The Effect of Affiliation Motivation on Prosocial Behavior: The Mediating Role of Empathy and Self-Efficacy

Prosocial behaviors include behaviors such as empathy, altruism, cooperation with the aim of benefiting others, which improve the level of this behavior to facilitate interactions and the well-being of the community. so the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between affiliation motivation and prosocial behavior was mediated by empathy and self-efficacy.

The research method was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population included students of Bu Ali Sina University of Hamadan. The sample size was 380 students who were selected using cluster random sampling method. Research instruments included Cuadrado et al.'s (2016) affiliation motivation, the Caprara et al. (2005) prosocial behavior, the Albiro et al. (2009) empathy, and Scherer et al. (1982) self-efficacy scales. Structural equation analysis method was used to analyze the data.

The results showed that the direct effect of affiliation motivation on empathy (p <0.01, β = 0.32) and self-efficacy (p <0.01, β = 0.27) was significant. The direct effect of self-efficacy (p <0.01, β = 0.30) and empathy (p <0.01, β = 0.37) on prosocial behaviors is also significant. The results showed that the indirect effects of affiliation motivation through empathy (p <0.01, Z = 7.92) and self-efficacy (p <0.01, Z = 5.27) on prosocial behavior were significant. 

Based on the results, concluded that affiliation motivation, empathy and self-efficacy have a significant effect on student prosocial behaviors, so to increase these behaviors, trainings to increase self-efficacy, affiliation motivation and empathy in the educational environment can be considered.