at work, which has theoretical and practical implications for both employee well-being and motivation as well as the performance of organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In building sustainable post-pandemic destinations, it is critical to understand the typologies of tourists' prosocial behaviours. Consequently, this study innovatively applied a latent class cluster analysis to segment the prosocial behaviours of 403 Macau tourists. Three ordered discrete segments were derived based on consistent tourists' probabilities of performing prosocial behaviours on the trip namely: the Self-centred, the Intermediate, and the Philanthropist. The associated ordered logistic regression predicting the segments revealed that relative to the Self-centred, the Intermediate and the Philanthropist are more likely to face death terror, are sociable – seek vacation friends – and believe in cultural and heritage conservation. Not only does this research expand the theoretical application of Terror Management Theory, the Scrooge effect, and the self-esteem concept, it contributes to prosocial alternative tourism with novel destination management implications for marketing and promoting prosocial tourism performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Proximal and distal factors interact to shape children’s development and well-being. The present study aimed to examine socioeconomic status (SES), linguistic skills, and language background as concurrent predictors of socio-emotional and behavioural outcomes in heritage bilingual and monolingual children attending preschool. Methods Parents of 1810 children (mean age = 63.42 months ± 7.36), attending preschool in Italy, completed the Four Factor Index of SES and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Teachers (n = 99) completed a questionnaire on children’s linguistic skills and emotional and behavioural profiles. A subsample of 995 children was administered an expressive vocabulary task in Italian. Results Regression analyses showed that linguistic skills were the only concurrent predictor of conduct problems, as well as the dominant predictor of hyperactivity/impulsivity, peer problems, and better prosocial behaviour. SES was negatively related to ADHD traits, peer problems, and prosocial behaviour. Finally, heritage bilingualism background was associated, although not as a primary predictor, with increased emotional problems, peer relationship problems, and lower teacher-rated emotional and behavioural skills. However, it was the main factor positively associated with prosocial behaviour. Conclusions The implications of these findings for research in this area and for educational policy are discussed, highlighting the need for a multidimensional perspective that includes linguistic skills and SES in the assessment of children’s emotional and behavioural outcomes.

Abstract Background Satisfaction and happiness are two widely studied topics in current literature. Human beings need to find happiness. However, for many authors, satisfaction is a prerequisite for happiness. Satisfaction, in turn, can be approached from different perspectives, such as job satisfaction, health satisfaction, and social life satisfaction. This research analyses the relationship between these variables and their influence on proactive social behaviour. Methods The present study utilised the European Social Survey, an academic survey conducted across Europe in its round 10, carried out between 2022 and 2023, with a database of 25,311 valid responses. Structural equation modelling analysis conduct using PLS-SEM with the Smart PLS software. Results The results demonstrate a direct and significant relationship between overall satisfaction and happiness and between happiness and prosocial behaviour. Similarly, a solid indirect relationship exists between satisfaction and prosocial behaviour in society. Furthermore, job satisfaction is among the variables influencing overall satisfaction and happiness. However, it is not the most important, with satisfaction with social life being the most influential on satisfaction. Conclusions and implications Happiness is one of the main variables that influence people’s lives. As we have observed, this happiness has a direct and solid relationship with the individual’s level of satisfaction, with job satisfaction and satisfaction with social life being the most influential in this relationship between satisfaction and happiness. Therefore, these conclusions must be understood by both workers and employers and public administrations. Additionally, the relationship between happiness and prosocial behaviour is an interesting topic that the governments of countries and regions in Europe should consider.

This study aims to identify the way in which the motivational climate generated by Physical Education (PE) teachers influences engagement in prosocial-altruistic behaviour in a sample of 714 12-to-18-year-old Spaniards adolescents. To this end, the following objectives were proposed: (1) to identify the types of motivational climates established by teachers in PE classes and their impact on facilitating or limiting student engagement in altruistic prosocial behaviours, and (2) to examine the existence of gender differences and describe whether they are also influenced by the climates generated by teachers. A descriptive, non-randomized and relational research design was employed. The students were applied instruments for the 3 × 2 motivational climate and prosocial behavior in relation to their experiences in physical education classes. Findings reveal that an other-oriented climate, whether approach or avoidance oriented, reduces engagement in altruistic prosocial activities in the physical education classroom. Data analysis lead to the conclusion that a more comparative and negatively competitive perception (climates oriented towards how I perform in front of others) decreases engagement in altruistic prosocial behaviour, mainly in boys, promoting instead rivalry and competitive behaviour.

