Fostering prosociality in adolescents is essential for social cohesion and well-being, yet the psychological processes underlying individual differences remain understudied. Guided by moral identity theory, this research examined how moral identity internalization and symbolization relate to prosociality and whether moral elevation mediates these associations. Across three studies, moral identity internalization showed a stronger and more consistent association with prosociality than symbolization. Study 1, using cross-sectional data, found that both moral identity internalization and symbolization were related to prosociality through moral elevation. Study 2 utilized a mediation pathway analysis and found that moral identity internalization was positively associated with moral elevation and prosociality, and that moral elevation was further associated with prosociality. Study 3 employed a measurement-of-mediation design, providing additional evidence that moral elevation mediates the link between moral identity internalization and prosociality. These findings suggest that moral elevation is a key mechanism linking moral identity to prosociality and that interventions fostering moral elevation may support adolescents’ prosocial development.
AlgoeS. B.HaidtJ. (2009). Witnessing excellence in action: The ‘other-praising’ emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admiration. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(2), 105–127. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760802650519
2.
AquinoK.FreemanD.ReedA.IILimV. K. G.FelpsW. (2009). Testing a social-cognitive model of moral behavior: The interactive influence of situations and moral identity centrality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(1), 123–141. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015406
3.
AquinoK.KayA. (2018). A social cognitive model of moral identity. In GrayK.GrahamJ. (Eds.), Atlas of moral psychology (pp. 133–140). The Guilford Press.
4.
AquinoK.McFerranB.LavenM. (2011). Moral identity and the experience of moral elevation in response to acts of uncommon goodness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(4), 703–718. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022540
CarloG.Padilla-WalkerL. (2020). Adolescents’ prosocial behaviors through a multidimensional and multicultural lens. Child Development Perspectives, 14(4), 265–272. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12391
DiessnerR.SolomR. C.FrostN. K.ParsonsL.DavidsonJ. (2008). Engagement with beauty: Appreciating natural, artistic, and moral beauty. The Journal of Psychology, 142(3), 303–329. https://doi.org/10.3200/JRLP.142.3.303-332
9.
DingW.ShaoY.SunB.XieR.LiW.WangX. (2018). How can prosocial behavior be motivated? The different roles of moral judgment, moral elevation, and moral identity among young Chinese. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 814. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00814
10.
DingW.WangX.SunB.LiW. (2014). The structure and measurement of moral elevation. Advances in Psychology, 4(6), 777–787. https://doi.org/10.12677/AP.2014.46102
11.
FanL.ZhouY.LinS.SunB. (2025). Stay hungry for morality: The inhibitory effect of high moral identity and moral elevation on moral licensing. The Journal of Social Psychology, 0(0), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2024.2439953
GotowiecS. (2019). When moral identity harms: The impact of perceived differences in core values on helping and hurting. Personality and Individual Differences, 151, Article 109489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.06.032
14.
GotowiecS.van MastrigtS. (2019). Having versus doing: The roles of moral identity internalization and symbolization for prosocial behaviors. The Journal of Social Psychology, 159(1), 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2018.1454394
15.
GrafC.SuanetB.WiepkingP.MerzE.-M. (2023). Social norms offer explanation for inconsistent effects of incentives on prosocial behavior. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 211, 429–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2023.05.003
HaidtJ. (2003). The moral emotions. In Handbook of affective sciences (pp. 852–870). Oxford University Press.
19.
HanH.DawsonK. J. (2024). Relatable and attainable moral exemplars as sources for moral elevation and pleasantness. Journal of Moral Education, 53(1), 14–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2023.2173158
20.
HardyS. A.BeanD. S.OlsenJ. A. (2015). Moral identity and adolescent prosocial and antisocial behaviors: Interactions with moral disengagement and self-regulation. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(8), 1542–1554. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0172-1
21.
HardyS. A.CarloG. (2011). Moral identity: What is it, how does it develop, and is it linked to moral action?Child Development Perspectives, 5(3), 212–218. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00189.x
22.
HayD. F.PaineA. L.PerraO.CookK. V.HashmiS.RobinsonC.KairisV.SladeR. (2021). Prosocial and aggressive behavior: A longitudinal study. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 86(2), 7–103. https://doi.org/10.1111/mono.12427
23.
HertzS. G.KrettenauerT. (2016). Does moral identity effectively predict moral behavior? A meta-analysis. Review of General Psychology, 20(2), 129–140. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000062
24.
HuiB. P. H.NgJ. C. K.BerzaghiE.Cunningham-AmosL. A.KoganA. (2020). Rewards of kindness? A meta-analysis of the link between prosociality and well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 146(12), 1084–1116. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000298
25.
IwaiT.de França CarvalhoJ. V. (2022). Would you help me again? The role of moral identity, helping motivation and quality of gratitude expressions in future helping intentions. Personality and Individual Differences, 196, Article 111719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111719
26.
JenningsP. L.MitchellM. S.HannahS. T. (2015). The moral self: A review and integration of the literature. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(S1), S104–S168. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1919
27.
KockF.BerbekovaA.AssafA. G. (2021). Understanding and managing the threat of common method bias: Detection, prevention and control. Tourism Management, 86, 104330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104330
28.
