Author:
Haller Elisa,Lubenko Jelena,Presti Giovambattista,Squatrito Valeria,Constantinou Marios,Nicolaou Christiana,Papacostas Savvas,Aydın Gökçen,Chong Yuen Yu,Chien Wai Tong,Cheng Ho Yu,Ruiz Francisco J.,García-Martín María B.,Obando-Posada Diana P.,Segura-Vargas Miguel A.,Vasiliou Vasilis S.,McHugh Louise,Höfer Stefan,Baban Adriana,Dias Neto David,da Silva Ana Nunes,Monestès Jean-Louis,Alvarez-Galvez Javier,Paez-Blarrina Marisa,Montesinos Francisco,Valdivia-Salas Sonsoles,Ori Dorottya,Kleszcz Bartosz,Lappalainen Raimo,Ivanović Iva,Gosar David,Dionne Frederick,Merwin Rhonda M.,Karekla Maria,Kassianos Angelos P.,Gloster Andrew T.
Abstract
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic fundamentally disrupted humans’ social life and behavior. Public health measures may have inadvertently impacted how people care for each other. This study investigated prosocial behavior, its association well-being, and predictors of prosocial behavior during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and sought to understand whether region-specific differences exist. Participants (N = 9,496) from eight regions clustering multiple countries around the world responded to a cross-sectional online-survey investigating the psychological consequences of the first upsurge of lockdowns in spring 2020. Prosocial behavior was reported to occur frequently. Multiple regression analyses showed that prosocial behavior was associated with better well-being consistently across regions. With regard to predictors of prosocial behavior, high levels of perceived social support were most strongly associated with prosocial behavior, followed by high levels of perceived stress, positive affect and psychological flexibility. Sociodemographic and psychosocial predictors of prosocial behavior were similar across regions.