Abstract Background The academic development and widespread adoption of meditation practices for well-being and therapy have predominantly focused on secularised adaptations of Buddhist and Hindu techniques. This study aims to expand the field by investigating Christian and Islamic meditation that emphasize the spiritual significance of the heart through elements of visualisation and recitation. It compares the effects of spiritual heart-centred meditation with mindfulness meditation and a waitlist control, focusing on dimensions of social functioning, psychophysiology, cognition, and mental health. Method This study employs a stratified 3-arm randomised controlled method with mixed-method repeated measures across three assessment time points: before intervention (T1), after an 8-week intervention (T2), and at a 3-month follow up (T3). The three conditions include spiritual meditation (either Christian or Islamic), mindfulness meditation (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction – MBSR), and a waitlist. Participants will be stratified into Christian and Muslim samples and randomly allocated to the spiritual meditation, MBSR, or waitlist control conditions. Importantly, participants assigned to the spiritual meditation condition will be matched to the spiritual meditation program corresponding to their religion. The intervention will be administered through a mobile phone app with daily 20-minute guided meditation sessions for eight weeks. Primary outcomes pertain to the domain of interpersonal functioning, focusing on prosociality, forgiveness, empathy, and perspective taking. Secondary outcomes include physiology: pain tolerance, pain intensity, stress reactivity assessed via heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV), psychophysiological reactivity associated with a forgiveness task as measured through HR and HRV, attention (alerting, orienting, and executive attention networks), and mental health (stress, depression, anxiety, subjective well-being, positive and negative affect). Discussion This trial aims to test the effects of an app-based Christian and Islamic meditation, compared to secular mindfulness and a waitlist, using a randomised controlled trial. If the results yield positive outcomes, this study will support the efficacy of these contemplations, offering practitioners a way to enhance their well-being within their religious framework. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT06136676. Registered on 18 November 2023. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06136676 .

During the Covid-19 pandemic, contact-tracing apps have offered effective help to bend the contagion curve. Thus, it is of critical importance to understand the factors that influence contact-tracing apps’ adoption among citizens. In particular, the successful adoption and usage of contact-tracing apps strongly relies on individual motives. There-fore, this study draws on the theory of altruistic and egoistic motivation for prosocial behaviours to analyse the underlying motives through which citizens engage in voluntary behaviours aimed at using and promoting the use of contact-tracing apps. The study also examines the mediating role of users’ trust in the app. Data from 221 users of Ireland’s Covid Tracker app was analysed. Structural equation modelling with PLS was used to test the research model. Findings show differences between egoistic and altruistic motivation in promoting app use and sharing. Ego-istic motivation significantly promotes voluntary behaviours among citizens and users’ trust in the app mediates this influence. Yet, contrary to predictions, in the context of the pandemic, altruistic motivation does not play a significant role in engaging citizens in these voluntary behaviours, either directly or indirectly. The findings of this study are important for policy makers and may inform future policy decisions regarding the implementation of contact-tracing apps in the case of new pandemics or for other contexts requiring cooperative daily check-in.

Objective To explore the mediating effect of facial emotion recognition on prosocial behavior of medical students in mask-obscured scenes. Methods Fifty-three medical students from a medical university in Chongqing were enrolled from July to September 2023 to complete the facial emotion recognition task, the dictator gaming task and the state empathy test. Spearman correlation analysis was used to examine the correlation between mask wearing and state empathy, trait empathy and prosocial behaviours, and the PROCESS procedure was used to test the mediation of state empathy and the moderating effect of mask wearing or not. Results ① mask wearing, state empathy and prosocial behaviour were significantly correlated (P < 0.01); ②State empathy exerted mediated effect between facial emotion recognition and prosocial behavior, with the largest effect size (47%) for the relative mediating effect of sadness; ③The interaction terms of facial emotion recognition and mask wearing had a significant effect on state empathy (P < 0.05). Conclusion Facial emotion recognition can influence prosocial behavior directly and also exert indirect effect on prosocial behavior through state empathy. Compared to the condition without mask wearing, mask wearing can significantly facilitate the effect of happy, sad and neutral emotions on state empathy.

