Predicting prosocial behavior in Romania: The roles of personal values, social axioms, and empathy

Previous research has indicated that prosocial behaviors differ across national cultures, suggesting that culture may considerably shape the tendency to act for the benefit of others. Personal values and generalized beliefs about the world (social axioms) are among the defining elements surrounding culture that can expand our understanding of prosocial behavior. Scholars have extensively documented the value-behavior link, yet the contribution of social axioms in shaping complex social behaviors remains largely unknown. Few studies suggest that social axioms can enhance culture's predictive power in shaping social behavior, yet more research is needed in this regard. Therefore, the present cross-sectional study (N = 265) investigates the predictive power of values and social axioms in shaping self-reported prosocial behaviors in an underrepresented cultural context (Romania). Additionally, empathy (through perspective-taking and empathic concern) is suggested as a relevant factor in the relationship between social axioms and self-reported prosocial behavior. The results show that self-transcendence values, social complexity and reward for application positively predict prosocial behavior. Social complexity indirectly predicts prosocial behavior via perspective-taking, whereas empathic concern mediates the link between reward for application and prosocial behavior. The implications of the present findings are discussed while considering the specific Romanian context marked by societal distrust and high social cynicism.