Does threat trigger prosociality? The relation between basic individual values, threat appraisals, and prosocial helping intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Prosociality is often considered as quintessential in coping with the threats of health emergencies. As previous research has suggested, prosocial behaviors are shaped by both dispositional factors and situational cues about the helping situation. In the present research, we investigated whether “bonding” types of prosociality, helping directed towards close others within one’s social network, and “bridging” types of prosociality, helping directed towards vulnerable people across group boundaries, are predicted by basic individual values and threat appraisals concerning COVID-19. During the pandemic, we conducted a cross-sectional study in the US and India (Ntotal = 954), using the Schwartz value inventory and a multifaceted measure of threat assessment to predict prosocial helping intentions. After controlling for other value and threat facets, self-transcendence values and threat for vulnerable groups uniquely predicted both bonding and bridging types of prosociality. Furthermore, threat for vulnerable groups partially mediated the effect of self-transcendence on prosocial helping intentions: People who endorsed self-transcendent values were particularly concerned by the effect of the pandemic on vulnerable groups, and thus willing to engage in prosocial behaviours to help those in need. Our findings support the idea that prosociality is stimulated by empathic concerns towards others in need and underline the importance for future research to consider the broad spectrum of threats appraised by people during health emergencies.

The COVID-19 pandemic as an existential threat: Evidence on young people’s psychological vulnerability using a Multifaceted Threat Scale

“…The main contribution of this research is that it yields insights into the mechanisms that contributed to younger peoples’ increased psychological vulnerability. Based on a comparison of different threat dimensions, using the COVID-19 Multifaceted Threat Scale [ 18 , 19 ], our data suggest that a lack of meaning and purpose, along with perceptions of being “trapped”, weighed particularly on younger cohorts, hence undermining their sense of well-being [ 20 , 21 ]. While existential threat was the least pronounced threat component overall, being particularly low among “baby-boomers”, its higher prevalence among younger cohorts is alarming.…”

“…Lockdown measures have deprived younger generations of leisure and in-person interactions, giving new power to computers and smartphones to maintain social bonds among their peers. Emerging from all this is a "new normal" [17] permeated with sensitive factors for psychological well-being that are linked to threats of all kinds: to one's health, to one's life, to one's finances, to the quality of one's relationships and to the fulfillment of one's standard of living [18,19].…”

Promotion of Values Education (Factors Involved in Prosocial Behaviors and Volunteering)

“…Therefore, it can be said that there exists cultural and social disparity. It is essential to recognize that individuals, after experiencing significant difficulties that they perceive as a threat, may adopt different core values and prioritize based on their situation during the crisis, leading to varied responses in facing it [68].…”