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Examining the Diversity of Prosocial Behavior: Helping, Sharing, and Comforting in Infancy
Abstract
Prosocial behaviors are a diverse group of actions that are integral to human social life. In this study, we examined the ability of 18- and 24-month-old infants to engage in three types of other-oriented behaviors, specifically helping, sharing, and comforting. Infants in both age groups engaged in more prosocial behavior on trials in which an unfamiliar adult experimenter required aid (experimental conditions) than on those in which she did not (control conditions) across two of the three prosocial tasks (i.e., helping and sharing). The infants engaged in these behaviors with similar frequency; however, there was no correlation between the tasks. The implications for the construct of prosocial behavior and the presence of a prosocial disposition are discussed.
... In experimental setups, from about 14 months onward, infants often retrieve out-of-reach objects for unfamiliar experimenters who indicate their need for help (e.g., by gaze alternating between the child and the object and/or verbalizing the problem), but they are significantly less likely to help in control trials in which the experimenters did not indicate a need for help (e.g., Callaghan et al., 2011;Dunfield et al., 2011;Newton, Goodman, & Thompson, 2014;Paulus et al., 2013;, 2007. The inclusion of control trials in experimental studies is important for inferring that children help in the experimental trials because they understand and act on the adult's instrumental need rather than being motivated only by earlier phases of prosocial behavior development, such as social preferences for interacting with others (Dahl & Paulus, 2019) or by prior reinforcement for retrieving objects. ...
... Given the sampling bias that is pervasive in developmental psychology (Nielsen et al., 2017), it is perhaps unsurprising that the vast majority of research on infant helping has been conducted with infants from WEIRD populations (e.g., Dunfield et al., 2011;. A large body of research describes prosociality and helping in early and middle childhood across different societies (e.g., Coppens & Rogoff, 2022;de Guzman et al., 2008;Eisenberg et al., 2007). ...
... The U.K. infants, however, were much more likely to retrieve the object for their mothers in both the experimental and the control conditions, which meant that we did not identify them as "helpers" (or "competent" helpers as defined by Paulus et al., 2013). A total of 14/25 infants retrieved the object in a control condition with their mothers, a far higher proportion of infants than previous studies with control conditions have reported (e.g., Dunfield et al., 2011;Paulus et al., 2013). It is unclear what motivated these U.K. infants to retrieve the object in the control condition. ...
Prosocial behavior, including instrumental helping, emerges early in development, but the role parental attitudes and practices take in shaping the emergence of early helping across different cultural contexts is not well understood. We took a longitudinal approach to investigate maternal socialization of early helping across two different cultural groups. Participants were mother–infant dyads from urban/suburban York, United Kingdom (43 infants: 21 females, 22 males) and the rural Masindi District, Uganda (39 infants: 22 females, 17 males). We examined cultural variations in mother’s helping-related parenting practices toward 14- and 18-month-olds and infants’ actual helping in experimental tasks at 18 months. We then asked whether maternal parenting practices and socialization goals predicted individual variation in infant helping. We found that U.K. mothers scaffolded infant helping using a larger range of strategies than Ugandan mothers, but expecting an infant to help was more common in Uganda than in the United Kingdom. Moreover, we found that the Ugandan infants were more likely and often quicker to help an adult in need than the U.K. infants. Finally, we found that maternal scaffolding behaviors positively predicted individual variation in infant helping at 18 months in the United Kingdom, but not in Uganda. By contrast, maternal alignment with relational socialization goals at 11 months positively predicted infant helping at 18 months in the Ugandan, but not in the U.K., sample. These results indicate that early instrumental helping behavior varies across societies and that maternal socialization goals and scaffolding behaviors can shape infant helping in culturally specific ways.
... The development of prosocial behavior is a key task of childhood and understanding prosocial behavior is important for supporting individual development and societal functioning (Glowacki & Lew-Levy, 2022). Prosocial behavior is defined as other-oriented, often voluntary actions that are intended to benefit another individual or group of individuals (Eisenberg et al., 2006) and can be observed early in childhood (Brownell, 2013;Dunfield et al., 2011). Yet, children's prosocial behavior is characterized by distinct individual differences (Schachner et al., 2018), with higher levels of early prosocial behavior generally associated with more adaptive outcomes (Collie et al., 2019;Flynn et al., 2015). ...
