One’s decision to engage in prosocial behavior relies on various pieces of social information. The physical attractiveness of a social target could inform a perceiver’s subsequent intentions. In identifying which aspect of physical attractiveness could inform these decisions, it could be possible that prosocial decisions are heightened among those with sex-typical facial structures. This study explored the extent to which sex-typical facial structures informed perceivers’ interest in the context of social activism. Participants imagined themselves as responding to a request from a social target, deciding how behavior with high-cost and low-cost options. The male or female social target was manipulated to vary in sex typicality (i.e., masculinized versus feminized). Men and women did not report greater interest in prosocial behavior toward an opposite-sex target with sex-typical facial features. However, participants were more likely to comply with low-cost activism behaviors than high-cost ones. Women additionally reported greater willingness to comply with prosocial requests. Exploratory analyses indicated that higher self-reported social activism predicted greater compliance with activism requests from masculinized female targets, an effect descriptively higher for high-cost activism. These findings underscore the multifaceted nature of individuals’ responses to social activism cues, emphasizing the influence of both participant characteristics and target characteristics. Implications for this study are discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>One’s decision to engage in prosocial behavior relies on various pieces of social information. The physical attractiveness of a social target could inform a perceiver’s subsequent intentions. In identifying which aspect of physical attractiveness could inform these decisions, it could be possible that prosocial decisions are heightened among those with sex-typical facial structures. This study explored the extent to which sex-typical facial structures informed perceivers’ interest in the context of social activism. Participants imagined themselves as responding to a request from a social target, deciding how behavior with high-cost and low-cost options. The male or female social target was manipulated to vary in sex typicality (i.e., masculinized versus feminized). Men and women did not report greater interest in prosocial behavior toward an opposite-sex target with sex-typical facial features. However, participants were more likely to comply with low-cost activism behaviors than high-cost ones. Women additionally reported greater willingness to comply with prosocial requests. Exploratory analyses indicated that higher self-reported social activism predicted greater compliance with activism requests from masculinized female targets, an effect descriptively higher for high-cost activism. These findings underscore the multifaceted nature of individuals’ responses to social activism cues, emphasizing the influence of both participant characteristics and target characteristics. Implications for this study are discussed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Olagbegi, Olajuwon"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Donald Sacco","Mitch Brown","Alen Hajnal"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:47Z","subjects":["prosocial behavior","sex typicality"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1036","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Donald Sacco","Mitch Brown","Alen Hajnal"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Olagbegi, Olajuwon"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-08-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["prosocial behavior","sex typicality"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1036"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["One’s decision to engage in prosocial behavior relies on various pieces of social information. The physical attractiveness of a social target could inform a perceiver’s subsequent intentions. In identifying which aspect of physical attractiveness could inform these decisions, it could be possible that prosocial decisions are heightened among those with sex-typical facial structures. This study explored the extent to which sex-typical facial structures informed perceivers’ interest in the context of social activism. Participants imagined themselves as responding to a request from a social target, deciding how behavior with high-cost and low-cost options. The male or female social target was manipulated to vary in sex typicality (i.e., masculinized versus feminized). Men and women did not report greater interest in prosocial behavior toward an opposite-sex target with sex-typical facial features. However, participants were more likely to comply with low-cost activism behaviors than high-cost ones. Women additionally reported greater willingness to comply with prosocial requests. Exploratory analyses indicated that higher self-reported social activism predicted greater compliance with activism requests from masculinized female targets, an effect descriptively higher for high-cost activism. These findings underscore the multifaceted nature of individuals’ responses to social activism cues, emphasizing the influence of both participant characteristics and target characteristics. Implications for this study are discussed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Impact of Target Sex Typicality on Participant's Willingness To Engage in Prosocial Behaviors"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Donald Sacco","Mitch Brown","Alen Hajnal"],"dc:creator":["Olagbegi, Olajuwon"],"dc:date.available":["2024-08-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["One’s decision to engage in prosocial behavior relies on various pieces of social information. The physical attractiveness of a social target could inform a perceiver’s subsequent intentions. In identifying which aspect of physical attractiveness could inform these decisions, it could be possible that prosocial decisions are heightened among those with sex-typical facial structures. This study explored the extent to which sex-typical facial structures informed perceivers’ interest in the context of social activism. Participants imagined themselves as responding to a request from a social target, deciding how behavior with high-cost and low-cost options. The male or female social target was manipulated to vary in sex typicality (i.e., masculinized versus feminized). Men and women did not report greater interest in prosocial behavior toward an opposite-sex target with sex-typical facial features. However, participants were more likely to comply with low-cost activism behaviors than high-cost ones. Women additionally reported greater willingness to comply with prosocial requests. Exploratory analyses indicated that higher self-reported social activism predicted greater compliance with activism requests from masculinized female targets, an effect descriptively higher for high-cost activism. These findings underscore the multifaceted nature of individuals’ responses to social activism cues, emphasizing the influence of both participant characteristics and target characteristics. Implications for this study are discussed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1036"],"dc:subject":["prosocial behavior","sex typicality"],"dc:title":["The Impact of Target Sex Typicality on Participant's Willingness To Engage in Prosocial Behaviors"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:47Z"}