Aging, Empathy, and Prosocial Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Previous literature suggests age-related increases in prosociality. Does such an age-prosociality relationship occur during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, or might the pandemic-as a stressor that may differently influence young and older adults-create a boundary condition on the relationship? If so, can empathy, a well-known prosocial disposition, explain the age-prosociality relationship? This study investigated these questions and whether the target (distant others compared to close others) of prosocial behaviors differs by age.

Methods

Participants completed a series of surveys on dispositional empathy and prosocial behaviors for a study assessing their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 330 participants (aged 18-89) from th

SUBMITTER: Cho I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8411378 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature