Childhood Environmental Unpredictability and Prosocial Behavior in Adults: The Effect of Life-History Strategy and Dark Personalities

Figures & data

Figure 1 Theoretical model diagrams of Models 1 and 2. (A) Model 1. The main effect model; (B) Model 2. The mediation model.

Table 1 The Results of Descriptive Statistics

	M (SD)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1. CEU	3.612 (0.945)	—
2. CEH	4.491 (1.282)	0.289***	—
3. Life-history strategy	3.342 (0.662)	0.309***	0.312***	—
4. Machiavellianism	4.669 (1.157)	−0.252***	0.176***	0.306***	—
5. Narcissism	3.965 (1.075)	0.317***	0.209***	0.255***	0.010	—
6. Psychopathy	3.111 (1.018)	0.284***	0.198***	0.305***	0.232***	0.259***	—
7. Sadism	3.489 (1.172)	0.239***	0.274***	0.345***	0.210***	0.220***	0.422***	—
8. PSB	5.104 (0.738)	−0.321***	−0.270***	−0.317***	−0.333***	−0.354***	−0.342***	−0.442***	—
9. Sex (Men = 1; Women = 2)	—	−0.185***	−0.128***	−0.135***	−0.090**	−0.154***	−0.606***	−0.208***	0.166***	—
10. Age (years old)	22.45 (2.687)	−0.121***	−0.098**	0.123***	0.028	−0.157***	−0.093**	−0.008	0.130***	0.086**	—

Notes: **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: M, mean; SD, standard deviation; CEU, childhood environmental unpredictability; CEH, childhood environmental harshness; PSB, prosocial behavior.

Figure 2 The structural equation model diagrams of Models 1 and 2. (A) Model 1. The main effect model; (B) Model 2. The mediation model.

Notes: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. Model 1 and Model 2 controlled for sex, age, and CEH.

Abbreviation: CEH, childhood environmental harshness.

Table 2 The Results of Chain Mediation Analysis (5000 Bootstrap Samples)

Pathways	Estimate	SE	95% CI
			Lower	Upper
CEU → Life-history strategy → Machiavellianism → PSB	−0.052	0.011	−0.076	−0.033
CEU → Life-history strategy → Narcissism → PSB	−0.012	0.003	−0.019	−0.007
CEU → Life-history strategy → Psychopathy → PSB	−0.003	0.003	−0.010	0.003
CEU → Life-history strategy → Sadism → PSB	−0.023	0.006	−0.037	−0.015
CEU → Life-history strategy → Machiavellianism → Public	−0.047	0.011	−0.074	−0.029
CEU → Life-history strategy → Narcissism → Public	−0.020	0.005	−0.032	−0.011
CEU → Life-history strategy → Psychopathy → Public	−0.009	0.004	−0.019	−0.003
CEU → Life-history strategy → Sadism → PSB	−0.016	0.005	−0.028	−0.008
CEU → Life-history strategy → Machiavellianism → Anonymous	−0.044	0.010	−0.067	−0.027
CEU → Life-history strategy → Narcissism → Anonymous	−0.007	0.003	−0.014	−0.003
CEU → Life-history strategy → Psychopathy →Anonymous	−0.001	0.003	−0.008	0.005
CEU → Life-history strategy → Sadism → Anonymous	−0.016	0.005	−0.028	−0.009
CEU → Life-history strategy → Machiavellianism → Altruistic	−0.035	0.009	−0.057	−0.022
CEU → Life-history strategy → Narcissism → Altruistic	−0.008	0.003	−0.016	−0.004
CEU → Life-history strategy → Psychopathy → Altruistic	−0.003	0.003	−0.011	0.003
CEU → Life-history strategy → Sadism → Altruistic	−0.015	0.005	−0.025	−0.007
CEU → Life-history strategy → Machiavellianism → Compliant	−0.018	0.006	−0.032	−0.009
CEU → Life-history strategy → Narcissism → Compliant	−0.006	0.002	−0.012	−0.003
CEU → Life-history strategy → Psychopathy → Compliant	0.000	0.003	−0.006	0.007
CEU → Life-history strategy → Sadism → Compliant	−0.019	0.005	−0.031	−0.011
CEU → Life-history strategy → Machiavellianism → Emotional	−0.040	0.009	−0.062	−0.025
CEU → Life-history strategy → Narcissism → Emotional	−0.008	0.003	−0.014	−0.004
CEU → Life-history strategy → Psychopathy → Emotional	−0.001	0.003	−0.008	0.005
CEU → Life-history strategy → Sadism → Emotional	−0.014	0.004	−0.025	−0.007
CEU → Life-history strategy → Machiavellianism → Dire	−0.026	0.008	−0.045	−0.014
CEU → Life-history strategy → Narcissism → Dire	−0.003	0.002	−0.009	0.001
CEU → Life-history strategy → Psychopathy → Dire	0.002	0.003	−0.004	0.009
CEU → Life-history strategy → Sadism → Dire	−0.011	0.004	−0.021	−0.005

Abbreviations: CEU, childhood environmental unpredictability; PSB, prosocial behavior.

Figure 3 The structural equation model diagrams of Models 3 and 4. (A) Model 3. The main effect model includes all types of PSBs; (B) Model 4. The mediation model includes all types of PSBs.

Notes: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. Model 3 and Model 4 controlled for sex, age, and CEH.

Abbreviations: PSB, prosocial behavior; CEH, childhood environmental harshness.