The role of empathy and perceived stress in the association between dispositional awe and prosocial behavior in medical students: a moderated mediation model

Abstract

This study examined the mediating effects of cognitive empathy and affective empathy in the relationship between dispositional awe and prosocial behaviour in medical students, and whether perceived stress moderated this association. A total of 631 medical students from two medical tertiary institutions in Liaoning Province, China, participated in this survey. The findings revealed that (1) dispositional awe was positively associated with prosocial behaviour; (2) the positive association between dispositional awe and prosocial behaviour was partially mediated by cognitive empathy and affective empathy; (3) perceived stress significantly attenuated the association between dispositional awe and cognitive empathy, and the association between cognitive empathy and prosocial behaviour. The findings yield practical implications for the improvement strategies of prosocial behaviour among medical students and provide suggestions for future educational interventions.

Keywords:

• Dispositional awe
• prosocial behaviour
• empathy
• perceived stress
• medical students

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the students who voluntarily participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the ‘14th Five-Year’ Medical Education Science Research Project of China Medical University [YDJK2021062].