Parental Psychosocial Flourishing and Adolescents’ Charitable Giving Intention: The Roles of Adolescent Psychosocial Flourishing and Authenticity

Adolescent charitable giving (CG) is vital for philanthropic sustainability. While parental influence is recognized, the association between parental psychosocial flourishing and adolescents’ CG intention, as well as the psychological processes underlying this association, remains underexplored. Drawing on spillover–crossover theory, this research examined a moderated mediation model in which adolescents’ psychosocial flourishing mediates the link between parental psychosocial flourishing and adolescents’ CG intention, with adolescents’ authenticity moderating this pathway. Two studies were conducted with Chinese parent–adolescent dyads. Study 1 (N = 1179 dyads) employed a cross-sectional design to provide preliminary evidence, and Study 2 (N = 347 dyads) used a three-wave longitudinal design to re-examine the model with temporal ordering. Across both studies, parental psychosocial flourishing was positively associated with adolescents’ psychosocial flourishing, which in turn statistically mediated the association between parental psychosocial flourishing and adolescents’ CG intention. Moreover, adolescents’ authenticity moderated the link between adolescents’ psychosocial flourishing and CG intention, with the indirect effect of parental psychosocial flourishing on CG intention via adolescents’ psychosocial flourishing being more pronounced among adolescents with higher authenticity. These findings contribute to an intergenerational understanding of family-related antecedents in the development of adolescents’ CG intention and offer considerations for future research on family well-being and adolescent charitable engagement.