Whose Prosocial Intentions Are More Affected by Mindfulness, Young Adolescents or Young Adults?
PsyCh journal July 6, 2025 Qianguo Xiao, Chenyu Li, Chen Chen et al.
Two studies examined how mindfulness relates to willingness to help others, focusing on moral identity and moral disengagement as mediators, and comparing young adolescents (12–15 years) with young adults (18–24 years). A cross-sectional survey of 271 college students and 229 middle school students found that in adolescents, moral identity mediated the link between dispositional mindfulness and prosocial willingness, whereas in adults, moral disengagement was the primary mediator. An experiment with 105 young adults and 142 young adolescents tested short mindfulness inductions (with or without ethical elements). In adolescents, these inductions significantly affected moral identity, moral disengagement, and prosocial willingness, with mediation effects; in adults, no significant effects appeared. The findings suggest age-specific psychological mechanisms, indicating that mindfulness programs for adolescents should account for developmental differences in moral psychology.