Abstract

Universities are increasingly called on to prepare students who can engage across disagreement rather than retreat from it. Students may endorse kindness and shared responsibility in principle, yet less is known about when they act on these values, especially when participation takes time, offers no guaranteed payoff, or requires engaging with people who disagree. This study asks under what conditions UCLA students are willing to engage in kindness-related prosocial action on contested campus issues. It uses a vignette-based survey experiment in which a single campus activity is varied along three dimensions in a 2×2×2 design: how much it costs to take part, how clearly it may lead to change, and how much it requires engaging with opposing views. The design also tests whether students’ prior interest in an issue changes how strongly these conditions matter. The study will use regression models to estimate how each condition shapes willingness to participate, with follow-up interviews clarifying how students reason through these trade-offs. Rather than confirming that students value kindness, the study identifies the conditions that may turn that value into action. The findings will advance research on kindness and prosocial behavior and offer guidance for fostering kindness and constructive dialogue on campus.

Field

Department of Education/UCLA School of Education and Information Studies; Department of Statistics