Prosocial behaviour is a hallmark of social and emotional competence during childhood. Thus, promoting the development of children's prosocial behaviour can have important downstream benefits for individuals and society. Previous studies indicated that there is a positive effect of negative moral emotions on prosocial behaviour, but the influence of positive moral emotions on prosocial behaviour remains largely unknown. This study adopted three experiments to investigate the influence of positive moral emotions on three aspects of prosocial behaviour in 3–5‐year‐old children. After inducing positive moral emotions in children, they were observed either in helping (Experiment 1, N = 151, 75 boys), sharing (Experiment 2, N = 141, 69 boys) or comforting (Experiment 3, N = 132, 66 boys) scenarios. Results showed that: (1) children's helping, sharing and comforting behaviours in the moral emotions (experimental) group were significantly higher than those in the control group, suggesting that positive moral emotions could positively influence the examined prosocial behaviours; (2) there were age differences in children's helping, sharing and comforting, but the effect of positive moral emotions on the examined prosocial behaviours did not differ by age and gender. These findings point to the need for fostering positive moral emotions in early cultivation of children's prosocial behaviour during pre‐schooler education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on the idea that the culture of an organisation has an extremely deep influence on the personalities, minds and identities of people who participate in it (Hofstede 2015) – we reflected on how the US and Polish cultures' specific values and beliefs were represented and symbolised in the early childhood settings. We focused our analysis on the prosocial disposition that influenced the early childhood programme’s philosophy; environment; parental involvement; celebrated holidays; classroom management; plays and games objects that children are playing with and the curriculum. The results of this research demonstrated that both preschools stressed dispositions like care and consideration for others, love and freedom. In Polish preschool culture, based on their very long history and tradition of wars and partitions, early on, children are exposed to the concepts of truth, forgiveness, second chances and ultimately peace. In the US preschool culture with multicultural traditions, importance is placed on self-confidence, positive self-image, belonging and respect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper examines the prosocial behaviour among Polish consumers of Generation Z. The impact of cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns on the purchase intention of Generation Z is studied within the framework of attribution theory and social identity theory. Research Design & Methods: The research involved 407 individuals who participated in a between-subjects experiment. The experiment had a 2 × 2 × 4 design, with factors including product type (hedonic, utilitarian), donation magnitude (small, large) and cause category (environment, health, human-being, animal-welfare). Nonparametric tests were employed to test hypotheses. Findings: The author finds empirical evidence that Polish Gen Z consumers are willing to buy products linked with social causes. The study further demonstrates the positive effect of consumer personality (attitude toward CRM, attitude toward helping and cause involvement) on CRM participation. The result of this study also shows that there is no direct causal relationship between the product type, cause category and donation size and the purchase intention of Gen Z Implications/Recommendations: Marketers should develop CRM campaigns linked with causes that are preferred by Gen Z consumers. In relation to marketing communication, successfully convincing them to purchase cause-related products involves a blend of authenticity and transparency, tangible impact of CRM efforts, social media engagement, and collaboration with influencers who align with the cause and the values of Generation Z. It can strengthen their altruistic motivation and favourable attitudes toward socially responsible initiatives. Contribution: Little is known about the prosocial behaviour of Polish Gen Z consumers. This study is intended to reduce this gap. The findings provide an understanding of the importance of consumer-cause identification and attitudes in cause-related marketing campaigns targeting Z consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating social cognitive perspective, social exchange perspective, and social identity perspective, we developed a research model examining how leader humility affects follower prosocial behaviours via three psychological mechanisms (i.e., self‐efficacy, affective trust, and perceived insider status). We used two field survey studies to examine our research model. Using a three‐wave lagged design, Study 1 (N = 221) found that leader humility had positive indirect effects on employee knowledge exchange, an information‐based indicator of prosocial behaviours, through all three mechanisms. To constructively replicate and extend our findings, Study 2 (N = 230) used a multi‐source and three‐wave lagged design and incorporated two additional indicators of prosocial behaviours: helping behaviour and voice behaviour. The results showed that affective trust mediated the positive effects of