Prosocial Tendencies Measure Revised (PTM-R)

Abstract

The Prosocial Tendencies Measure Revised (PTM-R), initially developed by Carlo and Randall in 2002, is a validated psychological scale designed to assess the multidimensional nature of prosocial behavior. Recognizing that helping behaviors are context-dependent and driven by varied motivations, the PTM-R distinguishes between six distinct prosocial tendencies: Public, Anonymous, Dire, Emotional, Compliant, and Altruism.

This self-report instrument moves beyond unidimensional measures by providing a granular assessment of an individual’s likelihood to engage in different types of helping, depending on whether the motivation is self-serving (e.g., public recognition) or other-oriented (e.g., genuine concern). The PTM-R is widely utilized in developmental and social psychology research, particularly with adolescent and young adult populations, to study the socio-cognitive and behavioral correlates of specific helping styles.

Keywords

Prosocial behavior, PTM-R, Altruism, Helping behavior, Psychological assessment, Social cognition, Multidimensional scale.

Authors

Carlo, G., Randall, B. A.

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the PTM-R is to capture the functional diversity and motivational complexity underlying an individual’s propensity to help others. By conceptualizing prosociality as a set of distinct tendencies rather than a single trait, the scale allows researchers to isolate specific predictors of different helping styles.

This differentiation is crucial for understanding social development. For example, helping motivated by public display may be linked to external rewards or social desirability, whereas anonymous helping is indicative of intrinsic motivation and moral internalization. The PTM-R facilitates targeted research into how socialization practices or interventions may differentially affect these distinct forms of prosocial engagement.

Construct

The overarching construct measured is Prosocial Behavior, defined as voluntary actions intended to benefit another person. The PTM-R operationalizes this construct through six empirically derived dimensions, reflecting different contexts and underlying motivations:

• Public: Tendency to help in public settings, often driven by a desire for recognition or social approval.
• Anonymous: Tendency to help without seeking recognition, reflecting intrinsic motivation or pure altruism.
• Dire: Tendency to help others in emergency situations where the need is immediate and critical (e.g., injury or crisis).
• Emotional: Tendency to help in response to the clear emotional distress displayed by the recipient, often linked to empathy.
• Compliant: Tendency to help when directly asked or pressured to do so.
• Altruism: Tendency to help based on internalized moral values or a genuine, non-reciprocal concern for the welfare of others.

Validity

The PTM-R demonstrates strong psychometric properties, including robust construct validity supported by its consistent six-factor structure. Initial validation studies by Carlo and colleagues (2002, 2003) confirmed that the individual items reliably load onto their intended subscales, and that these subscales correlate differentially with established measures of personality and social cognition (e.g., empathy, moral reasoning, and self-esteem).

Cross-cultural validation studies, such as the one conducted with Iranian university students (Azimpour et al., 2012), have further supported the generalizability of the six-factor model, indicating that these distinct prosocial tendencies are observable across diverse cultural settings. This extensive validation confirms that the PTM-R accurately measures the intended, differentiated aspects of prosocial behavior.

Reliability

The reliability of the PTM-R is typically reported as high across the six subscales. Internal consistency, measured via Cronbach’s alpha, generally falls within the acceptable to excellent range (often between 0.70 and 0.85), confirming that the items within each subscale are highly intercorrelated and measure a unified construct.

Furthermore, the scale exhibits stable test-retest reliability, suggesting that an individual’s pattern of prosocial tendencies, especially during adolescence and young adulthood, represents a relatively stable dispositional trait rather than a transient state. This stability is essential for longitudinal research tracking developmental changes in helping behavior.

Factor Analysis

The dimensional structure of the PTM-R was established through rigorous factor analysis. Both **Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)** and **Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)** have consistently confirmed the scale’s six distinct, yet moderately correlated, factors corresponding to the Public, Anonymous, Dire, Emotional, Compliant, and Altruism tendencies.

