Prosocial Behavior of Adolescents with Focus on Sex Difference

Created on 16th January 2022

Conference: The Asian Conference on Psychology & the Behavioral Sciences (ACP2022)
Title: Prosocial Behavior of Adolescents with Focus on Sex Difference
Stream: General Psychology
Presentation Type: Virtual Poster Presentation
Authors:
Jane Shin, Yonsei University, South Korea
Kyong-Mee Chung, Yonsei University, South Korea

Abstract:

Adolescent's prosocial behavior is important because it predicts their future social adjustment, academic achievement, and self-esteem. To measure this behavior accurately, an objective measurement such as behavioral task is recommended. The purpose of this study was to investigate adolescents’ prosocial behavior and examine the role of sex in it by utilizing a virtual ball-tossing game, the ‘Prosocial Cyberball Game’(PCG). PCG is a computerized behavioral task designed to measure prosocial behavior after witnessing others‘ exclusion. 151 adolescents were randomly assigned to either two conditions; experimental condition where children witnessed other player’s exclusion and control condition where children did not witness any exclusion. Results showed that adolescents in the experimental condition engaged in prosocial behavior by tossing more often to the excluded player. Furthermore, while the girls were more aware of the exclusion, the boys behaved more prosocially, throwing more balls to the excluded player than the girls. The results suggest that adolescents respond prosocially toward excluded peers and that the awareness of exclusion and the actual response to it may differ between sex.