Psychological Prerequisites for Prosocial Activity of Modern Youth

Introduction. Prosocial behavior is a type of a socially oriented behavior which purpose is to benefit individuals, social groups, and society as a whole. In the modern world, where ensuring the social well-being of a person is one of the main tasks of any state, it is this orientation of behavior that is socially approved and supported by the state. In this context, the study of the factors that determine a personality’s propensity to such forms of behavior is not only relevant, but also necessary. Despite the fact that interest in the problem of determinants of personality behavior has not waned for a long time, the results of research in this area are often ambiguous and sometimes contradictory. Moreover, most studies are based on comparative analysis, which does not allow us to solve the problems of predicting success and propensity for socially oriented forms of behavior. The purpose of our study is to identify the psychological prerequisites of modern students’ propensity to prosocial activity. Materials and Methods. A total of 102 respondents, students of the Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology of the Moscow Pedagogical State University, aged 18–25 years, participated in the empirical study. To study the level of involvement of young people in prosocial activities, the author’s questionnaire “Youth Prosocial Activity Scale” was developed and used. To study the psychological prerequisites of a person for prosocial activity, a number of questionnaires were used, including the assessment of characteristics at the organismic, formal-dynamic level of the person’s organization (temperament) and characteristics at the personal level of individual organization (person’s orientation). In order to identify the prerequisites of prosocial activity, a number of methods of mathematical analysis were used, including comparative and factor analysis, as well as multiple regression analysis to build a model of a socially active person. Results. The authors have shown that the psychological prerequisites of personality prosocial activity are both the properties of the basic, formal-dynamic level of organization of individuality (high rigidity and plasticity) and the property of the personal level – orientation of personality to altruism. The development of the questionnaire “Youth Prosocial Activity Scale” is also one of the significant results of the conducted research. Discussion and Conclusion. The results of the study contribute to the development of ideas about the psychological conditions of personality predisposition to prosocial behavior. The material of the article can be used in applied projects on formation of prosocial activity of modern youth in the organization of psychological and pedagogical support of educational work in the student’s environment.