Aging, Empathy, and Prosocial Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
; 77(4): e57-e63, 2022 04 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1328918
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Previous literature suggests age-related increases in prosociality. Does such an age-prosociality relationship occur during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, or might the pandemic-as a stressor that may differently influence young and older adults-create a boundary condition on the relationship? If so, can empathy, a well-known prosocial disposition, explain the age-prosociality relationship? This study investigated these questions and whether the target (distant others compared to close others) of prosocial behaviors differs by age.METHODS:
Participants completed a series of surveys on dispositional empathy and prosocial behaviors for a study assessing their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 330 participants (aged 18-89) from the United States who completed all of the surveys included in the present analyses.RESULTS:
Age was positively related to greater prosociality during the pandemic. Although empathy was positively associated with individuals' prosociality, it did not account for the age-prosociality association. Interestingly, increasing age was associated with greater prosocial behaviors toward close others (i.e., family, friends).DISCUSSION:
Results are discussed in the context of socioemotional goals and substantiate that findings of age differences in prosocial behaviors occur during the period of limited resources and threat associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
Journal subject:
Social Sciences
/
Geriatrics
/
Psychology
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Geronb
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