Developmental antecedents of young adults' solidarity during the Covid-19 pandemic: The role of sympathy, social trust, and peer exclusion from early to late adolescence

The Impact of Increasing Subjective Economic Inequality on Prosocial Behavior Development: The Longitudinal Mediating Effect of Trust and Moderating Effect of Socioeconomic Status

While the adverse effects of economic inequality on prosocial behavior have been well-documented, the dynamic processes and underlying mechanisms during emerging adulthood remain equivocal. Whether this relation is consistent across different socioeconomic status groups also awaits to be unveiled. To address these gaps, this three-year longitudinal study shed light on the developmental nature of subjective economic inequality, trust, as well as prosocial behavior, and the nuance within such associations across low- and high-socioeconomic status groups. This study collected data from 1065 Chinese emerging adults (649 females; Mage = 18.34 years, SD = 0.77) at Time 1, with 981 (attrition rate = 7.88%), 874 (attrition rate = 10.91%), and 830 (attrition rate = 5.03%) participating in Time 2, Time 3, and Time 4, respectively. Results of latent growth modeling found that subjective economic inequality increased, whereas trust and prosocial behavior declined over time. Initial levels of subjective economic inequality were indirectly through initial trust linked to the initial levels of and changes in prosocial behavior. Multi-group results revealed that in the high-socioeconomic status group, initial subjective economic inequality affected subsequent growth in prosocial behavior via changes in trust, whereas in the low-socioeconomic status group, the effect occurred through initial trust. These findings highlight that declining trust is the central mechanism by which subjective economic inequality reduces prosocial behavior, with different influencing pathways across socioeconomic status groups in the Chinese cultural context.

The societal responses to COVID-19: Evidence from the G7 countries

This paper provides a picture of how societies in the G7 countries have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our point of departure is to examine the effects of the pandemic in terms of four fundamental normative sources for well-being: Solidarity (S; willingness for social cooperation), Agency (A; empowerment to shape one's prospects through one's own efforts), GDP (G), and Environmental Performance (E)-SAGE for short. The normative foundations of SAGE are communitarianism, classical liberalism, materialistic utilitarianism, and ecoethics. We find that although G and E responded predictably and uniformly to the pandemic (such as G declining and carbon emissions improving), the societal responses were strikingly different. Societies that are cohesive and empowered (high S and A) may be expected to cope with the pandemic better than those that are fragmented and disempowered (low S and A). Furthermore, the pandemic has had diverse effects on S and A; while some societies became cohering and empowering (rising S and A), others became fragmenting and disempowering (falling S and A), and yet others became fragmenting and empowering. We also show that most G7 countries experienced greater tribalization (measured as the difference between inward S and outward S) during the pandemic. These trends are a matter of concern since they suggest that the willingness and perceived ability to address collective challenges collectively have waned. The analysis also suggests that governments' social policies may have an important role to play alongside economic and health policies in coping with the pandemic.

Familiäre Unterstützung als Schutzfaktor für Jugendliche während der COVID-19-Pandemie

Zusammenfassung. Theoretischer Hintergrund: Die Familie stellt in Krisen einen zentralen Schutzfaktor für Jugendliche dar. Fragestellung: Diese Studie untersuchte die Zusammenhänge zwischen familiärer Unterstützung, der Sorge um die Gesundheit anderer und der psychischen Belastung von Jugendlichen. Methode: Daten einer Online-Studie zum Ende des 1. Lockdowns 2020 in Österreich und der Schweiz wurden mittels eines Strukturgleichungsmodells analysiert. Ergebnisse: Familiäre Unterstützung hing positiv mit der Sorge um die Gesundheit anderer und negativ mit psychischer Belastung zusammen. Die Schweizer Jugendlichen berichteten höhere Sorge um die Gesundheit anderer sowie eine geringere psychische Belastung. Diskussion und Schlussfolgerung: Die familiäre Unterstützung spielt eine wichtige Rolle im Befinden und Erleben von Jugendlichen während der Pandemie.