A replication and extension of the prosocial effect of online social interactions among Chinese and American emerging adults

ABSTRACT

The recent global crisis has had a profound and widespread impact on humanity, eliciting a heightened appreciation for the importance of prosociality. In response, interdisciplinary scholars have called for further research to investigate strategies for cultivating kindness, generosity, and cooperation. To answer this call, we conducted a study examining the potential prosocial impact of online social interactions (OSIs) in two distinct cultures. Through a survey of 644 emerging adults from China and the United States, we found that OSIs positively led to prosocial tendencies in both samples, with social connectedness and trust serving as significant mediating factors. Nevertheless, among the American sample, trust can serve as the sole mediator linking OSIs and prosocial tendencies. Conversely, among the Chinese sample, the development of prosociality stemming from OSIs requires the intervening facilitation of social connectedness. This divergence may speak to cultural research regarding the essential role of interpersonal relationships in fostering trust and prosociality in collectivist societies. This study contributes to prosociality scholarship by highlighting the role of OSIs as a crucial enhancer across two distinct cultures, clarifying the underlying mechanisms, and identifying cultural differences in the process of prosocial development. The results have implications for both prosocial theory and practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Prosociality
• online social interactions (osis)
• trust
• social connectedness
• emerging adults

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 These three behavioral items are expected to capture the core essence of OSIs in their diverse manifestations across emerging platforms and functionalities in both China and the United States. For one thing, these items represent fundamental interactive social behaviors that are commonly observed across digital platforms in both countries. For example, both Facebook and WeChat have integrated functionalities enabling users to engage in commenting on others’ posts, as exemplified in WeChat Moments and Facebook News Feed. For another, despite potential variations in the evolving media landscapes of the two countries, these functions are essentially nuanced iterations of the foundational OSIs captured by the three items. For example, the introduction of features like the expression of reactions through emojis on Facebook posts still aligns with the fundamental essence of the act of commenting. Similarly, on WeChat, the integration of features enabling real-time interactions through comments within short-form videos mirrors the commenting aspect inherent in OSIs. Therefore, we posit that these three items sufficiently capture the fundamental essence of OSIs in the distinct media landscapes across China and the United States. Lastly, it is important to note that the items ‘participating in online discussion’ and ‘private chatting with strangers’ in the original scale were deemed inapplicable in the context of private platforms examined in the current study, like WeChat and Facebook. Therefore, they were excluded in the current measurement.

2 It is important to emphasize that the prosociality under consideration is contextualized within a wider societal framework and does not encompass helping behaviors within anti-social groups. The ‘helping behaviors’ exhibited in such groups are recognized as deviating from established societal norms.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wu Li

Wu Li is a professor at School of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. He received his Ph.D. degree in Communication Study from Peking University, China. His research interests focus on media psychology, information behavior, media use and adolescent development.

Meng Chen

Meng Chen is Ph.D. in University of California, Davis. She is an Associate Profesosr at the School of Media and Communication in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her research pursuits primarily focus on media use, media psychology, and media effects.

Annette Ding

Annette Ding is a master student in the School of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. Her research interests are media and cultural psychology, particularly on how the effects of media use intersect with the influences of culture in people's development.

Pengya Ai

Pengya Ai is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University. Her research primarily focuses on prosocial behavior, social influence, and quantitative research methods.