{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T13:30:51Z","timestamp":1787923851747,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787875200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Moral education increasingly requires psychologically realistic approaches that explain how students transform moral knowledge into stable prosocial action. Drawing on applied evolutionary psychology, this longitudinal study examined whether compassion-training engagement in moral education was associated with students\u2019 emotion regulation, moral identity integration, and prosocial ethical development across one academic semester.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 458 undergraduates enrolled in moral education modules in Sino-foreign cooperative university contexts completed baseline, mid-semester, and endline assessments. The intervention comprised 8 weekly sessions facilitated by trained instructors, focusing primarily on suffering awareness and action planning. A parallel mediation model was used to test whether emotion regulation and moral identity integration transmitted the association between compassion-training engagement and prosocial ethical development.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Compassion-training engagement was positively associated with emotion regulation (\u03b2 = 0.41,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.001), moral identity integration (\u03b2 = 0.36,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.001), and prosocial ethical development (\u03b2 = 0.19,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.001). Both indirect paths were significant: through emotion regulation [\u03b2 = 0.14, 95% CI (0.09, 0.20)] and moral identity integration [\u03b2 = 0.10, 95% CI (0.06, 0.16)].\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The findings suggest that compassion-training engagement may support moral education by facilitating students\u2019 shift from threat-reactive responses toward affiliative care, reflective self-regulation, and ethically consistent action.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1916084","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T12:53:29Z","timestamp":1787921609000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Applied evolutionary psychology in moral education: a quasi-experimental study exploring the longitudinal associations of compassion training with emotion regulation and prosocial ethical development"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Zening","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1423","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.83.6.1423","article-title":"The self-importance of moral identity.","volume":"83","author":"Aquino","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Pers. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1014033032440","article-title":"The development of a measure of prosocial behaviors for late adolescents.","volume":"31","author":"Carlo","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Youth Adolesc."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"447","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-psych-010419-050937","article-title":"Self and others in adolescence.","volume":"71","author":"Crone","year":"2020","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Psychol."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1086\/701478","article-title":"Is it good to cooperate? Testing the theory of morality-as-cooperation in 60 societies.","volume":"60","author":"Curry","year":"2019","journal-title":"Curr. Anthropol."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"337","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2014.04.008","article-title":"The complex relation between morality and empathy.","volume":"18","author":"Decety","year":"2014","journal-title":"Trends Cogn. Sci."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20150077","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2015.0077","article-title":"Empathy as a driver of prosocial behaviour: highly conserved neurobehavioural mechanisms across species.","volume":"371","author":"Decety","year":"2016","journal-title":"Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1111\/bjop.12338","article-title":"Does your mindfulness benefit others? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the link between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour.","volume":"110","author":"Donald","year":"2019","journal-title":"Br. J. Psychol."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1751-2409.2010.01020.x","article-title":"Empathy-related responding: Associations with prosocial behavior, aggression, and intergroup relations.","volume":"4","author":"Eisenberg","year":"2010","journal-title":"Soc. Issues Policy Rev."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1101","DOI":"10.1037\/a0037249","article-title":"Effect of kindness-based meditation on health and well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis.","volume":"82","author":"Galante","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Consult. Clin. Psychol."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6","DOI":"10.1111\/bjc.12043","article-title":"The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy.","volume":"53","author":"Gilbert","year":"2014","journal-title":"Br. J. Clin. Psychol."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"351","DOI":"10.1037\/a0018807","article-title":"Compassion: An evolutionary analysis and empirical review.","volume":"136","author":"Goetz","year":"2010","journal-title":"Psychol. Bull."},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1023\/B:JOBA.0000007455.08539.94","article-title":"Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale.","volume":"26","author":"Gratz","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Psychopathol. Behav. Assess."},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.1037\/1089-2680.2.3.271","article-title":"The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review.","volume":"2","author":"Gross","year":"1998","journal-title":"Rev. Gen. Psychol."},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/1047840X.2014.940781","article-title":"Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects.","volume":"26","author":"Gross","year":"2015","journal-title":"Psychol. Inq."},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"814","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.108.4.814","article-title":"The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment.","volume":"108","author":"Haidt","year":"2001","journal-title":"Psychol. Rev."},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"212","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1750-8606.2011.00189.x","article-title":"Moral identity: What is it, how does it develop, and is it linked to moral action?","volume":"5","author":"Hardy","year":"2011","journal-title":"Child Dev. Perspect."