The Development of Prosocial Tendencies in Out-of-School Students

The article highlights the results of an experimental study on the formation of prosocial behavior among out-of-school students of their teenage and adolescent years. The dynamics of development of prosocial behavior is determined; the reliability of the revealed changes is established to confirm the effectiveness of the conducted psycho-correctional work. This article is an experimental continuation of the first stage of the study of teens and adolescents’ prosocial behavior. The results of the experimental study show the dynamics of changes before and after the formative experiment on the levels of empathy, the components of altruism and selfishness in the experimental and control groups. Changes in types and norms of teens and adolescents’ prosocial orientation of behavior are analyzed. After the experiment it was found out that the level of empathy and altruism is statistically higher among the students of their teenage and adolescent years in the experimental group than in the control one. It is noted that the system of psycho-correctional measures promotes the development and increase of empathy and altruism among teenagers and adolescents. Significant differences among the types and norms of teenage and adolescent students’ prosocial behavior before and after the experiment are identified. It is proved that teenagers and adolescents show less dominance of altruistic motives in behavior when there is a necessity to provide assistance in public. The level of altruism increases under the possibility of selfless and charitable assistance. It is concluded that the results of the approbation have testified to the effectiveness of the developed program of prosocial behavior formation in students of out-of-school institutions.

Strategies of Prosocial Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: To mitigate the potentially devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is vital to identify psychosocial and moral resources. The care, preservation, protection, and well-being of social communities are attributes of prosocial behavior that can be such a resource. Aim: The purpose of the study is to identify the features of prosocial orientation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The sample consisted of 447 people. The study was conducted in May 2020 in the form of an online survey of subjects using Google Forms (“Portrait Values Questionnaire”). Results: The research made it possible to establish that participants were dominated by values of benevolence-universalism. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the prosocial orientation may manifest itself in the following behavioral strategies: proactive prosocial strategy of “caring for others” (true altruism, expressed in forms of volunteering, helping a stranger, and charity despite the risk of contracting a coronavirus infection); egoistic strategy of prosocial behavior “self-care through caring for others” (volunteering based on self-development; helping a stranger to improve your own psychological well-being); conventional prosocial strategy “self-care” (self-isolation and preventive behavior). Conclusion: In the long run, it is necessary to identify personal and environmental resources that can allow people to effectively implement a prosocial self-isolation strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as various forms of volunteerism.

When does witnessing patient mistreatment hurt nurses' performance? Gauging the moderation roles of self-concern and other-orientation

PurposeResearch has found that the effects of directly experiencing mistreatment at work are consistently negative; however, results from studies examining employees' reactions to witnessing mistreatment are less consistent. This study focuses on nurses witnessing patient mistreatment in order to examine how third parties respond when witnessing patients mistreating co-workers. We argue that nurses high on other-orientation are less likely to experience emotion exhaustion in the face of witnessing patient mistreatment, whereas nurses high on self-concern are more likely to experience emotional exhaustion. We further argue that the indirect effect of witnessing patient mistreatment on job performance through emotional exhaustion is moderated by other-orientation and self-concern.Design/methodology/approachWe used data collected at two time points, with six months apart, from 287 nurses working in a hospital. The study tests the hypotheses by using multiple regression analyses.FindingsEmotional exhaustion mediated the relationships between witnessing patient mistreatment and two forms of job performance: patient care behaviors and counterproductive work behaviors. Furthermore, other-orientation moderated these indirect relationships such that the indirect relationships were weaker when other-orientation was high (vs. low). Self-concern did not moderate these relationships.Practical implicationsService and care-oriented businesses may protect their employees from the risk of burnout by promoting prosocial orientation among their patient and customer-facing employees.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by demonstrating the detrimental effects of witnessing patient mistreatment on nurses' performance. It also extends the current understanding of why and when witnessing patient mistreatment is related to performance by demonstrating the joint effects of witnessing patient mistreatment and an individual difference construct, other-orientation on employees' performance.

