Prosocial behavior and empathy as a basis for the development of a social commitment in youth

Abstract

This paper tries to set out a theoretical analysis about the youth’s indifference to social commitment —essential factor of their citizenship education. We would like to review the psychological constructs that several authors have contributed to this matter. They point out that the lack of social commitment could be related to proactivity, empathy, general and emotional intelligence, as well as factors related to a greater or lesser possibility of engendering citizenship commitment in young undergraduates, target population of the ongoing doctoral dissertation, whose theoretical progress we are presenting.