Dimensionality in adolescent prosocial tendencies: Individual differences in serving others versus serving the self

•Adolescent prosocial behavior factors into other-serving and self-serving domains.•Individual differences patterns corroborate other-focused and self-focused domains.•Empathy linked with other-focused domains and inversely with self-focused domains.•Need for approval associated with contexts with immediate and distal audience.•Narcissism associated with self-serving prosocial tendencies.

The purpose of the present research was to determine whether adolescents prosocial tendencies can be distinguished by serving others versus serving the self, and, further, to support that distinction through their associations with empathic (empathic concern, perspective taking, personal distress) versus egoistic traits (need for approval, narcissism, psychopathy). Empathy was hypothesized to be linked to interpersonal and high-cost prosocial contexts, whereas egoistic traits were hypothesized to be linked to contexts offering self-aggrandizement. High school students (n = 272; 15–18 years) completed questionnaires online. Results revealed that empathy and concerns about others’ approval associated positively with emotional responsivity, dire, compliancy, and anonymous prosocial tendencies. Concerns about approval also predicted public and opportunistic tendencies. Egoistic traits related to adolescents’ public and opportunistic prosocial behavior. Findings demonstrate an individual difference by context variation, supporting the multidimensionality of prosocial behavior and its underlying motives.