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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Cognition
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1520451
This article is part of the Research Topic Cognitive Mechanisms Underpinning Pro-Social Behavior Across Cultures View all 4 articles
The Relationship Between Belief in a Just World and Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Psychological Resilience and Empathic Capacity
Provisionally accepted- 1 Neijiang Normal University, Neijiang, Sichuan, China
- 2 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
- 3 Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
- 4 China West Normal University, Nanchong, China
Objective: This study investigated how belief in a just world (BJW) influences prosocial behavior tendency (PBT) through psychological resilience (PR), and examined how empathic capacity (EC) moderates this mediation process. Method: Data were collected from 955 Chinese university students (Mage = 19.5 years, SD = 1.3; 65.6% female) using validated scales measuring BJW, PBT, PR, and EC. Results: Three key findings emerged: (1) BJW positively predicted PBT both directly (β = 0.301, p < .001) and indirectly through PR; (2) EC moderated the relationship between BJW and PR, with the positive association being stronger for individuals with lower EC (b = 0.45, p < .001) compared to those with higher EC (b = 0.23, p < .01); (3) The indirect effect of BJW on PBT through PR was stronger for individuals with lower EC, indicating a moderated mediation effect. Conclusion: These findings advance our understanding of prosocial behavior by identifying distinct pathways through which beliefs and emotional capacities interact. The results suggest that interventions to promote prosocial behavior should be tailored based on individual differences in empathic capacity, with different approaches needed for high versus low EC individuals.
Keywords: Prosocial behavior tendency, Empathic Capacity, Belief in a just world, psychological resilience, moderated mediation
Received: 31 Oct 2024; Accepted: 20 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, WenShu, Tan, Yun and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Wei Huang, China West Normal University, Nanchong, China
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