Empathy as a moderator among social competence, peer support, and adolescent responsibility in Indonesian adolescents: an empirical study

This study examines how empathy conditions the relationships between social competence, peer support, and adolescent responsibility in a collectivist context. A cross-sectional survey of 430 Indonesian secondary school students (52% female) was analyzed using PLS-SEM. Social competence (β = 0.431, p < .001), peer support (β = 0.052, p = .004), and empathy (β = 0.523, p < .001) were positively associated with responsibility. However, empathy significantly attenuated the effects of social competence and peer support (β = −0.045, p < .01), indicating a negative moderation effect. These findings reveal a non-linear pattern in which empathy simultaneously promotes responsibility while weakening the influence of social resources. The results highlight empathy as both a promotive and regulatory factor, suggesting the need to integrate emotional regulation within empathy-based educational interventions.