The associations between young adults’ face-to-face prosocial behaviors and their online prosocial behaviors

Drawing on the co-construction theory (Subrahmanyam, Smahel, & Greenfield, 2006), this study investigated the relationship between online and face-to-face prosocial behaviors among 493 (345 women) young adults (ages 18–25 years). Findings indicated that face-to-face prosocial behaviors were positively associated with the engagement in online prosocial behaviors through social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Myspace, Twitter), chat programs (e.g., Google Talk, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger), email, and text messages, after controlling for gender and time spent using each type of technology. These findings extend the application of the co-construction theory to online prosocial behaviors. Furthermore, these findings suggest that the internet is also a place for positive interactions and call for more research investigating online prosocial behaviors.

► We examine the relationship between face-to-face and online prosocial behaviors among young adults.
► Face-to-face prosocial behaviors were found to relate to online prosocial behaviors.
► Young adults co-construct their online worlds similarly to their offline words.