},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1542","DOI":"10.1007\/s10964-014-0172-1","article-title":"Moral identity and adolescent prosocial and antisocial behaviors: Interactions with moral disengagement and self-regulation.","volume":"44","author":"Hardy","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Youth Adolesc."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1037\/gpr0000062","article-title":"Does moral identity effectively predict moral behavior? A meta-analysis.","volume":"20","author":"Hertz","year":"2016","journal-title":"Rev. Gen. Psychol."},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1340","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1251560","article-title":"Morality in everyday life.","volume":"345","author":"Hofmann","year":"2014","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1113","DOI":"10.1007\/s10902-012-9373-z","article-title":"Enhancing compassion: A randomized controlled trial of a compassion cultivation training program.","volume":"14","author":"Jazaieri","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Happiness Stud."},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1007\/s11031-013-9368-z","article-title":"A randomized controlled trial of compassion cultivation training: Effects on mindfulness, affect, and emotion regulation.","volume":"38","author":"Jazaieri","year":"2014","journal-title":"Motiv. Emot."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"491","DOI":"10.3102\/0034654308325693","article-title":"The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes.","volume":"79","author":"Jennings","year":"2009","journal-title":"Rev. Educ. Res."},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"778","DOI":"10.1016\/j.beth.2017.06.003","article-title":"A meta-analysis of compassion-based interventions: current state of knowledge and future directions.","volume":"48","author":"Kirby","year":"2017","journal-title":"Behav. Ther."},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1552","DOI":"10.1093\/cercor\/bhs142","article-title":"Functional neural plasticity and associated changes in positive affect after compassion training.","volume":"23","author":"Klimecki","year":"2013","journal-title":"Cereb. Cortex"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"873","DOI":"10.1093\/scan\/nst060","article-title":"Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity after compassion and empathy training.","volume":"9","author":"Klimecki","year":"2014","journal-title":"Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci."},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e17798","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0017798","article-title":"Short-term compassion training increases prosocial behavior in a newly developed prosocial game.","volume":"6","author":"Leiberg","year":"2011","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"708","DOI":"10.1007\/s12671-017-0841-8","article-title":"A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of meditation on empathy, compassion, and prosocial behaviors.","volume":"9","author":"Luberto","year":"2018","journal-title":"Mindfulness"},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1016\/j.copsyc.2017.07.036","article-title":"From being nice to being kind: Development of prosocial behaviors.","volume":"20","author":"Malti","year":"2018","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Psychol."},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1093\/scan\/nss095","article-title":"Compassion meditation enhances empathic accuracy and related neural activity.","volume":"8","author":"Mascaro","year":"2013","journal-title":"Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci."},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"28","DOI":"10.1002\/jclp.21923","article-title":"A pilot study and randomized controlled trial of the mindful self-compassion program.","volume":"69","author":"Neff","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Clin. Psychol."},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"87","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psyneuen.2008.08.011","article-title":"Effect of compassion meditation on neuroendocrine, innate immune and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress.","volume":"34","author":"Pace","year":"2009","journal-title":"Psychoneuroendocrinology"},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"365","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.psych.56.091103.070141","article-title":"Prosocial behavior: Multilevel perspectives.","volume":"56","author":"Penner","year":"2005","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Psychol."},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1270","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.84.6.1270","article-title":"Moral identity and the expanding circle of moral regard toward out-groups.","volume":"84","author":"Reed","year":"2003","journal-title":"J. Pers. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"B34","first-page":"100492","article-title":"Running on empty: A systematic review and meta-analysis of mindfulness and compassion interventions in educational settings.","volume":"38","author":"Rupprecht","year":"2023","journal-title":"Educ. Res. Rev."},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"52","DOI":"10.1037\/a0038454","article-title":"Enhancing cognitive and social-emotional development through a simple-to-administer mindfulness-based school program for elementary school children: A randomized controlled trial.","volume":"51","author":"Schonert-Reichl","year":"2015","journal-title":"Dev. Psychol."},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"R875","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2014.06.054","article-title":"Empathy and compassion.","volume":"24","author":"Singer","year":"2014","journal-title":"Curr. Biol."},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"215","DOI":"10.1037\/emo0001234","article-title":"The impact of compassion training on emotion regulation and prosocial behavior: A meta-analysis.","volume":"24","author":"Tickell","year":"2024","journal-title":"Emotion"},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1171","DOI":"10.1177\/0956797612469537","article-title":"Compassion training alters altruism and neural responses to suffering.","volume":"24","author":"Weng","year":"2013","journal-title":"Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1693","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2015.01693","article-title":"The effect of loving-kindness meditation on positive emotions: A meta-analytic review.","volume":"6","author":"Zeng","year":"2015","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1916084\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T12:53:29Z","timestamp":1787921609000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1916084\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]]},"references-count":39,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1916084"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1916084","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]]},"article-number":"1916084"}}