About this poster

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Panel information
Panel 1. Context: Cross-Cultural, Neighborhood, and Social

Abstract

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Youth and young adults from India represent one of largest cultural groups in the majority world (Pew, 2023). Despite this large presence, research on the impacts of stress, mental health, moral processes, and prosocial behaviors (i.e., voluntary behaviors intended to benefit others; Eisenberg et al, 2015) in this cultural group is relatively lacking. Ecocultural theorists postulate that everyday experiences of discrimination can be detrimental to young adults’ regulatory, depression and moral reasoning processes, and subsequent prosocial behaviors (Carlo & de Guzman, 2009; Davis et al., 2016). Discrimination may deplete the regulatory and mental health resources (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), as well as moral reasoning processes that predict other-oriented helping behaviors (Davis et al., 2021). Moreover, the socio-cognitive and -emotive mechanisms that might intervene between discrimination and multiple forms of prosocial behaviors (i.e., motives and targets of helping) are largely unknown. Given the importance of examining prosocial behaviors from a multicultural and multidimensional lens (Carlo & Padilla-Walker, 2020) and limited empirical research in Asian Indian youth (e.g., Maiya et al., 2021), this study aimed to examine the mediating roles of self-regulation, depressive symptoms, and prosocial moral reasoning in links between discrimination and prosocial behaviors. Participants were 281 Asian Indian young adults (60.5% women; M age = 21.5 years, SD = 2.3, range = 18-25 years), who mainly identified as Hindu (74%) and upper/general caste (83%). Participants completed surveys to report on their everyday experiences of discrimination (Williams et al., 1997), self-regulation (Moilanen, 2007), depressive symptoms (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), prosocial moral reasoning (Carlo et al., 1992), and prosocial behaviors towards familiar persons (i.e., family and friends) and strangers (Carlo & Randall, 2002). Table 1 shows correlational and descriptive statistics. A path model was estimated to test the relations between discrimination and public and altruistic prosocial behaviors towards familiar persons and strangers, and the mediating roles of regulation, depressive symptoms, and prosocial moral reasoning (see Figure 1). Gender and maternal education were covariates.
Results revealed several significant direct (p < .05) effects, as well as significant partial indirect effects via depressive symptoms and prosocial moral reasoning (p < .05), and marginally significant total indirect effects via regulation, depressive symptoms, and prosocial moral reasoning (p = .06-.07) in relations between discrimination and prosocial behaviors. Specifically, discrimination was directly, negatively linked to altruistic prosocial behaviors towards familiar persons. Discrimination was negatively linked to self-regulation, which in turn, was negatively linked to depressive symptoms, which then in turn, was negatively linked to prosocial moral reasoning, which was subsequently was positively linked to altruistic and negatively linked to public prosocial behaviors towards both familiar persons and strangers. Additionally, discrimination was positively linked to depressive symptoms, which in turn, was negatively linked to prosocial moral reasoning, which was further positively linked to altruistic and negatively linked to public prosocial behaviors towards familiar persons and strangers. Discussion will focus on the impact of discrimination for multidimensional forms of helping in youth and provide implications for theories of prosocial moral development in a majority world, collectivistic context (i.e., India).

Author information

Author	Role
Sahitya Maiya, University of New Hampshire	Presenting author
Gustavo Carlo, University of California Irvine, United States	Non-presenting author
Zehra Gülseven, Virginia Tech, United States	Non-presenting author
Joy Roos, University of Missouri, United States	Non-presenting author

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