Is it me or is it you? How youth’s social class is related to their own and the recipients’ social class
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2019-06-12
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en
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Abstract
Currently, there are two scientific debates regarding the role of social class in prosociality, one
considering the impact of the actor’s, and the other that of the recipient’s social class. In
theoretical deliberations, one’s social class has been portrayed as having either a positive or
negative relation with prosociality. Moreover, it is debated whether people share more with
recipients who are more similar or those more in need of help. We examined both relationships
in two studies with 10-to-12- and 12-to-16-year-olds assessing multiple prosocial behaviors.
Actor social class and age were neither related to prosociality in economic games nor to peer
nominations for helping. Trustworthiness, but not generosity and trust, was impacted by a
within-subjects manipulation of recipients’ social class such that trust was reciprocated to a
greater extent towards a recipient portrayed as low social class. Our findings highlight the need
to develop theories explaining inconsistent effects of recipient social class across different
prosocial behaviors and specifying the conditions under which actor social class may or may
not impact prosociality.
Keywords: Social class, prosocial behavior, adolescence
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Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen