The Role of Social Responsibility and Empathy in Prosocial Behavior During Global Crises

Abstract

Prosocial behavior play a significant role during global crises. Furthermore, positive behaviors, such as empathy and social responsibility, can alleviate the severity stressful events. The current study investigated these positive behaviors and their role in developing prosocial behavior during COVID pandemic in 381 university undergraduate students at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. To measure social responsibility, empathy and prosocial behavior, the researcher has used Social Responsibility Scale, Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, and Prosocial Behavior Scale.  The t-test, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and Macro program Process have used to analyze the links between the research variables prosocial behavior, social responsibility, and empathy. In relation to the pandemic, social responsibility and empathy were associated with prosocial behavior. Moreover, empathy mediated the association between social responsibility and prosocial behavior. Furthermore, men had higher prosocial behavior and social responsibility then women while, women had higher empathy then men. Our results offer new insights into the roles that positive factors play in improving the mental health of university students during pandemics situation.