... Prosocial behavior can be observed in a large variety of behaviors in children (e.g., Dunfield et al., 2011;Paulus, 2018), and literature suggests that these behaviors should not necessarily be considered as a single construct, especially in early childhood (Brownell, 2013;Dunfield & Kuhlmeier, 2013). Rather, current research provides support for three specific dimensions of prosocial behavior: sharing, instrumental helping (i.e., helping), and empathic helping (i.e., comforting). ...
Research Findings: Prosocial behavior in early childhood can be assessed by various informants and methodologies, but the information each provides may differ in meaningful ways. The present study measured and compared young children's (N = 486; age: M = 48.51 months, SD = 8.22) prosocial behavior based on parent reports, teacher reports, and child behavior on the Dictator Game. Special consideration of the multidimensional nature of prosocial behavior was given by including questionnaire subscales for helping , sharing, and comforting behaviors, and differences across gender were investigated using a multigroup framework. Analyses found differences in the pattern of responding between parents and teachers and no agreement across informants. Observed sharing was not associated with either parent-or teacher-reported prosocial behavior. Gender differences were minimal, with girls rated as demonstrating more comforting behavior than boys by both parents and teachers and more overall prosocial behavior by teachers. Practice or Policy: Results suggest that methodology has a strong impact on the measurement of prosocial behavior. Children's prosocial behavior may differ across contexts or vary by informant perspective, and this must be considered when interpreting results. These findings thus support the need for multi-informant and multimethod approaches in child assessment.
... Consistent with previous cross-sectional research (Dunfield et al., 2011;Svetlova et al., 2010;Warneken & Tomasello, 2006) and more recent longitudinal studies with infants (Aitken et al., 2020;Dahl et al., 2021;Kärtner et al., 2021), our results demonstrate that children's instrumental helping and comforting improve rapidly between 2 and 4 years of age, while sharing remains at similar levels across 3-to 4-years. Such age-related changes align with theory and research suggesting that, especially between 3-and 4-years of age, sociocognitive skills increase, for example children's abilities to identify other people's goals and mental states (Paulus, 2014). ...
... Specifically, whereas the experimenter showed more direct interest for the target object in the instrumental trials (e.g., reaching gesture), the experimenter is initially focused on themselves (e.g., shivering) in the comforting trials, showing no direct interest for an object. Indeed, Dunfield et al. (2011) found that 18-and 24-month-old infants did not spontaneously comfort an experimenter when only distress and no direct interest for an object was shown. Future research could further explore the role of the emotion of interest in shaping infants' PSB in lab-based contexts. ...
... Consistent with previous cross-sectional research (Dunfield et al., 2011;Svetlova et al., 2010;Warneken & Tomasello, 2006) and more recent longitudinal studies with infants (Aitken et al., 2020;Dahl et al., 2021;Kärtner et al., 2021), our results demonstrate that children's instrumental helping and comforting improve rapidly between 2 and 4 years of age, while sharing remains at similar levels across 3-to 4-years. Such age-related changes align with theory and research suggesting that, especially between 3-and 4-years of age, sociocognitive skills increase, for example children's abilities to identify other people's goals and mental states (Paulus, 2014). ...
... Specifically, whereas the experimenter showed more direct interest for the target object in the instrumental trials (e.g., reaching gesture), the experimenter is initially focused on themselves (e.g., shivering) in the comforting trials, showing no direct interest for an object. Indeed, Dunfield et al. (2011) found that 18-and 24-month-old infants did not spontaneously comfort an experimenter when only distress and no direct interest for an object was shown. Future research could further explore the role of the emotion of interest in shaping infants' PSB in lab-based contexts. ...
The present research provides a detailed, longitudinal examination of instrumental helping, comforting, and sharing in early childhood. Preschoolers completed a series of prosocial behavior tasks when they were 2- (N = 201), 3- (N = 161), and 4-years-old (N = 135). As expected, children’s prosocial behaviors increased with age across all tasks. Yet children’s prosocial behaviors were more nuanced than expected, with significant differences in scores between trials within each type of prosocial behavior. Cross-lagged panel modelling revealed that instrumental helping at 3 years predicted comforting when an experimenter was sad or cold at 4 years. Further, children’s comforting of a sad experimenter at 3 years predicted sharing their own toy with a sad experimenter at 4 years. These findings offer novel insights into the developmental trajectory of three types of prosocial behavior in early childhood.
