The Influence of Cultivating Contemporary Chinese Core Values on Prosocial Behaviours of Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Cognitive training interventions grounded in self-transcendence values have been proven to be effective in enhancing adolescents' prosocial behaviours. However, previous interventions primarily emphasize the altruistic attribute of prosocial behaviours. Alternatively, contemporary Chinese core values advocate for an integration of both altruistic and self-serving aspects within prosocial behaviours. This study aims to design an innovative intervention programme rooted in contemporary Chinese core values to foster prosocial behaviours among college students. It employed a 2 × 2 mixed design on 236 college students to assess the intervention's effectiveness with the prosocial tendencies measure, online altruistic behaviour scale, and the positive psychological capital questionnaire. Results revealed that the intervention could enhance both offline and online prosocial behaviours and positive psychological capital. The intervention's efficacy varied with the dimension of the three indicators. Specifically, an improvement was observed for compliance, public and anonymous prosocial behaviours and a decrease for emergency, but no improvement for altruistic and emotional prosocial behaviours. Online support showed a strong tendency to be improved, and online guidance and sharing were improved, but not for the online reminders. An improvement was observed for self-efficacy and resilience, but not for resilience and hope. Additionally, there was a gender difference with male college students.