An empirical analysis of the moderating effect of consumer skepticism between social value orientations and green advertising effectiveness

Purpose The purpose of this study is to add a reliable factor that can contribute theoretically and methodologically to explain prosocial and proself behaviors. The study also signifies that green advertising approaches enable the consumer to develop an intention for green purchases. The basic idea is to investigate consumer social orientations and align them with green advertising initiatives to elicit the desired response as green purchase to manifest environmentally conscious behavior. Design/methodology/approach The empirical analysis is based on data collection through questionnaires. Data is analyzed through structural equation modeling to assess the relationship of constructs. Findings The results of the study are empirically drawn through the measurement of relationships among consumer skepticism and the effectiveness of green advertising initiatives. Mediation of proself and prosocial orientation exists for public self-awareness but does not exist for benefit distance. Consumer skepticism moderates the relationship between prosocial orientation and green advertising effectiveness (GAE) but has no moderation between proself orientation and GAE. Originality/value The limitation of conventional prosocial theory does not explain the environmental behaviors driven by proself orientations. Hence, the addition of factors such as public awareness and social benefit distance coupled with signaling theory with foundations on theory of planned behavior and norm activation model to explain environmental conservation add an element of originality to the existing literature. Contribution to Impact The contribution of this study is the incorporation of social orientations as the antecedent for consumer behavior in an environmental context particularly as a response to green advertising initiatives to purchase green products. The use of theory of planned behavior in conjunction with the norm activation model and signaling theory adds to the literary bank.

Prosocial Orientation of Russians During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Caring for Others and Yourself

To mitigate the potentially devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is vital to identify psychosocial and moral resources. The care, preservation, protection, and well-being of social communities are attributes of prosocial behavior that can be such a resource. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of prosocial orientation of Russian youth during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to identify strategies for prosocial behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample consisted of 447 people. The study was conducted in May 2020 in the form of an online survey of subjects using Google Forms (“Moral Foundations Questionnaire method” and “Portrait Values Questionnaire”). The research made it possible to establish that Russians were dominated by norms of care, fairness, purity; values of benevolence-universalism, security, and self-direction. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the prosocial orientation of Russians may manifest itself in the following behavioral strategies: proactive prosocial strategy of “caring for others” (true altruism, expressed in forms of volunteering, helping a stranger, and charity despite the risk of contracting a coronavirus infection); egoistic strategy of prosocial behavior “self-care through caring for others” (volunteering based on self-development; helping a stranger to improve your own psychological well-being); conventional prosocial strategy “self-care” (self-isolation and preventive behavior). In the long run, it is necessary to identify personal and environmental resources that allowed people to effectively implement a prosocial self-isolation strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as various forms of volunteerism.

ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES TO THE ESSENCE OF SOCIAL ACTIVITY OF STUDENT YOUTH

Based on the identification of the main approaches to understanding the content of personality activity in general, the article highlights the main scientific approaches to interpreting of the essence of social activity of the individual: activity, acmeological, systemic, subjective, axiological, genetic modeling. It is determined that the most appropriate is the author’s proposed subject-activity approach to the interpretation of the essence of social activity of student youth. We consider the subjectivity of the individual as an important prerequisite and, at the same time, the result of social activity of students, which is realized through an active and responsible attitude to themselves, to various objects, to another person, to educational and future professional activities. At the heart of the activity of the independent subject of life we see: readiness and ability to realize their interests and the interests of society; constant and strong desire to influence social processes and real participation in public affairs; the desire to strengthen and improve the existing social order, based on the assimilation of social values and the realization of their goals, taking into account the interests of society. According to the subject-activity approach, social activity of the individual is considered by us as a personal formation of prosocial orientation, internally determined by individual needs, values, volitional characteristics and characteristics of person, and outwardly manifested in the transformation of society and personality, that is in social activity.

