The Relationship Between Undergraduates’ Belief In A Just World And Internet Altruistic Behaviour:The Chain Mediating Role Of Empathy And Social Responsibility

With the rapid development of Internet technology,the network has become an indispensable part of our life.Undergraduates have higher network penetration and better education level.They are relatively active groups in cyberspace and the powerhouse to initiate internet altruistic behavior.Based on The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions,this study discusses the internal influence mechanism of Undergraduates’ belief in a just world on Internet altruistic behavior,and investigates the intermediary role of empathy and social responsibility between them.In addition,this study examines the potential structure types of Undergraduates’ belief in a just world from an individual centered perspective,analyzes the demographic characteristics of different types of belief in a just world and their relationship with internet altruistic behavior,so as to provide theoretical reference and effective basis for better promoting undergraduates’ Internet altruistic behavior.In this study,877 Undergraduates from two universities in Fujian Province were selected as the research objects.The questionnaire survey was carried out by using Just World Scale for College Students(JWS),Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index-C(IRI-C),Chinese Big Five Personality Inventory brief version(CBF-PI-B)and Internet altruistic Behavior Scale of undergraduates(IABSU).The data were processed by SPSS 25.0 and Mplus 8.0,The main results are as follows:(1)The scores of Undergraduates’ belief in a just world,empathy,social responsibility and internet altruistic behavior are higher than the medium level.There are significant differences in Undergraduates’ belief in a just world and empathy in gender,whether they are the only child and where they come from.There are significant differences in social responsibility and internet altruistic behavior in gender and whether they are the only child;(2)There is a significant positive correlation between Undergraduates’ belief in a just world,empathy,social responsibility and internet altruistic behavior;(3)Empathy plays a partially mediating role between Undergraduates’ belief in a just world and internet altruistic behavior;Social responsibility plays a partially mediating role between Undergraduates’ belief in a just world and internet altruistic behavior;Empathy and social responsibility play a chain intermediary role between Undergraduates’ belief in a just world and internet altruistic behavior;(4)Undergraduates’ belief in a just world can be divided into five potential types,namely,low justice world belief group,low immanent / ultimate justice high immanent injustice group,high immanent / ultimate justice low immanent injustice group,medium justice world belief group and high justice world belief group.There are significant differences in gender,place of origin and whether they are only children,There are significant differences in the scores of Internet altruistic behavior of undergraduates in different just world belief groups.The research results help to further explain the relationship and mechanism between Undergraduates’ belief in a just world and internet altruistic behavior.Through the above results,we can draw a conclusion: Undergraduates’ belief in a just world can positively predict internet altruistic behavior.Empathy and social responsibility are the mediating variables between Undergraduates’ belief in a just world and internet altruistic behavior,Undergraduates’ belief in a just world affects internet altruism through the chain intermediary of empathy and social responsibility.