leader humility on all indicators of prosocial behaviours, indicating that social exchange is a powerful theoretical lens in explaining the implications of leader humility. Self‐efficacy mediated the positive effect of leader humility on knowledge exchange and helping behaviour. However, perceived insider status did not exhibit any significant mediating effect. We discussed the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Well‐being is a key aspect of children's education, yet measurement issues have limited studies in early primary school. Aims: The current 12‐month longitudinal study assesses the temporal stability of child‐ and parent‐reported school well‐being and examines developmental links with academic self‐concept and parent‐rated prosocial behaviour. Sample(s): We tracked a sample of 206 children across the transition from the first (T1) to the second (T2) year of primary school (T1 child Mage = 5.3, SD =.46, 54.3% girls) and gathered ratings of well‐being, prosocial behaviour and academic self‐concept at both timepoints. Methods: We used cross‐lagged analyses to investigate developmental links between these three constructs. Results: Parent and child reports of children's well‐being showed similar temporal stability and converged over time, such that informants' reports showed a modest but significant correlation at T2. Girls reported greater well‐being than boys at both timepoints and received higher parental ratings of well‐being than boys at T2. For both girls and boys, associations between the constructs were asymmetric: early well‐being predicted later self‐concept and prosocial behaviour, but the reciprocal associations were not significant. Conclusions: These findings support the validity of young children's self‐reported well‐being, highlight the early onset of gender differences in school well‐being and demonstrate that early well‐being heralds later prosocial behaviour and positive academic self‐concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of humour, teaching, gender, age, birth order, siblings, parents' level of education and income on kindergarteners' costly sharing behaviours. The participants consist of 106 kindergarteners enrolled in three public kindergartens in Şanlıurfa. The participants interacted with two assistants, one of whom made them laugh (the joker) and the other taught them something new (the teacher). After the meetings, a third assistant presented 20 stickers to each child. Among the 20 stickers, the children selected their 10 favourite stickers. Another assistant asked the children to share their stickers with teaching, joker or stranger if they desired. The children's distribution of their stickers to the joker, the teacher assistants and the neutral recipients did not statistically differ. This might be the result of egalitarian tendency of young children. Multiple regression revealed gender as a predictor variable for sharing with jokers and total sharing. The girls shared significantly more than the boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies have revealed associations of positive psychological traits with human thriving and flourishing. However, how these traits co-occur—known as covitality—and how it relates to flourishing remain relatively unexplored. This study aimed to investigate how student covitality as a second-order construct of four school experience-grounded positive psychological traits, namely gratitude, optimism, zest and persistence, predicts flourishing among primary school students. Participants were fourth to sixth graders (N = 1,107, 36.2% Grade 4, 32.8% Grade 5, and 31.0% Grade 6; 50.4% female) from 34 primary schools in Hong Kong (7.1% Hong Kong Island, 36.4% Kowloon, and 56.5% New Territories). In this study, structural equation modelling showed that student covitality as a second-order construct predicted flourishing directly (β =.594), and also indirectly through resilience (β =.111) and prosocial behaviour (β =.062). The findings suggest that student covitality as a latent construct better captures the mechanisms that drive student flourishing than the four individual first-order constructs of positive psychological traits. This study sheds light on future efforts in the field of children’s flourishing to consider school-related covitality as a critical variable in research and to develop school-based strategies that promote covitality in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored how children's perceptions of social group differences relate to attitudes and behaviour towards real‐world outgroups. We examined Arab‐Christian children living in Israel (N = 231, 52% female, average age 9.8 years) and randomly presented them with either Arab‐Muslim or Jewish outgroup targets. The children performed tasks measuring attitudes and prosocial behaviour towards the outgroup. Additionally, they were asked to describe the differences between their ingroup and the outgroup target. We found that children favoured the Arab‐Muslim outgroup over the Jewish outgroup, and perceived it as having fewer dimensions of difference from their ingroup. Fewer perceived dimensions of difference correlated with more positive attitudes. By the age of 12, however, perceiving more dimensions of difference was linked to increased compensatory prosocial behaviour towards the Jewish outgroup. The findings emphasize the dynamic interplay between cognitive development and intergroup experiences in understanding children's