Socioeconomic Status, Subjective Social Status and Stress: How They Affect Prosocial Behavior in University Students

The relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), subjective social status (SSS), stress and prosocial behavior remains a topic of debate in science with conflicting theories and contradictory results. Correctly understanding the meaning of the relationship can contribute to promoting socioeconomic equality in society through targeted interventions. The three main objectives of this study were to investigate whether 1) SES and SSS predict prosocial behavior; 2) SES predicts prosocial behavior while controlling for SSS; 3) Stress affects the outcomes in question 1 and 2, when comparing a stressful context to a non- stressful context. The research was conducted through a two-session repeated measure design, one during a stressful period of exams and once during a non-stressful period without exams, measuring university students’ well-being and academic performance in association to prosocial behavior. 502 students from universities throughout the United Kingdom were recruited...Show moreThe relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), subjective social status (SSS), stress and prosocial behavior remains a topic of debate in science with conflicting theories and contradictory results. Correctly understanding the meaning of the relationship can contribute to promoting socioeconomic equality in society through targeted interventions. The three main objectives of this study were to investigate whether 1) SES and SSS predict prosocial behavior; 2) SES predicts prosocial behavior while controlling for SSS; 3) Stress affects the outcomes in question 1 and 2, when comparing a stressful context to a non- stressful context. The research was conducted through a two-session repeated measure design, one during a stressful period of exams and once during a non-stressful period without exams, measuring university students’ well-being and academic performance in association to prosocial behavior. 502 students from universities throughout the United Kingdom were recruited through the online platform Prolific. The experiment took place online and consisted of a behavioral task measuring prosocial behavior, assessing how much work participants would be willing to do to obtain a reward for themselves versus for a fictive participant, followed by self-report questionnaires. Results indicated that: 1) SES and SSS did not significantly predict prosocial behavior; 2) SES did not significantly predict prosocial behavior while controlling for SSS; 3) Stress did not significantly affect the outcomes in question 1 and 2, when comparing a stressful context to a non-stressful context. Limitations to the study include unmet assumptions of normality and linearity, a generalizability bias and a potential motivation bias. Future studies should consider random sampling and making use of an in-person experimental setting. This study highlights the possible complexity of the relationships between SES, SSS, stress and prosocial behavior and thus calls for further investigations.Show less

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Socioeconomic Status, Subjective Social Status and Stress: How They Affect Prosocial Behavior in University Students