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. 2023 Feb;32(1):188-203.
doi: 10.1111/sode.12630. Epub 2022 Sep 1.

Adolescents' Perceptions of Social Risk and Prosocial Tendencies: Developmental Change and Individual Differences

Emma Armstrong-Carter  1 , Kathy T Do  2 , Natasha Duell  2   3 , Seh-Joo Kwon  2 , Kristen A Lindquist  2 , Mitch J Prinstein  2 , Eva H Telzer  2
Affiliations

Adolescents' Perceptions of Social Risk and Prosocial Tendencies: Developmental Change and Individual Differences

Emma Armstrong-Carter et al. Soc Dev. 2023 Feb.

Abstract

Many prosocial behaviors involve social risks such as speaking out against a popular opinion, bias, group norm, or authority. However, little is known about whether adolescents' prosocial tendencies develop over time with their perceptions of social risks. This accelerated longitudinal study used within-subject growth-curve analyses to test the link between prosocial tendencies and social risk perceptions, in a sample of adolescents who completed self-reports annually for three years (N = 893; M age = 12.30 years, 10 - 14 years at Wave 1, and 10 - 17 years across the full study period; 50% Girls, 33% White non-Latinx, 27% Latinx, 20% African American, 20% Mixed/Other Race). The association between social risk tolerance and prosocial tendencies changed significantly across adolescence, such that at for younger adolescents, more prosocial tendencies were associated with less social risk tolerance, whereas for relatively older adolescents, more prosocial tendencies were associated marginally with more social risk tolerance. Additional individual differences by empathy (but not sensation seeking) emerged. These findings suggest that prosocial development across adolescence may be associated with an underlying ability to tolerate social risks.

Keywords: adolescence; prosocial tendencies; social risk perceptions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The yearly association between social risk tolerance and prosocial tendencies changes across development
Figure 2
Figure 2
Adolescents who are low in empathy show greater prosocial tendencies during years when they are less tolerant of social risks. Adolescents who are high in empathy do not show a yearly link between prosocial tendencies and social risk tolerance.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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