Cultivating a better society: Anti-Mafia farm participation increases prosocial motivations

•Prosociality of people attending an Anti-Mafia camp in Italy was tested.•Prosocial motivations increased following participation in the Anti-Mafia camp.•After the camp, increased prosociality remained stable over time.•Participants with a high SES were more likely to have increased prosociality.•Participating individually resulted in higher prosocial motivations.

The present research tested whether an Anti-Mafia experiential education program would influence self-reported prosocial motivations in a group of 79 Italian participants. The Caprara Prosocial Questionnaire was used to evaluate prosocial motivations and was completed before the camp began, when it ended and three months after in ended. Participants also completed a Measure of Social Status and other demographic information. Results indicated that participant prosocial motivations were higher than normative data and that these motivations increased following participation in the camp and remained stable over time. In addition, participants with a high SES were more likely to have increased prosocial motivations. In discussing prosocial changes Camp dynamics and the correlation with SES and individual vs. group participation are examined.