... Do infants understand that other people need help when they cannot Moor, 2012]). Results from numerous studies have shown that the prosocial behavior of children is manifest in the following main types: (1) instrumental help, i.e., helping other people to complete a purposeful action; (2) empathic help (comforting), manifest as the ability to respond to the emotional needs of another person and verbally or physically support and comfort them; (3) altruistic help, in which the child shares resources (sharing) that another individual lacks [Warneken and Tomasello, 2009;Dunfi eld et al., 2011;Dunfi eld and Kuhlmeier, 2013;Yudina and Kotova, 2015;Paulus, 2018;Dunfi eld et al., 2019]. As understanding the needs of another person requires specifi c socio-cognitive abilities [Dunfi eld, 2014] and given that different types of prosocial behavior are based on different motives [Paulus, 2014], these three types of HB develop largely independently of each other and the correlation between their manifestations is relatively weak [Kartner et al., 2014;Schuhmacher et al., 2017;Köster, Kartner, 2019]; according to some researchers, it may even have a negative direction [Paulus et al., 2013]. ...
... Interestingly, young children show more positive emotions when sharing a treat than when receiving it [Song et al., 2020]. At fi rst, children provide altruistic help only if another person directly voices the need for the resources that the child has, but as they grow older, the need for verbal instructions disappears -the child identifi es the unmet need of the other person from the external manifestations of emotions and other signs and independently makes a decision to provide help [Brownell et al., 2013;Dunfi eld et al., 2011]. Older children often show altruistic HB, because under the infl uence of upbringing and communication with loved ones, they develop an understanding of the emotional and mental states of others [Drummond et al., 2014] and assimilate social, and moral norms [Svetlova et al., 2010]. ...
From a very early age children are capable on prosocial acts: giving objects, comforting and sharing with other people. This review considers modern research on the patterns and neurophysiological mechanisms of helping behavior (HB) formation in early childhood, including the results of the authors’ own work. Methods for HB researching in infants and young children are presented. The factors of development and neurophysiological mechanisms of instrumental, empathic and altruistic HB, and the role of empathy in these kinds of behaviors are analyzed. We also described data about involvement of various brain structures (for example, the mirror system as extended part of sensorimotor and emotional neural networks) in implementation of HB. The importance of research into the mechanisms of prosocial behavior for the full-fledged upbringing and education of children in the conditions of modern society is emphasized.
... Prosocial behavior, broadly defined as self-motivated and voluntary actions aimed at benefiting others, encompasses a spectrum of altruistic acts, including sharing, aiding, cooperation, comforting, guiding, donating, rescuing, and defending [20], [21], [22]. In the realm of childhood development, prosocial behavior emerges early, typically within the initial two years of life [23], [24]. Children exhibit prosocial tendencies when they responsively address the needs of others, thereby contributing to their well-being [20]. ...
... Remarkably, even infants aged between 18 and 24 months display instances of sharing behavior, demonstrating an understanding of ownership concepts and an innate responsiveness to the explicit needs of others [23], [24]. However, the challenging nature of sharing becomes evident in the absence of clear cues about others' needs, leading to a more selfish orientation among children, with few willing to share or opting to share only selectively [25], [26]. ...
This paper explores the concept of mindful parenting and its association with prosocial behaviors in children. Mindfulness, characterized by non-judgmental, present-centered awareness, has been linked to enhanced emotional regulation and stress reduction. The application of mindfulness to parenting, as outlined in the mindful parenting model, includes aspects such as attentive listening, nonjudgmental acceptance, parent self-regulation, emotional awareness, and compassion.While mindful parenting interventions have gained attention, the paper emphasizes the need for a more thorough exploration of mindful parenting in the context of the parent-child relationship. The study reviews existing literature, noting that mindful parenting can positively impact parent-child interactions, reduce stress, enhance parenting satisfaction, and foster children's prosocial behaviors.The paper also delves into the developmental aspects of prosocial behavior in children, defining it as self-motivated, voluntary actions intendedto benefit others. Prosocial behaviors, such as sharing and cooperation, have been observed in early childhood and are associated with positive outcomes like well-being and academic performance.The association between mindful parenting and children's prosocial behaviors is examined, with evidence suggesting that parents practicing mindful parenting contribute to greater prosocial behaviors in their children. Studies indicate that mindful parenting interventions can lead to improved child outcomes, reducedbehavioral difficulties, and increased social competence.Furthermore, the paper discusses the broader impact of mindful parenting on various age groups, including adolescents. Mindful parenting has been associated with lower internalizing and externalizing symptoms, emphasizing its positive influence on youth mental health and overall well-being.In conclusion, the paper highlights the importance of incorporating mindfulness into parenting interventions to enhance their effectiveness. The findings underscore the positive outcomes associated with mindful parenting, advocating for its integration into parenting programs for a more comprehensive and holistic approach to child development.
