Author(s): CHENGWEN, F., ZHOU, Y., WANG, M., Institution: HUNAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, Country: CHINA, Abstract-ID: 2336

Introduction
Physical activity has been consistently associated with prosocial behaviour among adolescents; however, the psychological mechanisms underlying this association remain insufficiently understood. In particular, little is known about how personal strengths and moral factors in sports contexts jointly shape adolescents' prosocial behaviour. This study examined whether personal strengths mediate the relationship between physical activity and prosocial behaviour, and whether this mediating process is moderated by sports moral identity.
Methods
Participants were 987 adolescents (53.4% male) recruited from junior and senior secondary schools in China. Validated Chinese versions of the Physical Activity Rank Scale-3, Personal Strengths Inventory, Prosocial Tendencies Measure, and Self-Importance of Moral Identity Scale were administered. A moderated mediation analysis was conducted to test the conditional indirect effects of physical activity on prosocial behaviour, mediated by personal strengths, with sports moral identity as a second-stage moderator.
Results
Physical activity was positively associated with prosocial behaviour. Personal strengths partially mediated this relationship, accounting for approximately 26% of the total effect. Sports moral identity significantly moderated the second-stage pathway: the association between personal strengths and prosocial behaviour was significant only among adolescents with moderate-to-high sports moral identity, whereas it was not significant at low levels. Conditional indirect effects showed that the mediating role of personal strengths became progressively stronger as sports moral identity increased.
Discussion
Findings indicate that physical activity's positive association with adolescent prosocial behaviour operates through personal strengths, but this pathway is contingent upon sports’ moral identity. For adolescents with stronger internalised moral values in sports contexts, personal strengths translate more effectively into prosocial actions. Results advance understanding of how embodied experiences in physical activity interact with moral self-concepts to shape social development. In practice, interventions aimed at promoting prosocial behaviour should simultaneously enhance adolescents' personal strengths and foster moral identity within sports contexts, rather than targeting either factor in isolation. Physical education programmes that integrate ethical instruction alongside skill development may yield significant social benefits.