Compassion Education for Prosocial Behavior and Well-Being Among College Students

Abstract

Recent studies indicate that many young adults, especially US college students, experience high levels of stress, depression, anxiety, cyberbullying, and sexual violence. Many institutions of higher education rely on policies that often are reportedly biased towards materialistic pursuits, science and mathematics curriculums, and standardized testing which may promote students' extrinsic motivation and individualistic behaviors. This review examines the potential benefits of compassion education to enhance the prosocial attitudes, mental health, and well-being among undergraduate college students. The two overarching goals of this paper are first, to highlight the current mental health challenges facing undergraduate college students and their causes, and second, to propose possible solutions to address these issues. Data from empirical studies on compassion are reviewed to examine the effectiveness of compassion education and training approaches in establishing a safer, healthier, happier, and more inclusive educational learning environment leading to enhanced prosocial behaviors and positive mental health.

Positive University Environment and Agreeableness as Protective Factors Against Antisocial Behavior in Mexican University Students

“…Although peer network intervention studies have focused on school-aged children (Miller et al, 2017), students with disabilities (Asmus et al, 2017), and autism diagnosis (Odom, 2019), a recent randomized experimental study found that using a closeness-induction task improved peer connections among undergraduate students (Rasco et al, 2020). A previous review posited "the effectiveness of compassion education and training approaches in establishing a safer, healthier, happier, and more inclusive educational learning environment leading to enhanced prosocial behaviors and positive mental health" (Tendhar and Bueno de Mesquita, 2020). A comprehensive approach to the implementation of these types of policies may improve not only student mental health but may also reduce student antisocial behavior and provide a more positive school environment for all.…”