Richard Mills, Emanuele Di Angelantonio, Karen Wetherall, Seonaid Cleare, Barbara Masser, Heather McClelland, Ambrose J Melson, Claire Niedzwiedz, Daryl B O'Connor, Ronan O'Carroll, Kathryn A Robb, Elizabeth Scowcroft, Billy Watson, Angela Wood, Tiago Zortea, Rory O'Connor, Roshan Desai, Susan R Brailsford, Eamonn Ferguson
{"title":"The prosocial phenotype and co-operative health protective behaviors: Insights from COVID-19.","authors":"Richard Mills, Emanuele Di Angelantonio, Karen Wetherall, Seonaid Cleare, Barbara Masser, Heather McClelland, Ambrose J Melson, Claire Niedzwiedz, Daryl B O'Connor, Ronan O'Carroll, Kathryn A Robb, Elizabeth Scowcroft, Billy Watson, Angela Wood, Tiago Zortea, Rory O'Connor, Roshan Desai, Susan R Brailsford, Eamonn Ferguson","doi":"10.1037/hea0001561","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Identifying factors associated with co-operative health-protective behaviors (e.g., vaccination and social distancing) is critical during crises requiring collective action. This research examines two hypotheses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: (a) the situational-strength hypothesis, which predicts that the impact of prosocial preferences on repeated low-cost co-operative actions (e.g., adherence to government guidelines) is moderated by situational ambiguity (e.g., clarity of guidelines); and (b) the vaccination-altruism hypothesis, predicting prosocial individuals are more likely to undertake high-cost co-operative actions (e.g., initial COVID-19 vaccination) due to other-regarding motives.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Study 1 (<i>N</i> = 2, 861) assessed four prosocial behaviors (blood donation, organ donor registration, monetary donation, and volunteering) and three classic co-operative games (dictator, trust, and public goods) to validate a prosocial-phenotype (PP) measure. Study 2 (<i>N</i> = 3, 077) utilized an eight-wave U.K. panel survey (March 2020-July 2021) to test the situational strength and vaccination-altruism hypotheses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Study 1 found that past prosocial behavior was significantly correlated with behavior in co-operative games, supporting construction of the PP measure. In Study 2, higher PP, in line with the situational-strength hypothesis, was associated with greater adherence to guidelines, but only when rules were ambiguous. Higher PP was also associated with greater stated willingness and uptake of vaccination. Although self-protection was the most common motive to vaccinate, high-PP individuals were more likely to cite protecting others and achieving herd immunity.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Prosociality plays a dynamic role in influencing both low- and high-cost co-operative health protective behaviors, offering insights for public health strategies in future crises. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":55066,"journal":{"name":"Health Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"445-459"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001561","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/10/27 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: Identifying factors associated with co-operative health-protective behaviors (e.g., vaccination and social distancing) is critical during crises requiring collective action. This research examines two hypotheses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: (a) the situational-strength hypothesis, which predicts that the impact of prosocial preferences on repeated low-cost co-operative actions (e.g., adherence to government guidelines) is moderated by situational ambiguity (e.g., clarity of guidelines); and (b) the vaccination-altruism hypothesis, predicting prosocial individuals are more likely to undertake high-cost co-operative actions (e.g., initial COVID-19 vaccination) due to other-regarding motives.
Method: Study 1 (N = 2, 861) assessed four prosocial behaviors (blood donation, organ donor registration, monetary donation, and volunteering) and three classic co-operative games (dictator, trust, and public goods) to validate a prosocial-phenotype (PP) measure. Study 2 (N = 3, 077) utilized an eight-wave U.K. panel survey (March 2020-July 2021) to test the situational strength and vaccination-altruism hypotheses.
Results: Study 1 found that past prosocial behavior was significantly correlated with behavior in co-operative games, supporting construction of the PP measure. In Study 2, higher PP, in line with the situational-strength hypothesis, was associated with greater adherence to guidelines, but only when rules were ambiguous. Higher PP was also associated with greater stated willingness and uptake of vaccination. Although self-protection was the most common motive to vaccinate, high-PP individuals were more likely to cite protecting others and achieving herd immunity.
Conclusion: Prosociality plays a dynamic role in influencing both low- and high-cost co-operative health protective behaviors, offering insights for public health strategies in future crises. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
期刊介绍：
Health Psychology publishes articles on psychological, biobehavioral, social, and environmental factors in physical health and medical illness, and other issues in health psychology.
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