Cogntive and Physical Effort-Based Prosocial Behavior across Varying Effort Levels in Adolescents

Prosocial behavior can result in favorable developmental consequences in adolescence. Therefore, gaining insight into prosocial behavior is important, so we can assist adolescents. However, previous studies on prosocial did not consider that prosocial behavior takes effort, such as holding the door open for another individual. Additionally, they did not explore whether cognitive and physical effort, and different effort levels, lead to variations in prosocial behavior among adolescents. Therefore, this study examined whether there are differences in cognitive and physical effort-based prosocial behavior in adolescents aged 9-12 across three different effort levels - low, medium, and high. In addition, age was taken into account as covariate. Effort levels referred to how much effort one had to exert in order to complete a specific task. 41 participants completed two experimental effort-based prosocial tasks. The cognitive task involved reversed digit spans, and the physical task was...Show moreProsocial behavior can result in favorable developmental consequences in adolescence. Therefore, gaining insight into prosocial behavior is important, so we can assist adolescents. However, previous studies on prosocial did not consider that prosocial behavior takes effort, such as holding the door open for another individual. Additionally, they did not explore whether cognitive and physical effort, and different effort levels, lead to variations in prosocial behavior among adolescents. Therefore, this study examined whether there are differences in cognitive and physical effort-based prosocial behavior in adolescents aged 9-12 across three different effort levels - low, medium, and high. In addition, age was taken into account as covariate. Effort levels referred to how much effort one had to exert in order to complete a specific task. 41 participants completed two experimental effort-based prosocial tasks. The cognitive task involved reversed digit spans, and the physical task was based on the Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task, where the participant was required to tap on a predetermined number of boxes. The research question was investigated using a two-way repeated measures ANCOVA. Furthermore, an exploratory analysis was done using a three-way repeated measures ANCOVA, to investigate if adding the recipient as a within-subject variable would impact the results of the repeated measure ANCOVA. The main analysis revealed no effect of effort level, effort type, or interaction between these two. Age was not influential in the analysis either. The absence of differences highlighted the potential generalizability of neural mechanisms, the possible role of empathy as a moderator, and considered cognitive and physical effort-based prosocial behavior as constructs that vary across situations. However, the not-significant outcome could also be explained by the not-significant main effect of the recipient, found in the exploratory analysis. This study represented a new area of research that explored the nuances of effort-related prosocial behavior in adolescents. From our findings, we speculated that both kinds of prosocial behavior are equally beneficial, and result in favorable developmental consequences. Future research should investigate whether the findings are generalizable for mid and late adolescents and other forms of prosocial behavior.Show less

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Cogntive and Physical Effort-Based Prosocial Behavior across Varying Effort Levels in Adolescents