Article Synopsis
- The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed social interactions, leading to changes in how people care for each other.
- A study involving 9,496 participants from eight regions examined prosocial behavior during the first lockdown and found that such behavior was common and linked to better well-being.
- Key predictors of prosocial behavior included strong perceived social support, followed by perceived stress, positive emotions, and psychological flexibility, with similar patterns observed across different regions.
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Article Abstract
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic fundamentally disrupted humans' social life and behavior. Public health measures may have inadvertently impacted how people care for each other. This study investigated prosocial behavior, its association well-being, and predictors of prosocial behavior during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and sought to understand whether region-specific differences exist. Participants ( = 9,496) from eight regions clustering multiple countries around the world responded to a cross-sectional online-survey investigating the psychological consequences of the first upsurge of lockdowns in spring 2020. Prosocial behavior was reported to occur frequently. Multiple regression analyses showed that prosocial behavior was associated with better well-being consistently across regions. With regard to predictors of prosocial behavior, high levels of perceived social support were most strongly associated with prosocial behavior, followed by high levels of perceived stress, positive affect and psychological flexibility. Sociodemographic and psychosocial predictors of prosocial behavior were similar across regions.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8877810 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.775032 | DOI Listing |
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