Network analysis and core dimensions of adolescent prosocial behavior

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.01252

Abstract

Abstract:

Previous studies have discovered that the concept of prosocial behavior among adolescents is composed of four dimensions: commonweal-social rule, altruism, relationship, and personal trait. Our study explored the network structure of prosocial behavior among Chinese adolescents (from upper primary to high school, N = 9160) based on four dimensions and 15 items. In the overall network of adolescent prosocial behavior, as well as in the grade- and gender-based networks, the commonweal-social rule dimension consistently exhibited the highest centrality, followed by altruism, relationship, and traits dimensions. Network comparison results showed that as for the network structure, no differences were found in the gender-based dimension networks. However, differences were identified in the grade-based dimension networks, with high school students exhibiting significantly weaker network strength than middle and primary school students. These results provide a new perspective for deepening our understanding of adolescent prosocial behavior and expanding the research domain of prosocial behavior. These findings suggest that future interventions targeting the commonweal-social rule and altruism dimensions could potentially boost overall prosocial behavior in adolescents. The middle school stage may be a critical period for promoting commonweal-social rule prosocial behavior.

Key words: adolescent, prosocial behavior, network analysis, network comparison, core dimension

LIN Jing, XU Boya, YANG Ying, ZHANG Qing-peng, KOU Yu. (2024). Network analysis and core dimensions of adolescent prosocial behavior. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 56(9), 1252-1265.

Figures/Tables 23

References 57

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Variable	Total sample		Primary school		Middle school		High school
Variable	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Gender
Boys	4615	50.4	1771	51.3	1328	52.1	1516	48
Girls	4545	49.6	1681	48.7	1222	47.9	1642	52
Father’s education level
Junior high school and below	2435	26.6	334	9.7	586	23	1515	48
High school (including vocational high school and junior college)	1853	20.2	669	19.4	492	19.3	692	21.9
College	897	9.8	408	11.8	200	7.8	289	9.2
Undergraduate	2209	24.1	1126	32.6	591	23.2	492	15.6
Postgraduate and above	1199	13.1	727	21.1	369	14.5	103	3.3
Mother’s education level
Junior high school and below	2730	29.8	360	10.4	654	25.6	1716	54.3
High school (including vocational high school and junior college)	1793	19.6	746	21.6	430	16.9	617	19.5
College	1068	11.7	441	12.8	299	11.7	328	10.4
Undergraduate	2030	22.2	1074	31.1	586	23	370	11.7
Postgraduate and above	1005	11.0	659	19.1	281	11	65	2.1
Monthly Family Income
2000 RMB and below	680	7.4	165	4.8	49	1.9	466	14.8
2001~5000 RMB	2317	25.3	839	24.3	469	18.4	1009	32
5001~10000 RMB	2570	28.1	1031	29.9	705	27.6	834	26.4
10001~20000 RMB	1772	19.3	688	19.9	578	22.7	506	16
Above 20000RMB	1213	13.2	544	15.8	421	16.5	248	7.9

Variable	Total sample		Primary school		Middle school		High school
Variable	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Gender
Boys	4615	50.4	1771	51.3	1328	52.1	1516	48
Girls	4545	49.6	1681	48.7	1222	47.9	1642	52
Father’s education level
Junior high school and below	2435	26.6	334	9.7	586	23	1515	48
High school (including vocational high school and junior college)	1853	20.2	669	19.4	492	19.3	692	21.9
College	897	9.8	408	11.8	200	7.8	289	9.2
Undergraduate	2209	24.1	1126	32.6	591	23.2	492	15.6
Postgraduate and above	1199	13.1	727	21.1	369	14.5	103	3.3
Mother’s education level
Junior high school and below	2730	29.8	360	10.4	654	25.6	1716	54.3
High school (including vocational high school and junior college)	1793	19.6	746	21.6	430	16.9	617	19.5
College	1068	11.7	441	12.8	299	11.7	328	10.4
Undergraduate	2030	22.2	1074	31.1	586	23	370	11.7
Postgraduate and above	1005	11.0	659	19.1	281	11	65	2.1
Monthly Family Income
2000 RMB and below	680	7.4	165	4.8	49	1.9	466	14.8
2001~5000 RMB	2317	25.3	839	24.3	469	18.4	1009	32
5001~10000 RMB	2570	28.1	1031	29.9	705	27.6	834	26.4
10001~20000 RMB	1772	19.3	688	19.9	578	22.7	506	16
Above 20000RMB	1213	13.2	544	15.8	421	16.5	248	7.9

