Socioeconomic Status and Prosocial Behavior: The Mediating Roles of Community Identity and Perceived Control

Wang, Yanli; Yang, Chao; Zhang, Yanchi; Hu, Xiaoyong

Background: Previous studies have examined the association between socioeconomic status and prosocial behavior, but the underlying mechanism between them is unclear. The present study aimed to examine the serially mediating roles of community identity and perceived control in this relationship. Methods: Using the convenient sampling technique, a total of 477 Chinese adults from Chinese communities, and ranging in age from 20 to 65 completed the questionnaires for objective socioeconomic status, the MacArthur scale of subjective socioeconomic status, an eight-item community identity scale, the perceived control scale, and a prosocial tendencies measure. Bivariate correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to examine the relationships among the major variables. Results: Socioeconomic status was positively associated with prosocial behavior. It was also found that community identity and perceived control played mediating roles between socioeconomic status and prosocial behavior, respectively. In addition, community identity and perceived control also had a serially mediating role in the relationship. Conclusions: Community identity and perceived control played a serially mediating role in the association between socioeconomic status and prosocial behavior. The findings in the present study contribute to understanding the underlying mechanism in the association between socioeconomic status and prosocial behavior among adults, and have important implications for interventions aimed at improving prosocial behavior in lower-status individuals.