... The foundations of sharing behavior are present early in development. Infants as young as 10 and 12 months look longer when resources are divided unequally [1,2] , and by the second year of life, infants exhibit the early roots of sharing behavior by spontaneously sharing valuable resources, such as food or toys, with adult strangers expressing need [3,4] . The task most widely used to study sharing behavior in children is the Dictator Game (DG), in which a participant (i.e., dictator) receives a sum of valuable resources (i.e., stickers or pieces of candy) and is given the opportunity to share them with another child (i.e., recipient). ...
... The task most widely used to study sharing behavior in children is the Dictator Game (DG), in which a participant (i.e., dictator) receives a sum of valuable resources (i.e., stickers or pieces of candy) and is given the opportunity to share them with another child (i.e., recipient). Although dictators are not obligated to share their own resources, most children are willing to share them with an unknown recipient [4,5] with the amount of resources shared increasing with age [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] . It has been suggested that children's sharing behavior develops on a selfish-generous continuum, with children of 7-9 years old being more likely to make an equal split of the resources [9,11,[14][15][16] than younger children. ...
Children construct their social preferences and behaviors based on their social interactions and beliefs about other’s behavior. Most studies that evaluate the influence of social norms on children’s sharing behavior has focused on sharing decisions, while no previous study has evaluated whether norms about generosity could change beliefs about other’s sharing behavior. In the current study, 4–10-year-old children (N = 101) played two dictator games; one as baseline and the other after being exposed to either a generous or a selfish descriptive norm. Our results showed that, after being exposed to descriptive norms, all children changed their beliefs about others’ sharing behavior. However, these norms did not influence children’s sharing decisions. These results suggest that children´s beliefs about sharing behavior could be more malleable than their actual sharing decisions. These insights might help to design interventions aimed to change beliefs and, in turn, to model prosocial behaviors in children.
... Do infants understand that other people need help when they cannot Moor, 2012]). Results from numerous studies have shown that the prosocial behavior of children is manifest in the following main types: (1) instrumental help, i.e., helping other people to complete a purposeful action; (2) empathic help (comforting), manifest as the ability to respond to the emotional needs of another person and verbally or physically support and comfort them; (3) altruistic help, in which the child shares resources (sharing) that another individual lacks [Warneken and Tomasello, 2009;Dunfi eld et al., 2011;Dunfi eld and Kuhlmeier, 2013;Yudina and Kotova, 2015;Paulus, 2018;Dunfi eld et al., 2019]. As understanding the needs of another person requires specifi c socio-cognitive abilities [Dunfi eld, 2014] and given that different types of prosocial behavior are based on different motives [Paulus, 2014], these three types of HB develop largely independently of each other and the correlation between their manifestations is relatively weak [Kartner et al., 2014;Schuhmacher et al., 2017;Köster, Kartner, 2019]; according to some researchers, it may even have a negative direction [Paulus et al., 2013]. ...
... Interestingly, young children show more positive emotions when sharing a treat than when receiving it [Song et al., 2020]. At fi rst, children provide altruistic help only if another person directly voices the need for the resources that the child has, but as they grow older, the need for verbal instructions disappears -the child identifi es the unmet need of the other person from the external manifestations of emotions and other signs and independently makes a decision to provide help [Brownell et al., 2013;Dunfi eld et al., 2011]. Older children often show altruistic HB, because under the infl uence of upbringing and communication with loved ones, they develop an understanding of the emotional and mental states of others [Drummond et al., 2014] and assimilate social, and moral norms [Svetlova et al., 2010]. ...
