How Online Cross-Cutting and Like-Minded Interactions Relate with Emerging Adults’ Prosocial Tendencies: Cognitive and Affective Empathy as Mediators
作者：Wu Li, Guo T, Hua Wu, Ye Hao · 发表于：Dove Medical Press (Taylor and Francis Group) · 年份：2026 · 研究领域：Media Influence and Health、Impact of Technology on Adolescents、Digital Games and Media
Wu Li, Tian You Guo, Haoyu Wu, Ye HaoSchool of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, Peopleâs Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Ye Hao, School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Minhang District, Shanghai, Peopleâs Republic of China, Email haoye@sjtu.edu.cnPurpose: In the digital era, online social interactions (OSIs) have become increasingly prevalent, making it essential to explore their impacts on human behavior. The study intended to examine the associations between two types of OSIs, namely online cross-cutting and like-minded interactions, with individualsâ prosocial tendencies, as well as the underlying mechanisms of these associations by introducing cognitive and affective empathy as potential mediators and gender as a moderator.Methods: An online questionnaire was administered through Wenjuanxing, a widely used Chinese survey platform, and a total of 1142 valid responses were collected from emerging adults (gender: 54.0% females, 46.0% males; age: 18â 25 years old, M = 21.15, SD = 1.89). We employed the structural model analysis to investigate the relationships among the variables in the conceptual model, as well as the bootstrap method to test for the mediating effects of cognitive and affective empathy. Also, multigroup analyses were conducted to explore gender differences in the relationships among the study variables.Results: Our results indicated that online cross-cutting interactions...