CORRELATIONS OF MOTIVATIONAL-MEANING ORIENTATIONS AND PERSONAL FACTORS FOR PATIENTS WITH DIABETES MELLITUS

The article studies correlations between motivational-meaning orientations and personal factors for patients having diabetes mellitus. The study involved 79 people undergoing treatment for diabetes mellitus at the Kiev City Endocrinology Center: 31 men, 48women, with average age of 52.22, σ = 16.61. The following methods were used: “Diagnostics of the motivational structure of personality” (Milman, 1990), “Meaningful life orientations” (Leontiev, 2000) and “Five-Factor Personality Questionnaire” (Khromov, 2000). The motives of support were significantly more important than the motives of development for patients with diabetes mellitus, which indicated the regressive personal tendencies. As for meaningful life orientations, the indicator of goals was low, the indicators of satisfaction with a life process and life results were somewhat more optimistic. The results for the indicators of the locus of control-Self and the locus of control-life were different: locus of control-Self was low, but locus of control-life was sufficient. That is, the respondents believed in the fundamental capability to manage their lives, but they did not believe that they were able to manage it themselves. The obtained data are consistent with the results of other authors on the externality of the locus of control for such patients. Men with diabetes mellitus more often, in comparison with women, see life meaning in its results, feel themselves masters of their own lives, and are guided in their behavior by motives of life support. As for the analyzed personal traits, low values were obtained for all factors identified with the Five-Factor Personality Questionnaire. “Playfulness-practicality” factor turned up to be the lowest, which reflected that the studied people had tendency to be closed to new experience, afraid for changes but to be more practical, realistic, focus on adaptation to everyday life, and be concern about the material side of life. The revealed correlations of motivational-meaning orientations with personal traits for patients with diabetes mellitus were weak and of a low significance, therefore, they rather allow us to speak about tendencies than about regularities. These tendencies, first of all, include the specific refraction of motivational-meaning orientations through the respondents’ personal traits changed because disease, namely, egocentrism, a low prosocial orientation, the external locus of control, rejection of new experience, suspiciousness, misunderstanding of other people and focusing on one’s own problems.

Italian Community Psychology in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Shared Feelings and Thoughts in the Storytelling of University Students

This study investigated how young Italian people experienced the period of peak spread of COVID-19 in their country by probing their emotions, thoughts, events, and actions related to interpersonal and community bonds. This approach to the pandemic will highlight social dimensions that characterized contextual interactions from the specific perspective of Community Psychology. The aim was to investigate young people's experiences because they are the most fragile group due to their difficulty staying home and apart from their peers and because they are, at the same time, the most potentially dangerous people due to their urge to gather in groups. The research involved 568 university students, 475 females, and 93 males, with an average age of 21.82 years (SD = 4.836). The collected data were analyzed with the Grounded Theory Methodology, using the Atlas 8.0 software. From the textual data, representative codes were defined and grouped into 10 categories, which reflect the individuals' prosocial attitudes, behaviors, and values. These categories formed three macro-categories, called: “Collective Dimensions,” which includes Connectedness, Solidarity, Italian-ness, Social Problems, and Collective Mourning; “Prosocial Orientation,” which includes Trust and Hope; and “Collective Values,” which includes Values of Freedom, Respect of Social Rules, and Civic-Mindedness. All these macro-categories are indicative of the shared feelings experienced by Italians during the first time of the pandemic. Further practical implications of these results will be discussed, including a consideration of the risk of developing distress and improving well-being, as well as promoting preventive behaviors.

Factors of Psychological Readiness of Student Youth for Tutoring for People with Disabilities

In the time of higher education modernization, which is focused on individual trajectories and the formation of personality on the basis of its capabilities and abilities, a new role is acquired by a new type of activity – tutoring. In European leading countries, this type of support for people with disabilities has proven its effectiveness, but in Ukraine it is not widely known. The article presents the results of an empirical study of the psychological readiness in young students to become tuitors for people with disabilities. The sample was consisted of 68 students O.M. Beketov National University of Urban Economy in Kharkiv. The research has shown that tutoring is a new and exciting phenomenon that gives students the opportunity to experience mentoring, including students with disabilities. At the same time, psychological readiness for such activities is at a low level, which is caused by the insufficient level of awareness of functional responsibilities of a tutor, a clear ultimate goal, and so on. There are four factors in the structure of psychological readiness for tutoring students with disabilities: “Prosocial Orientation to Help”, “Academic Orientation”, “Social Intuition” and “Communicative Competence”. Given the psychological characteristics of students with disabilities, their support should be significantly different from the educational support of relatively healthy students. The data obtained can be included in the development of a comprehensive program to study the psychological readiness for tutoring people with disabilities.