Abbreviation	Item	Dimension
PB01	I like to participate in social welfare activities organised inside and outside the school.	Commonweal-social rule
PB02	I am willing to do things for the class collective.	Commonweal-social rule
PB03	I offer my seat to those who need it, such as the elderly, the sick, the disabled and the pregnant.	Altruism
PB04	I will offer to invite bystanders to join our game.	Relationship
PB05	I appreciate the hard work of my parents and take the initiative to do what I can around the house.	Commonweal-social rule
PB06	When a classmate is sick, I take the initiative to send him to the school clinic.	Altruism
PB07	I will take the initiative to say hello to new students and make friends.	Relationship
PB08	I am willing to correct my faults.	Traits
PB09	When I am on duty, I spend more time cleaning the classroom.	Commonweal-social rule
PB10	I can keep others’ secrets.	Traits
PB11	I will help my classmates with tutoring or teach them how to play ball.	Altruism
PB12	When I have a small conflict with a friend, I apologise.	Relationship
PB13	I greet teachers and elders when I meet them.	Commonweal-social rule
PB14	I often praise the virtues of others.	Traits
PB15	I’d be happy to donate to the disaster area.	Altruism

Abbreviation	Item	Dimension
PB01	I like to participate in social welfare activities organised inside and outside the school.	Commonweal-social rule
PB02	I am willing to do things for the class collective.	Commonweal-social rule
PB03	I offer my seat to those who need it, such as the elderly, the sick, the disabled and the pregnant.	Altruism
PB04	I will offer to invite bystanders to join our game.	Relationship
PB05	I appreciate the hard work of my parents and take the initiative to do what I can around the house.	Commonweal-social rule
PB06	When a classmate is sick, I take the initiative to send him to the school clinic.	Altruism
PB07	I will take the initiative to say hello to new students and make friends.	Relationship
PB08	I am willing to correct my faults.	Traits
PB09	When I am on duty, I spend more time cleaning the classroom.	Commonweal-social rule
PB10	I can keep others’ secrets.	Traits
PB11	I will help my classmates with tutoring or teach them how to play ball.	Altruism
PB12	When I have a small conflict with a friend, I apologise.	Relationship
PB13	I greet teachers and elders when I meet them.	Commonweal-social rule
PB14	I often praise the virtues of others.	Traits
PB15	I’d be happy to donate to the disaster area.	Altruism

Dimensional Networks	Total sample	Boys	Girls	Primary	Middle	High	Boys vs. Girls (p value)	Primary vs. Middle (p value)	Middle vs. High (p value)	Primary vs. High (p value)
Commonweal-social rule- Altruism	0.363	0.36	0.364	0.286	0.364	0.462	0.866	0.005	< 0.001	< 0.001
Relationship - Altruism	0.354	0.362	0.345	0.39	0.391	0.269	0.463	0.967	< 0.001	< 0.001
Traits - Altruism	0.221	0.213	0.228	0.227	0.161	0.256	0.587	0.052	0.003	0.347
Relationship-Commonweal-social rule	0.354	0.367	0.341	0.352	0.355	0.29	0.254	0.902	0.032	0.023
Traits-Commonweal-social rule	0.286	0.282	0.286	0.301	0.319	0.254	0.871	0.557	0.034	0.096
Traits - Relationship	0.153	0.15	0.161	0.191	0.146	0.132	0.668	0.143	0.662	0.041