Distinct mental trainings differentially affect altruistically motivated, norm motivated, and self-reported prosocial behaviour

verfasst von

Anne Böckler, Anita Tusche, Peter Schmidt, Tania Singer

Abstract

Global challenges such as climate change or the refugee crises emphasize the necessity of altruism and cooperation. In a large-scale 9-month intervention study, we investigated the malleability of prosociality by three distinct mental trainings cultivating attention, socio-affective, or socio-cognitive skills. We assessed numerous established measures of prosociality that capture three core facets: Altruistically motivated behaviours, norm motivated behaviours, and self-reported prosociality. Results of multiple time point confirmatory factor analyses support the validity and temporal stability of this model. Furthermore, linear mixed effects models reveal differential effects of mental trainings on the subcomponents of prosociality: Only training care and compassion effectively boosted altruistically motivated behaviour. No effects were revealed for norm-based behaviour. Self-reported prosociality increased with all training modules; this increase was, however, unrelated to changes in task-based measures of altruistic behaviour. These findings corroborate our motivation-based framework of prosociality, challenge economic views of fixed preferences by showing that socio-affective training boosts altruism, and inform policy makers and society about how to increase global cooperation.

Externe Organisation(en)

Max-Planck-Institut für Kognitions- und Neurowissenschaften
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Scientific reports

Band

8

ISSN

2045-2322

Publikationsdatum

10.09.2018

Publikationsstatus

Elektronisch veröffentlicht (E-Pub)

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Allgemein

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 13 – Klimaschutzmaßnahmen, SDG 16 – Frieden, Gerechtigkeit und starke Institutionen

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-31813-8 (Zugang: Offen)