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Journal article

Prosocial behaviour is associated with transdiagnostic markers of affective sensitivity in multiple domains

Abstract:
Prosocial behaviours – actions that benefit others – fundamentally shape our interpersonal interactions. Psychiatric disorders have been suggested to be related to prosocial disturbances, which may underlie many of their social impairments. However, broader affective traits, present in different degrees in both psychiatric and healthy populations, have also been linked to variability in prosociality. Therefore, it is unclear to what extent prosocial variability is explained by specific psychiatric disorders relative to broad affective traits. Using a computational, transdiagnostic approach in two online studies, we found that participants who reported being more affectively reactive across a broad cluster of traits manifested greater frequencies of prosocial actions in two different contexts: they reported being more averse to harming others for profit, and they were more willing to exert effort to benefit others. These findings help illuminate the profile of prosociality across psychiatric conditions as well as the architecture of prosocial behaviour in healthy individuals.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1037/emo0000813

Authors

More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Psychiatry
Sub department:
Psychiatry
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0001-7747-590X
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Psychiatry
Role:
Author
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Experimental Psychology
Sub department:
Experimental Psychology
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-2310-0202
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Psychiatry
Sub department:
Psychiatry
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0001-5793-2202
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Psychiatry
Sub department:
Psychiatry
Role:
Author


Publisher:
American Psychological Association
Journal:
Emotion More from this journal
Volume:
22
Issue:
5
Pages:
820–835
Publication date:
2020-07-27
Acceptance date:
2020-04-22
DOI:
EISSN:
1931-1516
ISSN:
1528-3542


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
1100984
Local pid:
pubs:1100984
Deposit date:
2020-04-22
ARK identifier:

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