Abstract

This study examined the psychological mechanism underlying Koreans’ prosocial behavior in social crisis from the perspective of cultural and individual characteristics. Specifically, we investigated how family expansionism, a cultural characteristic perceiving social structures through a family system, influence donation intention in social crisis. A total of 100 South Korean adults participated in an online survey and were exposed to two social crisis scenarios described in an individual-centered narrative format. In each context, participants reported their crisis perception, personal responsibility perception, national responsibility perception, and donation intention. Across both crisis contexts, higher family expansionism was associated with perceiving social crisis at a national level and stronger donation intentions. Mediation analyses revealed a significant indirect effect through crisis perception. Moreover, personal responsibility peception significantly mediated the sequential pathway from family expansionism to crisis perception and donation intention. Although mean differences emerged between the two crisis contexts, the structural pattern of the psychological mechanism was consistent across contexts. Based on these results, this study highlighted the role and influence of family expansionism on the prosocial behavior of Koreans.