High school social dynamics have long cast athletes as the reigning monarchs of popularity, leaving those engaged in activities labeled as “nerdy” or “geeky” to the sidelines of social hierarchy. Yet, beneath these stereotypes lies an intriguing truth revealed by recent research from Rutgers University: extracurricular involvement traditionally thought to foster intellectual or artistic faculties may have a profound impact on the development of compassion and altruism later in life, particularly during times of widespread crisis. This insight challenges preconceived notions about the social value of various high school activities and opens new avenues for how we consider youth development beyond academics and athletic prowess.
Led by Chien-Chung Huang, a professor at the Rutgers School of Social Work, the study utilized sophisticated statistical modeling methods to analyze data from the expansive Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal survey tracking thousands of individuals across the United States since 1998. This research focused on responses collected in 2022 concerning participants’ engagement in extracurricular activities during their high school years between 2014 and 2018, alongside their self-reported altruistic behaviors amid the COVID-19 pandemic. By correlating extracurricular participation with later-life generosity during a global crisis, the study provides a nuanced understanding of how structured after-school experiences shape behavioral tendencies tied to empathy and community support.
Extracurricular activities, broadly defined as voluntary participation in clubs, sports, religious groups, volunteer organizations, and hobby-related gatherings outside the normal curriculum, are widely known to confer benefits such as improved academic outcomes, enhanced self-esteem, and leadership skills. However, their contribution to fostering prosocial behaviors like altruism—particularly during unprecedented societal challenges—remains less examined. Huang’s research sheds light on this gap by demonstrating a clear, statistically significant connection between involvement in certain types of extracurriculars and the propensity to provide tangible help to others during the pandemic, such as running errands, offering childcare, and extending financial aid.
Interestingly, the study’s findings rank volunteer service as the strongest predictor of altruistic conduct among respondents, followed by participation in school clubs, hobbies, religious activities, and performance groups. In stark contrast, sports, while the most popular category in terms of student participation, ranked lowest on this altruism spectrum. This counterintuitive outcome calls into question the commonly held assumption that athletic involvement automatically translates into broader social responsibility or community-mindedness. The sports environment, often centered around competition, hierarchy, and winning, may inadvertently limit opportunities for nurturing empathy and collaborative care for others.
The implications of these findings provide valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and youth program administrators aiming to cultivate compassionate leaders and resilient communities. Huang emphasizes that sports need not be excluded from this mission but rather enhanced by deliberately integrating service-oriented components into athletic programs. By embedding volunteering activities within team routines—such as monthly community outreach or support for elder care facilities—coaches could foster a dual identity for athletes as both competitors and caregivers, thereby enriching their developmental experience with meaningful social impact.
From a psychological perspective, the research aligns with broader behavioral theories suggesting that environments promoting cooperative behaviors and collective engagement tend to nurture empathy and altruistic motivations more effectively than highly competitive settings. Extracurricular groups centered around shared interests, civic action, or creative expression may provide critical social contexts where young individuals practice perspective-taking, emotional regulation, and interpersonal support. These components are especially crucial when translating learned values into real-world crisis response, as exemplified during the COVID-19 pandemic’s demand for community solidarity and mutual aid.
Moreover, the study’s reliance on longitudinal data enhances its robustness and relevance by assessing enduring behavioral patterns rather than transient attitudes. This temporal dimension underscores the role of formative adolescent experiences in shaping adult social identity and moral decision-making. Crises like the pandemic function as practical tests of these internalized values, revealing how prior investments of time and energy in certain extracurricular domains predict tangible acts of kindness and assistance, thereby reinforcing the instrumental role of youth engagements in societal resilience.
While self-selection bias—where inherently altruistic individuals might gravitate toward certain activities—cannot be entirely ruled out, the comprehensive statistical controls employed in the analysis lend substantial credibility to the causal interpretations advanced by Huang and colleagues. The nuanced categorization of extracurricular types and their precise behavioral correlations help disentangle the complex interplay between participation and prosocial outcomes, advancing the academic discourse on youth development and social psychology.
This research carries urgent relevance in an era where social cohesion is increasingly tested by global challenges, including public health emergencies, economic instability, and social unrest. By illuminating the pathways through which extracurricular involvement translates into citizenship-oriented action, the study advocates for a broader reconceptualization of after-school programming priorities. Institutions might consider balancing competitive ambitions with community-centered missions to better prepare young people to respond compassionately and effectively during future crises.
It is also worth noting that the study refrains from denigrating sports or other popular activities but instead calls for an expansion of their pedagogical scope. Embedding altruistic training within all forms of extracurricular engagement ensures inclusivity and recognizes diverse developmental routes. By doing so, youth programs can harness the motivational power of competition while simultaneously cultivating empathy, cooperation, and generosity, which are indispensable traits in building resilient and caring societies.
Ultimately, the Rutgers study equips educators and community leaders with empirical evidence that nurturing compassion should be an intentional, measurable component of youth programming. Leveraging the social capital generated within extracurricular activities holds promise for amplifying positive behavioral trajectories that extend beyond graduation, producing adults capable of meaningful contributions to collective well-being during critical moments.
As this body of research evolves, future investigations may delve deeper into the psychological mechanisms underlying the associations discovered and explore how digital and hybrid extracurricular formats influence altruism in an increasingly interconnected world. Nonetheless, the current findings confidently highlight that “nerdy” or “geeky” activities, often undervalued in popular culture, serve as fertile grounds for instilling lasting humanitarian values, redefining what it means to be truly “cool” in the high school social ecosystem.
Subject of Research: People
Article Title: High School Extracurriculars and Altruistic Behavior in Crises: Insights From the COVID-19 Pandemic
News Publication Date: 4-Jul-2025
Web References: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0044118X251350719
References: Huang, C.-C., et al. (2025). High School Extracurriculars and Altruistic Behavior in Crises: Insights From the COVID-19 Pandemic. Youth & Society.
Keywords: Psychological science, Altruistic behavior, High school students