prosocial behaviour towards different outgroups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present research, we propose that perceptions of social mobility (PSM) are beneficial for oneself but costly to others. Supporting this idea, people who were led to think that social mobility in society is probable (vs. improbable) (Study 1a/b, N = 754; Study 3a/b, N = 938) or held this belief at a dispositional level (Study 2a/b, N = 877) showed greater endorsement of system justifying beliefs, which was related to greater happiness and life satisfaction. However, the more people perceived social mobility and justified the system, the less willing they were to help others in need, and this was especially true for those who thought the current economic system was fair and legitimate. Thus, while greater perceived social mobility is related to increased personal well‐being through justification of the sociopolitical system, it predicts less desire to help others due to increased support of the economic status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's moral self‐concept (MSC) has been proposed to relate to prosocial behaviour. However, systematic assessments of their inter‐relations are scarce. Therefore, this longitudinal study investigated the development, structure and inter‐relation of prosocial behaviours and the MSC in childhood, using three measurement points at ages 4, 5 and 6 years. We assessed children's MSC and helping, sharing and comforting behaviours in a laboratory setting. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed a three‐dimensional MSC structure at 5 and 6 years, but not at 4 years. There was inconsistent stability across time points regarding prosocial behaviour and MSC. For the comforting domain, but not the other domains, cross‐lagged relations between self‐concept and behaviour were present. Moreover, helping behaviour and self‐concept were inter‐related at 6 years. Results provide support for reciprocal associations between MSC and prosocial behaviour, albeit only in the comforting domain. They highlight the importance of distinguishing between types of prosocial behaviour and corresponding dimensions of the self‐concept, as different developmental trajectories and associations emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout history, religion has been known to play an important role in regulating behaviour contributing to social order. It provides a moral foundation based on religious values and norms that prescribe and proscribe behaviour. Despite such a role, religion has been subjected to secular forms of social control through enacted rules for appropriate behaviour in society. Deviations from such rules are subject to prosecution and, in many instances, incarceration in correctional centres. In an attempt to rehabilitate the offender, both faith-based and secular therapeutic programmes are important aspects of rehabilitation. While this article briefly addresses secular intervention programmes, it focuses on how faith-based approaches can support and collaborate with other helping professions in promoting prosocial behaviour of offenders. The study draws on the experiences of other minority Muslims communities in the northern hemisphere, who have engaged with faith-based programmes in correctional centres. The case of the South Africa Muslim chaplaincy is presented to examine its nature, scope, and programmes offered to offenders in South African correctional centres. The study concludes that there is a space for faithbased approaches to be interfaced with and integrated in therapeutic programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a school-based mindfulness programme (SBMP), "Paws b", on empathy and prosocial behaviour among children aged 7 to 10 years in a school setting. Method: This multi-informant design, randomised controlled trial compared an intervention group to a wait-list control group, involving 133 children aged 7- to 10 years from 10 classrooms. Outcome measures were taken at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up and included self-reports of mindfulness and empathy, a sharing task, teacher and peer reports of prosocial behaviours, and sociometry measures. Results: Children in the intervention group were voted as significantly more (a) prosocial by teachers F(1, 127) = 7.35, p = 0.008, η2 = 0.055, (b) helpful by peers, F(1, 127) = 9.369, p < 0.003, η2 = 0.069, (c) popular by peers, F(1, 127) = 4.90, p = 0.028, η2 = 0.037, and (d) showed more reciprocal relationships, t(8) = 2.518, p = 0.036, compared to the wait-list control group. The intervention did not have an effect on mindfulness scores, empathy scores (affective, cognitive, or intention to comfort), or sharing task scores. Conclusions: Findings suggest that, for 7–10-year-olds, the SBMP, Paws b, delivered by a mindfulness teacher, can increase some aspects of prosociality, as judged by peers and teachers, but has no effect on self-assessed empathy. Preregistration: This study was preregistered on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/vm6tp/) on 31.10.2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper examines the prosocial behaviour among Polish consumers of Generation Z. The impact of cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns on the purchase intention of Generation Z is studied within the framework of attribution theory and social identity theory. Research Design & Methods: The research involved 407 individuals