Short-term compassion training increases prosocial behavior in a newly developed prosocial game

Susanne Leiberg, Olga Klimecki, Tania Singer, Susanne Leiberg, Olga Klimecki, Tania Singer

Abstract

Compassion has been suggested to be a strong motivator for prosocial behavior. While research has demonstrated that compassion training has positive effects on mood and health, we do not know whether it also leads to increases in prosocial behavior. We addressed this question in two experiments. In Experiment 1, we introduce a new prosocial game, the Zurich Prosocial Game (ZPG), which allows for repeated, ecologically valid assessment of prosocial behavior and is sensitive to the influence of reciprocity, helping cost, and distress cues on helping behavior. Experiment 2 shows that helping behavior in the ZPG increased in participants who had received short-term compassion training, but not in participants who had received short-term memory training. Interindividual differences in practice duration were specifically related to changes in the amount of helping under no-reciprocity conditions. Our results provide first evidence for the positive impact of short-term compassion training on prosocial behavior towards strangers in a training-unrelated task.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1. Percent helping in the different…
Figure 1. Percent helping in the different conditions of the ZPG.
Error bars denote standard errors of mean.
Figure 2. Effects of training on overall…
Figure 2. Effects of training on overall helping in the ZPG for the compassion-training and memory-training group.
Error bars denote standard errors of mean. * p<.05 one-sided.>

Figure 3. Labeled screenshot of the ZPG.

Figure 3. Labeled screenshot of the ZPG.

Participants move their virtual character forward by clicking…

Figure 3. Labeled screenshot of the ZPG.
Participants move their virtual character forward by clicking with the mouse on the field in front of it. Usage of keys in order to open the blocking gates occurs by mouse click on the key matching the gate's color. Collection of stars also occurs by clicking on them with the mouse.
Figure 3. Labeled screenshot of the ZPG.
Figure 3. Labeled screenshot of the ZPG.
Participants move their virtual character forward by clicking with the mouse on the field in front of it. Usage of keys in order to open the blocking gates occurs by mouse click on the key matching the gate's color. Collection of stars also occurs by clicking on them with the mouse.

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