Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 25, 2025

A Conflict Model of Reward-seeking Behavior in Male Rats
Published on: February 20, 2019
How prosocial behaviors are maintained in China: The relationship between communist authority and prosociality
Jing Sheng1, Shuilian Luo1, Bo Jiang1
1Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
Objective:
Numerous studies have demonstrated that religious belief is associated with prosocial behavior. However, how do they maintain cooperation in societies with a predominating atheist population, such as China? Different primings (explicit, subliminal, implicit) and a quasi-experiment are used to examine the link between communist authority and prosocial behaviors among college students in China.
Materials And Methods:
In Study 1 (N = 398), the subjects' communist authority in the university lab was primed by a communist-authority video. In Study 2 (N = 296), we compared the priming effects of communist authority and religion on prosocial intention. Study 3 (N = 311) investigated the priming effect of communist authority on prosocial behaviors by employing a scrambled sentence task in the university lab. A quasi-experiment was conducted in Study 4 (N = 313).
Results:
Results showed that communist-authority, a reminder of secular authorities, increased prosociality among college students. And empathy moderated the relationship between secular authorities and prosociality in Study 3 and Study 4.
Discussion:
Communist authority, a secular authority prime, has a positive effect on promoting prosocial behaviors. These results provided a feasible yet novel way to reveal the mechanism of the relationship between secular authorities and prosociality in China.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Social Proof
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Obedience
Milgram's Obedience to Authority
Egoism and Altruism
Relationship Formation

