Prototype Analysis of Online Prosocial Behaviors on Social Media: Conceptual Representation from the Perspective of University Students

Based on prototype theory, this study explores university students’ conceptual representation of online prosocial behaviors on social media. Through three substudies: behavioral features were generated via open-ended questionnaires and focus group interviews; centrality ratings distinguished core and peripheral features; a recognition task experiment validated the prototypicality advantage effect. Results indicated that: (1) 51 behavioral items were identified and categorized into five dimensions—altruistic behaviors, social participation behaviors, relationship maintenance behaviors, law-abiding behaviors, and self-expression behaviors, with relationship maintenance and altruistic behaviors as key dimensions, and social participation emerging as a novel dimension; (2) 23 central category members (e.g., rational celebrity following, protecting others’ rights) and 26 peripheral members were established; (3) the recognition experiment revealed superior cognitive processing for central members. These findings demonstrate a multidimensional cognitive structure among university students, emphasizing norm compliance and interpersonal maintenance as core features, while the social participation dimension highlights youths’ inclination toward public engagement via social media, offering a theoretical foundation for developing measurement tools.