who participated in a between-subjects experiment. The experiment had a 2 × 2 × 4 design, with factors including product type (hedonic, utilitarian), donation magnitude (small, large) and cause category (environment, health, human-being, animal-welfare). Nonparametric tests were employed to test hypotheses. Findings: The author finds empirical evidence that Polish Gen Z consumers are willing to buy products linked with social causes. The study further demonstrates the positive effect of consumer personality (attitude toward CRM, attitude toward helping and cause involvement) on CRM participation. The result of this study also shows that there is no direct causal relationship between the product type, cause category and donation size and the purchase intention of Gen Z. Implications / Recommendations: Marketers should develop CRM campaigns linked with causes that are preferred by Gen Z consumers. In relation to marketing communication, successfully convincing them to purchase cause-related products involves a blend of authenticity and transparency, tangible impact of CRM efforts, social media engagement, and collaboration with influencers who align with the cause and the values of Generation Z. It can strengthen their altruistic motivation and favourable attitudes toward socially responsible initiatives. Contribution: Little is known about the prosocial behaviour of Polish Gen Z consumers. This study is intended to reduce this gap. The findings provide an understanding of the importance of consumer-cause identification and attitudes in cause-related marketing campaigns targeting Z consumers.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) states that quality physical education (QPE) is essential for promoting health in youth, and that teachers have a prominent role towards achieving it (UNESCO, 2015). Previous research linked PE teachers’ hard and soft skills with their students’ in-class motivation. Teachers can foster students’ willingness to learning (Johnson, 2017) by using professional competences – hard skills - (Simón-Chico et al., 2023), and by promoting positive relationships – soft skills - (Opdenakker, 2023). However, the mechanism by which these skills affect students’ motivation is unclear because other variables, such as, students’ enjoyment, may intervene. In fact, based on the most recognized international motivation-focused theories, enjoyment is considered as one of the most prominent determinants of motivation (Hagger & Chatzisarantis, 2015). The aim of the present work was to analyse the mediation role of enjoyment towards PE in the relationship between teachers’ skills and students’ intrinsic motivation for PE. A total of 1,319 adolescents (girls = 51.8%, 14.28 ± 2.18 years) filled in the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory for PE (4 dimensions: interest in PE, perceived competence, importance attributed to PE, and tension felt during PE), the Teachers Personal and Professional Skills Questionnaire (2 dimensions: soft skills, and hard skills), and the Questionnaire for the Measurement of Enjoyment in PE in Adolescents (3 dimensions: pleasure, flow, and recreation). Regarding hard skills, results of the path analysis showed signs of mediation for flow (p = .035) and pleasure (p = .023) towards interest in PE, whereas the paths to perceived competence and importance attributed to PE were both fully mediated by pleasure (p = .032). Hard skills also directly increased students’ perceived tension during PE (p = .017). Soft skills positively, directly, and indirectly (through all dimensions of enjoyment) affected students’ interest in PE, importance attributed to PE, and students’ tension during PE (p < .001), whereas their impact on perceived competence was fully mediated by all enjoyment dimensions (p < .05). Our outcomes confirm the key role of teachers’ hard and soft skills, additionally supporting the idea that triggering enjoyment in students may lead to higher motivation to actively adhere to PE. In conclusion, the mediating role of enjoyment is confirmed in most of the paths leading to students’ motivation for PE; hence, it is recommended that teachers focus on using both their sets of skills to propose fun and engaging activities, which may increase participation both on the short and long term. References Hagger, M. S., & Chatzisarantis, N. L. (2015). The trans-contextual model of autonomous motivation in education: Conceptual and empirical issues and meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 86(2), 360-407. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315585005 Johnson, D. (2017). The role of teachers in motivating the students to learn. BU Journal of Graduate Studies in Education, 9(1), 46-49. Opdenakker, M. (2023). Teacher and teaching behaviour and student motivational outcomes: Critical reflections on the knowledge base and on future research. In R. Maluana, M. Helms-Lorenz, & R. M. Klassen (Eds.), Effective teaching around the world (pp. 29-83). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31678-4_3 Simón-Chico, L., González-Peño, A., Hernández-Cuadrado, E., & Franco, E. (2023). The impact of a challenge-based learning experience in physical education on students’ motivation and engagement. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 13(4), 684-700. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe13040052 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2015). Quality physical education. UNESCO.

