Secular Examination of Spirituality-Prosociality Association
Mengchen Dong, Song Wu, Yijie Zhu, Shenghua Jin, Yanjun Zhang
Archive for the Psychology of Religion March 15, 2017 DOI: 10.1163/15736121-12341332 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Survey study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 440 |
| Population | Chinese adults, including a nonreligious-based population |
| Citations | 14 |
| Key findings | Among Chinese participants, spirituality was positively associated with prosocial traits, attitudes, and behavior. Compassionate love partially mediated the association between spirituality and daily prosocial spending of time and money, and ultimate justice beliefs partially mediated the association between spirituality and interpersonal altruism in organizational settings. |
Abstract
Religious beliefs in Chinese cultural background, especially in Chinese secular society, have rarely been systematically investigated. The nonreligious-based population in China endorses certain supernatural beliefs or has related transcendent experience, even though they usually claim themselves as non-believers. Therefore, the current research examined the spirituality-prosociality association in Chinese secular background, demonstrating how spiritual connection with the transcendence related to individual secular social life. A total of 440 Chinese participants completed our questionnaires in three survey studies. The results showed that: 1) for the nonreligious-based population in China, spirituality was positively connected with personal prosocial trait, prosocial attitude, and prosocial behavior; 2) the prosocial trait of compassionate love partially mediated the association between spirituality and daily prosocial expenses on time and money; and 3) personal emphasis on moral principles such as ultimate justice beliefs partially mediated the association between spirituality and interpersonal altruism in organizational settings. Limitations and future directions were discussed.