Development and validation of a brief implicit association test of prosocial motivation for children

This study developed a paper-and-pencil Prosocial Motivation Brief Implicit Association Test for Children (PM-BIAT-C) and examined its reliability and construct validity in elementary school students. A total of 278 Japanese children in Grades 4 through 6 completed the PM-BIAT-C twice at a four-week interval. The PM-BIAT-C showed moderate test–retest reliability (r=.54). Correlation analyses revealed that higher PM-BIAT-C scores were positively associated with explicit prosocial motivation (identified regulation), perspective-taking, empathy, sympathy, emotional support, and instrumental support, but not with explicit prosocial motivation (controlled regulation) or indirect support. Hierarchical regression analyses further suggested that prosocial behavior tended to remain relatively high among children with higher PM-BIAT-C scores, whereas among children with lower PM-BIAT-C scores, lower explicit prosocial motivation and empathy-related responses were associated with lower prosocial behavior. These findings provide partial support for the role of implicit prosocial motivation in shaping prosocial behavior.