... , after which EA was coded following a coding scheme developed by Biringen (2008). This study only recorded the quality of interaction with the mothers, as they were predominantly the primary caregivers. Second, we assessed three different types of prosocial behaviors, namely helping, sharing, and comforting (e.g., K. A. Dunfield & Kuhlmeier, 2013;K. Dunfield et al., 2011), separately through behavioral observation in an experimental setting in the laboratory at T2. We assessed prosocial behavior at 3 years of age, as previous studies have indicated that children at this age display a variety of prosocial behaviors, making it a potential predictor of the MSC at this age (e.g., Svetlova et al., 2010;Warnek ...
During early childhood, children develop a moral self-concept (MSC), reflecting the representation of their own moral behavioral preferences. Little is known about the developmental processes that relate to the emergence of the MSC. This longitudinal study followed participants from infancy to preschool age (n = 99–139; 49%–55% girls, 45%–51% boys, mostly Caucasian). It investigated the relations between the quality of early social interactions, prosocial behaviors, and the development of the MSC. We assessed maternal emotional availability at 1 year of age, children’s prosocial behaviors (helping, sharing, comforting) at 3 years of age, and their MSC at 4 years of age. Children’s comforting and sharing behavior at 3 years of age, but not their helping behavior, was associated with their MSC development. Interestingly, maternal emotional availability predicted MSC indirectly through its relation to children’s comforting behavior, suggesting a mediated pathway. The study highlights developmental trajectories from early social interactions to how children think about their own prosociality.
... Sharing behaviors refer to an individuals' prosocial action of incurring a personal cost to alleviate anothers' material needs (Dunfield et al., 2011). An increasing number of studies have shown that sharing behaviors can increase individuals' perceived pleasure (Song et al., 2020;Maldoy et al., 2020), beneficial for establishing, maintaining, and strengthening social relationships (Samuni et al., 2018;Liévin-Bazin et al., 2019;Gregersen & Gillath, 2020). ...
The impact of the boarding school milieu on the psychological development of children has garnered considerable attention. Scholars have especially expressed apprehension regarding the potential adverse effects of boarding on familial bonds. Addressing this concern, certain primary schools in Yunnan Province have implemented a Kinship boarding system, wherein older students are entrusted with the care of younger ones. The present study explored the progression of sharing behaviors among children in boarding environments and the mechanisms underlying these behaviors. Utilizing methodologies such as story completion, the dictator game, and motivational ranking, this study compared the sharing consciousness and behaviors of children under different administrative approaches: kinship boarding, class boarding, and day school. Additionally, we examined the roles of moral reasoning and empathy in how boarding styles influence sharing behaviors. The results revealed that children in kinship boarding exhibited more sharing consciousness, as well as both proactive and reactive sharing behaviors, compared to their counterparts in class boarding or day school settings. Furthermore, affective and cognitive empathy function as mediators in the relationship between boarding styles and children’s sharing behaviors, with sharing consciousness serving as a moderating factor.
... Yang perlu diperhatikan adalah bahwa perilaku prososial dan kerja sama secara konseptual memiliki keterkaitan. Berbagi dan menolong adalah dua jenis perilaku prososial yang berkembang pada masa bayi dan secara bertahap meningkat pada masa kanak-kanak (Dunfield et al., 2011). ...
... Finally, from a theoretical perspective, scholars posit that helping is an other-oriented behavior motivated by concerns for others' welfare (Grossmann, 2018). As such, infants are sensitive to others' needs (Köster et al., 2016), are more likely to help those in need as opposed to those who are not in need (Dunfield et al., 2011), and are likely to help in a way that satisfies the existing need as opposed to offering help in a nonneeded way (Anderson & Martin, 2023). Infants even help others when such behavior comes at a cost to themselves (e.g., Warneken & Tomasello, 2013). ...
Biases favoring the wealthy are ubiquitous, and they support and bolster vast resource inequalities across individuals and groups; yet, when these biases are acquired remains unknown. In Experiments 1 through 5 (Total N = 232), using multiple methods, we found that 14- to 18-month-old infants track individuals’ wealth (Experiments 1–5), prefer and selectively help rich (vs. poor) individuals (Experiments 2 and 3), and negatively evaluate poor individuals (Experiments 4 and 5). In two subsequent experiments with 11- to 13-month-old infants (Total N = 65), however, we find no evidence of preferences for rich (vs. poor) individuals (Experiment 6) or differential evaluations of rich and poor people (Experiment 7). Together, these results demonstrate that in the second year of life, wealth emerges as a central and robust dimension of evaluation that guides social decision making.