Prosocial behaviour is a bedrock of humane societies. Although previous studies have shown that parental style is an important contributing factor for children's prosocial behaviour, the psychological mechanism underlying this association in specific cultural background remains unclear. Based on the ecological systems theory, this study sought to explore the influence of parental warmth on children's prosocial behaviour, and the mediating effect of self-efficacy, as well as the moderating role of teachers' incentive evaluation in the link between self-efficacy and children's prosocial behaviour. This cross-sectional, survey-based study collected data from parents and teachers of 414 Chinese preschoolers (5–6 years old). Parents of these children finished questionnaires on the Chinese version of the short-form Egna minnen av. Barndoms uppfostran (s-EMBU-C), Child Behaviour Scale (CBS), and the revised General Self-efficacy Scale (GSES), while Incentive evaluation questionnaire was finished by their teachers. Results indicated that children who experience high parental warmth were more likely to act prosocially (b = 0.61, p

Abstract Adolescence is a stage of life characterised by vulnerability, which shapes young people’s trajectories and potentially influences their behaviour. In this crucial period, the promotion of prosocial behaviours and the development of emotional intelligence are understood as key factors influencing adolescents’ psychological and personal well-being. The general objective of this study was to find out the relationship between these two variables - prosocial behaviours and emotional intelligence - and their correlation with the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle and another fundamental aspect such as violence among young people in the academic context. A total of 743 secondary school students participated in this research with a descriptive-cross-sectional design. This study used several instruments, including an ad hoc questionnaire to assess socio-demographic aspects and school violence, the Prosocial Behaviour Questionnaire (PBQ), the TMMS-24 for the assessment of Emotional Intelligence, the Healthy Lifestyles Questionnaire (HLQ-II) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SLS). The results highlighted a convincing link between the display of prosocial behaviours and emotional intelligence with various dimensions of healthy living such as healthy diet or respect for mealtimes. In particular, the research revealed a pronounced correlation between adolescents who showed greater emotional repair and respect and their lower involvement in school violence and substance use. In addition, the likelihood of having a healthy life was found to be linked to variables such as being male, respect, social relationships and emotional repair. In contrast, the likelihood of having an excessive consumption of certain harmful substances such as alcohol or tobacco was found to be linked to age, empathy and emotional clarity. These results highlight the crucial role that prosocial behaviours and emotional intelligence play in shaping adolescents’ lives. In conclusion, the need to promote such variables as prosocial behaviours and emotional intelligence in adolescent students in order to promote healthy lifestyles and reduce school violence and substance use in this age group is discussed.

Understanding factors promoting adolescent prosocial behaviour is crucial for positive development. This study explores how positive parenting relates to prosocial behaviour. Utilizing data from a nationally representative sample of 5,317 Finnish adolescents (mean age 15.2, 51.3% girls), we examined the mediating roles of self-control, identification with family and friends, and the moderating effects of gender and antisocial peers. The results revealed that both parental warmth and monitoring were positively associated with prosocial behaviour. Self-control, identification with family and friends, and gender significantly influenced this relationship. Boys appeared more receptive to the positive influence of parenting, while the presence of antisocial peers weakened the link between parental warmth and prosociality. Furthermore, identification with family and friends strengthened the positive effects of parenting on prosocial behaviour. These findings underscore the complex interplay of individual and social factors, highlighting their roles in shaping adolescent prosocial development.

ABSTRACTBackground: Various coping strategies have been shown to alleviate the negative effects of trauma, yet the significance of prosocial behaviour in this realm has been notably underexplored. The present study explored the hypothesis that engaging in prosocial behaviour mitigates the impacts of trauma by promoting a sense of competence and relatedness, post-traumatic growth (PTG), and reconstruction of meaning.Methods: Three consecutive studies were conducted with college students to compare differences in consequence of prosocial behaviours between a trauma group and a control group. Study 1 (N = 96) used self-reported experiences of traumatic vs non-traumatic events; Study 2 (N = 43) used exposure vs. no exposure to video of an earthquake; Study 3 (N = 20) used a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a prosocial-themed intervention vs. no intervention. Outcomes in all studies were assessed by self-report questionnaires.Results: Trauma damaged participants’ sense of competence and meaningfulness. Prosocial behaviour relieved the impact of trauma on meaning, specifically manifested in the individuals' sense of meaningfulness and their search for meaning. Group interventions with a prosocial theme (based on effect size results) reduced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and enhanced PTG in victims. The promoting effect on PTG persisted a month later, and its enhancing effect on meaning manifested with a delay.Conclusion: Prosocial behaviour can potentially serve as a beneficial strategy for individuals coping with trauma because it helps enhance meaning and promotes PTG in victims. This conclusion is supported by laboratory experiments and a tentative small-scale intervention study, which provide an innovative perspective for future trauma interventions.

