By: Sophie Sweijen

Supporting your friend with an important exam, helping your parents with groceries, or raising money for a charity: these are all examples of prosocial behavior. Prosocial behavior consists of actions that are meant to benefit others. Growing up in today’s society, young individuals face many social and societal challenges. My PhD research shows that engaging in prosocial behavior may help adolescents to navigate these challenges and can even benefit their own wellbeing.

In my PhD, I examined how different forms of prosocial behavior develop across adolescence. These behaviors range from sharing and giving within close relationships, such as friends and family, to societal contributions more broadly. Specifically, I looked at how adolescents help others, who they help, and why these behaviors change as they grow up. In this blog, I share the three key findings from my research.

Adolescents do not only engage in prosocial behavior to close relationships but also to the broader society
Adolescents show prosocial behavior in their inner circle, such as friends and family, but also to society. Each of these ‘targets’ plays a unique role in adolescent.

Friends and peers are especially important. Adolescents show a strong preference to helping their friends. Even though adolescents helped their family members less than their friends, prosocial behavior to family showed the strongest associations with other positive outcomes, such as wellbeing and prosocial behavior more broadly.

We also found that adolescents have a strong need to contribute to society, such as to charities and local communities. Contributing to society can promote the feeling that they matter and that they belong to a community or larger group.

Prosocial behavior shows a qualitative change across adolescence
Prosocial behavior changes in quality during adolescence. Older adolescents are more intrinsically motivated to engage in prosocial behavior. Also, older adolescents differentiate more clearly between who they help and in what way.

These qualitative changes in prosocial behavior are not explained by age alone. Pubertal development, such as physical development and hormones, also plays an important role. These changes were even found at a neural level. That is, brain areas that are involved in understanding others’ perspectives, mirrored the observed behavior.

Helping others can help adolescents themselves
Prosocial behavior does not only benefit the receiver, but it can also benefit the person who helps. We found that adolescents who emotionally supported others during challenging times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, showed higher positive wellbeing. For example, giving compliments to friends and family promoted feelings of vigor among adolescents. Again, contributing to others’ wellbeing can stimulate their feeling of significance and meaning, As such, helping others can promote adolescents’ own wellbeing.

Doing good, feeling good
In sum, even small, everyday prosocial behaviors can have a significant impact. My research shows that adolescents genuinely want to be there for others when support is needed. At the same time, helping others can help adolescents themselves.

The essence of prosocial behavior lies in helping others, but in doing so, adolescents also help themselves.

Interested in my dissertation? You can find a digital version here (code: 181859). Please reach out to sweijen@essb.eur.nl if you would like to have a physical copy.