The Longitudinal Relationship Between Intrinsic Motivation, Grade Motivation and Prosocial Behavior in Chinese Adolescents: A Cross-Lagged Panel Study

Prosocial behavior is crucial for the development of adolescents. Prosocial behavior requires strong internal motivation to drive it, but the prospective association between the two is still unclear. In addition, there is still a gap in the relationship between grade motivation as a unique external motivation and prosocial behavior. To explore the prospective associations between them, we conducted two follow-up surveys (six months apart) on 862 Chinese adolescents (423 boys and 439 girls) to collect data on intrinsic motivation, grade motivation and prosocial behavior (relational prosocial behavior and practical prosocial behavior). The cross-lagged panel study results revealed that intrinsic motivation at T1 was positively associated with relational and practical prosocial behavior at T2. In contrast, grade motivation at T1 was not significantly associated with later prosocial behavior, and prosocial behavior at T1 was not significantly associated with later intrinsic motivation or grade motivation. These findings indicate that intrinsic motivation may be a potential antecedent for prosocial behavior in Chinese adolescents later in life, but the observed associations should be cautiously interpreted.