Promoting interpersonal helping among coworkers is an important aim for any organisation that cares about employee well-being. Drawing on guilt aversion hypothesis, this research focuses on the power of social expectations in promoting prosocial behaviour among employees and investigates the role of anticipated guilt for failing to meet coworkers’ expectations. In two preregistered studies, the effect of beneficiary expectation on benefactors’ anticipated guilt and intention to help was investigated. In Study 1, Japanese participants (n = 284) recalled a situation when they helped a coworker spontaneously, and evaluated perceived beneficiary expectation to receive help, as well as anticipated guilt for not helping. Beneficiary expectation positively predicted anticipated guilt, and the effect was stronger when the beneficiary was a same-status colleague, and when interpersonal helping frequency in the organisation was low. Study 2 (n = 499) employed vignettes and manipulated beneficiary expectation. A mediational model revealed that beneficiary expectation leads to more anticipated guilt for not helping, which, in turn, increases employees’ intention to help. Together, these studies show that employees are sensitive to their coworkers’ expectations, and guilt-averse; therefore, interpersonal helping among employees may be promoted by establishing legitimate expectations of prosociality in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sharing resources is fundamental for human cooperation and survival. People tend to share resources more with individuals they feel close to compared to those who are more socially distant. This decline in generosity at increasing social distance is called social discounting and is influenced by both social traits and abilities, such as empathy, and non-social psychological factors, such as decision-making biases. People who receive a diagnosis of autism show differences in social interaction as well as displaying differences in non-social domains, such as more restricted and repetitive behaviours. We investigated social discounting in autism and found that autistic adults were more generous than neurotypical participants, which was driven by greater generosity to socially distant others. Crucially, we also investigated framing effects during prosocial decision-making. Autistic participants were less susceptible to whether decisions were framed as causing monetary gains, compared to preventing monetary losses, for the potential recipient. Our results support the view of 'enhanced rationality' in autism as participants' prosocial decisions were less influenced by potential biasing information, such as the closeness of the recipient or how choices were framed. Therefore, the differences seen in autism, as well as posing certain challenges, can also have prosocial consequences. Autistic people show differences in their social behaviour. But how autism affects decisions to share resources, an important part of cooperation, was previously unclear. In our study, participants made decisions about how to share money with different people, including people they felt close to, such as a friend, and people they felt less close to, such as a stranger. We found that compared to a group of non-autistic participants, autistic adults shared more money overall and this was driven by greater generosity to strangers. The results suggest that autistic adults were more generous because they made fair decisions (an equal split of the money) more consistently regardless of how close they felt to the person they were sharing with. By showing that autistic adults display greater generosity, our results could help to change public perceptions of autism and potentially improve opportunities for autistic people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ant rescue behaviour belongs to the most interesting subcategories of prosocial and altruistic behaviour encountered in the animal world. Several studies suggested that ants are able to identify what exactly restrains the movements of another individual and to direct their rescue behaviour precisely to that object. To shed more light on the question of how precise the identification of the source of restraint of another ant is, we investigated rescue behaviour of red wood ant Formica polyctena workers, using a new version of an artificial snare bioassay in which a nestmate victim bore two wire loops on its body, one (acting as a snare) placed on its petiole and an additional one on its leg. The tested ants did not preferentially direct their rescue behaviour towards the snare. Moreover, the overall strategy adopted by the most active rescuers was not limited to precisely targeted rescue attempts directed towards the snare, but consisted of frequent switching between various subcategories of rescue behaviour. These findings highlight the importance of precise identification of cognitive processes and overall behavioural strategies for better understanding of causal factors underlying animal helping behaviour in light of new facts discovered by testing of various successive research hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and humans cooperate in reciprocal patterns, but it is unclear whether these interactions are based on the same psychological foundations. While there is evidence suggesting that both species engage in long‐term forms of reciprocity, there is very little work exploring their short‐term behavioural contingencies with suitable methods. Here, we present a direct comparative study on short‐term reciprocity in chimpanzees and human children using a novel, low‐cost instrumental helping task. We investigated whether participants help a conspecific partner to obtain a tool for accessing a reward, and whether the level of helping depends on the partner's previous helpful or unhelpful behaviour. In line with prior research, both chimpanzees and children demonstrated helping behaviour towards their partner. However, the extent to which the two species showed short‐term reciprocity differed considerably. After receiving help, tested children always helped in return. They helped substantially less when interacting with an unhelpful partner. Chimpanzees showed a higher tendency to help when interacting with a helpful compared to an unhelpful partner only in the first half the experiment. With increasing trial number, chimpanzees stopped discriminating between helpful and unhelpful partners. This study provides evidence for short‐term reciprocity in human children and, to a lesser extent, in our closest living relatives. Our findings demonstrate that helping paradigms provide a useful context to investigate reciprocal motives in humans and chimpanzees alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]