KohlbergL. (1985). The philosophy of moral development: Moral stages and the idea of justice. Harper & Row.
29.
KrettenauerT. (2022). When moral identity undermines moral behavior: An integrative framework. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 16(3), Article e12655. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12655
30.
KrettenauerT.HertzS. (2015). What develops in moral identities? A critical review. Human Development, 58(3), 137–153. https://doi.org/10.1159/000433502
31.
LittleT. D.CunninghamW. A.ShaharG.WidamanK. F. (2002). To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the question, weighing the merits. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 9(2), 151–173. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_1
32.
MarshH. W.HauK.-T.WenZ. (2004). In search of golden rules: Comment on hypothesis-testing approaches to setting cutoff values for fit indexes and dangers in overgeneralizing Hu and Bentler’s (1999) findings. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 11(3), 320–341. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1103_2
33.
McGuireA. P.HaydenC. L.TomoumR.KurzA. S. (2022). Development and validation of the State Moral Elevation Scale: Assessing state-level elevation across nonclinical and clinical samples. Journal of Happiness Studies, 23(6), 2923–2946. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00533-2
34.
MynbayevaA.AnarbekN.NurgaliyevaA. (2020). Storytelling for moral education of schoolchildren in self-cognition classroom. European Proceedings of International Conference on Education and Educational Psychology, ICEEPSY 2020: Education and Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.15405/epiceepsy.20111.2
35.
NarvaezD.LapsleyD. K. (2009). Moral identity, moral functioning, and the development of moral character. In BartelsD. M.BaumanC. W.SkitkaL. J.MedinD. L. (Eds.), Moral judgment and decision making (pp. 237–274). Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-7421(08)00408-8
36.
OswaldP. A. (2002). The interactive effects of affective demeanor, cognitive processes, and perspective-taking focus on helping behavior. The Journal of Social Psychology, 142(1), 120–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540209603890
37.
PfattheicherS.NielsenY. A.ThielmannI. (2022). Prosocial behavior and altruism: A review of concepts and definitions. Current Opinion in Psychology, 44, 124–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.021
38.
PirlottA. G.MacKinnonD. P. (2016). Design approaches to experimental mediation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 66, 29–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2015.09.012
39.
PodsakoffP. M.MacKenzieS. B.LeeJ.-Y.PodsakoffN. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
40.
PohlingR.DiessnerR. (2016). Moral elevation and moral beauty: A review of the empirical literature. Review of General Psychology, 20(4), 412–425. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000089
41.
PreacherK. J.HayesA. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.3.879
42.
RulloM.LalotF.HeeringM. S. (2022). Moral identity, moral self-efficacy, and moral elevation: A sequential mediation model predicting moral intentions and behaviour. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 17(4), 545–560. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.1871942
43.
SchnallS.RoperJ. (2012). Elevation puts moral values into action. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(3), 373–378. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550611423595
SpencerS. J.ZannaM. P.FongG. T. (2005). Establishing a causal chain: Why experiments are often more effective than mediational analyses in examining psychological processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(6), 845–851. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.845
46.
TankardM. E.PaluckE. L. (2016). Norm perception as a vehicle for social change. Social Issues and Policy Review, 10(1), 181–211. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12022
47.
ThomsonA. L.SiegelJ. T. (2013). A moral act, elevation, and prosocial behavior: Moderators of morality. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8(1), 50–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2012.754926
48.
Van de VyverJ.AbramsD. (2015). Testing the prosocial effectiveness of the prototypical moral emotions: Elevation increases benevolent behaviors and outrage increases justice behaviors. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 58, 23–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2014.12.005
49.
van KleefG. A.LelieveldG.-J. (2022). Moving the self and others to do good: The emotional underpinnings of prosocial behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology, 44, 80–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.029
50.
van RijnR.van LangeP. A. M.KrabbendamL.BraamsB. R. (2025). Construction and validation of the prosocial adolescent risk-taking questionnaire (PAR-Q). Scientific Reports, 15(1), Article 21252. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-06034-5
51.
WinterichK. P.AquinoK.MittalV.SwartzR. (2013). When moral identity symbolization motivates prosocial behavior: The role of recognition and moral identity internalization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(5), 759–770. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033177
52.
WinterichK. P.MittalV.AquinoK. (2013). When does recognition increase charitable behavior? Toward a moral identity-based model. Journal of Marketing, 77(3), 121–134. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.11.0477
53.
XieZ.LiuC. (2024). Adolescents from wealthier families are more prosocial? A caregiver–child paired survey. Child & Family Social Work. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.13253
54.
YangY.KongX.GuoZ.KouY. (2021). Can self-compassion promote gratitude and prosocial behavior in adolescents? A 3-year longitudinal study from China. Mindfulness, 12(6), 1377–1386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01605-9
55.
YangY.ZhangM.KouY. (2016). The development and revalidation of dimensions of the Adolescent Prosocial Behavior Scale. Chinese Social Psychological Review, 10, 135–150.
56.
YarrituI. (2024). Moral elevation affects the causal attributions about others’ behavior. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 19(3), 430–441. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2023.2239773
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
