The present study adds to the evolving literature on the relationship between social mindfulness (SoMi) and environmental concern (EC) on an individual level. Investigating this relationship is...Show moreThe present study adds to the evolving literature on the relationship between social mindfulness (SoMi) and environmental concern (EC) on an individual level. Investigating this relationship is valuable given the suggested implications of SoMi fluctuations for societal and environmental outcomes (e.g., scarcity and natural resources affecting future generations). Building on existing literature by Van Doesum et al. (2021) and Kirkland et al. (2022), we hypothesized a positive correlation between SoMi and EC on an individual level. We operationalized environmental concern across three dimensions based on the Theory of Planned Behavior: Attitude, behavior and intent (i.e., all towards being environmentally conscious), and investigated the expected SoMi-EC relationship per facet separately. Additionally, we examined the potential connection between SoMi and environmentally friendly consumer behavior, also expecting a positive correlation. Results from a survey of N = 108 participants revealed that greater levels of social mindfulness correspond to increased intentions to behave more environmentally conscious, emphasizing the importance of promoting these concepts to mitigate environmental harm. However, we did not observe a similar relationship between social mindfulness and the facets attitude and (consumer)behavior, indicating a gap between the three dimensions. Future research should focus on addressing this gap to gain a more nuanced understanding of the complete SoMi-EC relationship. As environmental concerns grow increasingly urgent, understanding these dynamics are imperative for future decision-making and the development of effective interventions.Show less
As urbanization rises, increasing studies have been focusing on the restorative effects of nature and the benefits nature has on physical health and well-being. Exposure to nature is interlinked...Show moreAs urbanization rises, increasing studies have been focusing on the restorative effects of nature and the benefits nature has on physical health and well-being. Exposure to nature is interlinked with prosocial tendencies such as helping behaviour and generosity. However, little is known about the relationship between nature and other prosocial behaviour. The current research studied the link between exposure to nature and social mindfulness, a specific and effortless form of prosocial behaviour. Additionally, we tested how restoration and dispositional awe relate to it. We hypothesized that a walk in nature would make people more socially mindful. Our sample (N=16) did not show a significant difference. We expected restoration and dispositional awe to relate positively with social mindfulness after the walk. A marginal effect was found that restoration increased social mindfulness. No evidence was found that dispositional awe affected the relationship between nature and social mindfulness. Findings and limitations are discussed.Show less
Perceptions about one’s social class has social consequences on interactional decision making. Studies have shown that the social class of an interaction partner (i.e., the target) predicts how...Show morePerceptions about one’s social class has social consequences on interactional decision making. Studies have shown that the social class of an interaction partner (i.e., the target) predicts how prosocial one will be towards this target. Lower-class targets elicit greater prosociality than higher-class targets, known as the target class effect. The present study (N = 294) replicated this effect in the US with an online survey. We operationalized social mindfulness (SoMi) as a measure for prosociality, while manipulating target class with information about the target’s position on a social ladder. The objective was to explore fairness and moral perspectives as underlying explanations for the target class effect. We proposed that need-based distributive fairness preference (i.e., taking the needs of others into consideration when allocating resources) and moral identity will facilitate and attenuate the target class effect respectively. Our findings did not support these expectations. Implications, limitations, and future directions are further discussed.Show less
Research has found significant effects of social class on prosocial behavior, but diverging findings for the influence of political ideology. In this study, the aim was to find out whether ideology...Show moreResearch has found significant effects of social class on prosocial behavior, but diverging findings for the influence of political ideology. In this study, the aim was to find out whether ideology influences prosociality towards people of a low or a high social class. This was investigated by conducting an online experiment with liberals and conservatives (N = 294), where they engaged in the social mindfulness (SoMi) task, which served as a measure for prosocial behavior. For the SoMi task, the participants were told to imagine they had an interaction partner who was either of a low social class or high social class. My hypotheses for this research were that liberals would treat targets of a low social class more prosocially than conservatives (H1), that conservatives would treat targets of a high social class more prosocially than liberals (H2) and that the tendencies towards low-class targets would be mediated by perceptions of deservingness and compassion towards them (H3). Although these hypotheses could not be confirmed, there was a significant effect of target class on social mindfulness, indicating that lower-class targets elicited more prosocial behavior than higher-class targets, in line with previous research. In addition to that, political ideology had a significant effect on social mindfulness when controlling for age, which showed that those identifying as very liberal acted more prosocially than those identifying as conservative.Show less
