From Online Closeness to Offline Kindness: How Digital Intimacy Predicts Prosocial Behavior

Cintami Farmawati; Saleha Idris; Kharisma Shafrani

doi:10.22146/jpsi.116663

From Online Closeness to Offline Kindness: How Digital Intimacy Predicts Prosocial Behavior

https://doi.org/10.22146/jpsi.116663

Cintami Farmawati^(1*), Saleha Idris⁽²⁾, Kharisma Shafrani⁽³⁾

(1) K.H. Abdurrahman Wahid State Islamic University of Pekalongan, Central Java, Indonesia 🇮🇩
(2) University College of MAIWP International, Malaysia 🇲🇾
(3) University of Mysore, India 🇮🇳
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract

The development of digital media has changed the way individuals cultivate emotional closeness and interact socially, potentially influencing prosocial behavior in the offline world. This study aims to examine the relationship between digital intimacy and prosocial behavior in young adult social media users in Indonesia, as well as the mediating role of digital empathy and moral elevation. This quantitative study involved 346 active social media respondents. Data were collected using scales of digital intimacy (ω = 0.952), digital empathy (ω = 0.917), moral elevation (ω = 0.954), and prosocial behavior (ω = 0.973). The analysis was conducted using regression and PROCESS Macro Model 6. The results showed that digital intimacy was positively associated with prosocial behavior (r = 0.278; p < 0.001; N = 346) and had a significant indirect effect through digital empathy (b = 0.049; 95% CI [0.010; 0.095]) and moral elevation (b = 0.080; 95% CI [0.031; 0.137]). These findings suggest that emotional closeness in online interactions promotes empathy, moral inspiration, and helping behavior, thus emphasizing the importance of digital relationship quality in strengthening prosocial behavior and moral character in the digital era.

Keywords

digital intimacy; prosocial behavior; digital empathy; moral elevation

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