Cultural Associations with Prosocial Behaviors and Attitudes Among Asian Americans

Past research reveals that people in collectivist Asian countries exhibit greater prosocial behavior overall than people in the US, but the findings on differences in prosociality between Asian Americans and White Americans are mixed. The current study explored the associations between different aspects of culture and different forms of prosocial behaviors and attitudes among Asian Americans. Recruited through Prolific, 200 Asian American adults completed an online survey that included the American Cultural Identity Scale assessing American acculturation, the Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale and the Asian American Values Scale–Multidimensional assessing Asian enculturation, the Bicultural Identity Integration Scale–Version 2, the Adapted Kindness Subscale from the Inventory of Strengths assessing general helping behaviors, the Bystander Attitude Scale–Revised assessing morally courageous prosocial behaviors, and the Minority Policy Support Scale assessing support for policies meant to help other minority groups (e.g., LGBTQ+ individuals, religious minorities). Regression analyses revealed that the Asian value of family recognition through achievement was positively associated with general helping behaviors, that a strong Asian cultural identity and high levels of collectivism were positively associated with support for policies meant to help other minority groups, and that a greater degree of bicultural blendedness was positively associated with all forms of prosocial behaviors and attitudes. These findings suggest that both enculturation of Asian values and development of a blended bicultural identity may contribute to greater prosocial behavior that benefits both the recipients and doers of that behavior.