ArticlePloS one2022
Level and correlates of empathy and altruism during the Covid-19 pandemic. Evidence from a representative survey in Germany.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association of loneliness and perceived social exclusion with donation behavior among community-dwelling individuals aged 40 and over: longitudinal evidence from the nationally representative German Ageing Survey.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2026Observational
- Determinants of willingness to pay for health insurance in later stages of the Covid-19 pandemic: findings based on the general adult population in Germany.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Career choice motivation and professionalism in medical students in China: a gender-stratified analysis.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Evolving Altruistic Attitudes towards Vaccination Post COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Analysis across Age Groups.Vaccines · 2024Article
- The Effect of Group Identity on Chinese College Students' Social Mindfulness: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model.Psychology research and behavior management · 2024Article
- Article
- Age-Related Associations of Altruism with Attitudes towards COVID-19 and Vaccination: A Representative Survey in the North of Italy.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Empathy moderates the relationship between cognitive load and prosocial behaviour.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Personality-related and psychosocial correlates of sick leave days in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings of a representative survey.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimOur purpose was to clarify the level and correlates of empathy and altruism in the German population during the Covid-19 pandemic.
methodsA nationally representative survey (n = 3,075) was conducted in August/September 2021. To measure empathy, a short scale based on the Interpersonality Reactivity Index (IRI; German version: Saarbrucken personality questionnaire, SPF) was used (SPF-K). Based on the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP; IPIP-5F30F-R1), the subscale altruism was used to quantify altruism.
resultsThe average altruism score was 3.3 (SD: 0.7), ranging from 1 to 5. Moreover, the average empathy score was 13.1 (SD: 2.8), ranging from 4 to 20. The level of empathy significantly differed between the subgroups. For example, high levels of empathy were identified among women (average: 13.7, SD: 2.7), individuals with children (average: 13.5, SD: 2.8), and individuals with migration background (average: 13.6, SD: 2.8). Effect sizes were mostly small. Similar differences (in terms of effect size) were identified between these groups regarding altruism. Additionally, regressions showed that higher levels of both empathy and altruism were associated with being female, younger age, having children, sports activities and having at least one chronic disease. Moreover, vaccination against Covid-19 was only associated with higher altruism, but not with higher empathy.
conclusionOur study emphasized the moderately high level of empathy and altruism in Germany during times of the pandemic. Identifying the correlates of these factors may help to address individuals with very low levels of these factors.
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