Building bridges: Prosocial Functioning as a Pathway to Social Inclusion and Psychological Well-being

Recent research underscores the critical role of prosocial functioning in fostering social inclusion and well-being during adolescence. Social exclusion has severe consequences, undermining both community engagement and mental health. While existing research highlights associations between prosocial functioning and social inclusion, there is a lack of causal evidence, particularly regarding how specific facets like self-regulation and sympathy contribute to these outcomes in real-world settings. This study adopts an ecological-causal perspective to investigate how self-regulation and sympathy—key components of prosocial functioning—enhance inclusion and well-being. A total of 240 adolescents (≥14 years old) from upper secondary schools were recruited for a two-phase data collection process: a baseline questionnaire and a daily diary phase. Using a Within-Person Encouragement Design (WPED), participants received randomized daily encouragement, serving as an instrumental variable to assess causal effects on prosocial behavior. They were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions (prosocial responding, self-regulation, or social inclusion) and monitored over three weeks via a smartphone application. On 50% of the days (11 out of 21), they received encouragement messages and completed daily questionnaires assessing self-efficacy, sympathy, and social inclusion. Ongoing data collection includes 15 high-school classes in Tuscany. Analyses will employ a Dynamic Structural Equation Model (DSEM) to examine associations between prosocial behavior, social inclusion, and well-being. We hypothesize that increased self-regulation and sympathy will enhance social inclusion and well-being over time. Findings will inform interventions aimed at fostering inclusion and well-being among socially marginalized adolescents.