This multidimensional structure is the defining feature of the PTM-R, allowing researchers to measure differential motivations. For instance, items related to seeking external rewards (Public) load separately from items related to intrinsic satisfaction (Anonymous), validating the scale’s ability to differentiate between self-serving and other-oriented motivations for engaging in prosocial behavior.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale

Format: 25 items, rated on a 5-point Likert scale.

Language Available: English (Original), Persian/Farsi (Validated).

Population Group: Adolescents and Young Adults.

Age Group: Typically 12 years and older (used primarily in high school and university settings).

Population Details: Originally validated in U.S. adolescents; subsequent research has extended its use to diverse university student populations globally.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate the degree to which each statement describes them using a 5-point rating scale, anchored by 1=Does Not Describe Me At All and 5=Describes Me Greatly.

Keywords

Public helping, Anonymous helping, Dire prosociality, Emotional prosociality, Compliant helping, Altruism, Psychometrics, Adolescent development.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The PTM-R was developed in 2002 by Carlo and Randall. The instrument is commonly available for non-commercial academic research use, often requiring direct contact with the authors for formal permissions.

The instrument’s details can be found on pages 130-131 of “Sociocognitive and Behavioral Correlates of a Measure of Prosocial Tendencies for Adolescents,” available online at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=psychfacpub

The original PDF of the validation study by Azimpour et al. (2012) can be downloaded here: http://www.jlsb.science-line.com/attachments/article/13/JLSB-2012-B7‚%2034-42.pdf

Reference’s

Azimpour A.‚ Neasi A.‚ Shehni-Yailagh M.‚ and Arshadi N. (2012). Validation of “Prosocial Tendencies Measure” in Iranian University Students. Journal of Life Science and Biomedicine. 2(2): 34-42. Available online: http://www.jlsb.science-line.com/attachments/article/13/JLSB-2012-B7‚%2034-42.pdf

Carlo‚ G.‚& Randall‚ B. A. (2002). The development of a measure of prosocial behaviors Study. National Opinion Research Center‚ University of Chicago. 29-Smith‚ T.W. (2006). Altruism and Empathy in America: Trends and Correlates. National Opinion Research Center‚ University of Chicago‚ pp.1-48.

Carlo‚ Gustavo; Hausmann‚ Anne; Christiansen‚ Stacie; and Randall‚ Brandy A. (2003). “Sociocognitive and Behavioral Correlates of a Measure of Prosocial Tendencies for Adolescents.” Faculty Publications‚ Department of Psychology. Paper 4. Available online: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/psychfacpub/4

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Items of the Prosocial Tendencies Measure Revised (PTM-R)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. I can help others best when people are watching me.

2. It makes me feel good when I can comfort someone who is very upset.

3. When other people are around‚ it is easier for me to help others in need.

4. I think that one of the best things about helping others is that it makes me look good.

5. I get the most out of helping others when it is done in front of other people.

6. I tend to help people who are in a real crisis or need.

7. When people ask me to help them‚ I don’t hesitate.

8. I prefer to donate money without anyone knowing.

9. I tend to help people who are hurt badly.

10. I believe that donating goods or money works best when I get some benefit.

11. I tend to help others in need when they do not know who helped them.

12. I tend to help others especially when they are really emotional.

13. Helping others when I am being watched is when I work best.

14. It is easy for me to help others when they are in a bad situation.

15. Most of the time‚ I help others when they do not know who helped them.

16. I believe I should receive more rewards for the time and energy I spend on volunteer service.

17. I respond to helping others best when the situation is highly emotional.

18. I never wait to help others when they ask for it.

19. I think that helping others without them knowing is the best type of situation.

20. One of the best things about doing ch‎arity work is that it looks good on my resume.

21. Emotional situations make me want to help others in need.

22. I often make donations without anyone knowing because they make me feel good.

23. I feel that if I help someone‚ they should help me in the future.

24. I often help even if I don’t think I will get anything out of helping.

25. I usually help others when they are very upset.