Prosocial skills and university students: between transformative educational policy and teaching based on social responsibility

Abstract

The purpose of this research study is to describe the attitudes that constitute prosocial skills from the perspective of social responsibility in university students by assessing their sociodemographic characteristics. An instrument is applied to a non-probabilistic sample of 382 participants and an exploratory factorial analysis is conducted. An instrument for Chilean students is proposed and statistically significant differences are examined according to their sociodemographic characteristics. The results show that students have high development of attitudes linked to prosocial skills. In addition, the only differences found are in relation to gender and years of study in higher education. Future research should assess cultural background while examining the implications of the research subject’s characteristics. In conclusion, universities must apply educational policies to enhance a transformative teaching that implements empathic, supportive, altruistic, and socially responsible initiatives.