... Research on the development of sharing has found that this form of prosociality emerges very early. Toddlers engage in acts of sharing with adults [32,33] and by 3-4 years of age children share some items with peers when they receive a windfall gain of resources [34][35][36][37][38][39]. Notably, although preschoolers give more on average with age, they still share less than half with peers in most circumstances [40]. ...
Background
Sharing and fairness are important prosocial behaviors that help us navigate the social world. However, little is known about how and whether individuals with Williams Syndrome (WS) engage in these behaviors. The unique phenotype of individuals with WS, consisting of high social motivation and limited social cognition, can also offer insight into the role of social motivation in sharing and fairness when compared to typically developing (TD) individuals. The current study used established experimental paradigms to examine sharing and fairness in individuals with WS and TD individuals.
Methods
We compared a sample of patients with WS to TD children (6-year-olds) matched by mental age (MA) on two experimental tasks: the Dictator Game (DG, Experiment 1, N = 17 WS, 20 TD) with adults modeling giving behaviors used to test sharing and the Inequity Game (IG, Experiment 2, N = 14 WS, 17 TD) used to test fairness.
Results
Results showed that the WS group behaved similarly to the TD group for baseline giving in the DG and in the IG, rejecting disadvantageous offers but accepting advantageous ones. However, after viewing an adult model giving behavior, the WS group gave more than their baseline, with many individuals giving more than half, while the TD group gave less. Combined these results suggest that social motivation is sufficient for sharing and, in particular, generous sharing, as well as the self-focused form of fairness. Further, individuals with WS appear capable of both learning to be more generous and preventing disadvantageous outcomes, a more complex profile than previously known.
Conclusions
In conclusion, the present study provides a snapshot into sharing and fairness-related behaviors in WS, contributing to our understanding of the intriguing social-behavioral phenotype associated with this developmental disorder.
... There is large evidence of empathic behavior in infants aged less than 2 years, starting from reactive crying in the first days of life up to the imaginative empathy associated with perspective-taking (Hoffman, 2000). Moreover, toddlers aged 18 months spontaneously help an adult in reaching his goal (Warneken & Tomasello, 2006), and shortly after also exhibit consolation behavior (Dunfield et al., 2011). Finally, children aged 3 show altruistic tendencies comparable to those of adult individuals in the dictator's game (Benenson et al., 2007;Gummerum et al., 2010). ...
Taking stock of standard philosophical analyses of the concept, it is proposed that the domain of morality be defined by reference to seven characteristics: normativity, informality, importance, universality, categoricalness, overridingness, and a reference to beneficence and justice as the basic contents of its rules. These features establish a rather sharp distinction between moral and conventional rules. Recent literature in evolutionary morality and moral psychology, however, challenged the existence of a neat distinction between the moral and the conventional domains. The paper discusses three prominent objections to the proposed analysis that can be found in the empirical literature on morality: one centering on the relevance of moral sentiments, one based on the phenomenon of “harmless wrongdoing”, and one on the rejection of the universality and independence from authority of the moral domain. It is shown that the proposed analysis can be defended in light of the empirical findings.
... However, it has been evident that different prosocial behaviours have different developmental patterns, different motivational and socialcognitive predictors (Brownell, 2013) as well as distinct neurophysiological correlates (Paulus et al., 2013). This suggests that different prosocial behaviours should be examined independently for obtaining a more nuanced view (Dunfield et al., 2011;Dunfield & Kuhlmeier, 2013;Persson, 2005). ...
Prosocial behaviour is a hallmark of social and emotional competence during childhood. Thus, promoting the development of children's prosocial behaviour can have important downstream benefits for individuals and society. Previous studies indicated that there is a positive effect of negative moral emotions on prosocial behaviour, but the influence of positive moral emotions on prosocial behaviour remains largely unknown. This study adopted three experiments to investigate the influence of positive moral emotions on three aspects of prosocial behaviour in 3–5‐year‐old children. After inducing positive moral emotions in children, they were observed either in helping (Experiment 1, N = 151, 75 boys), sharing (Experiment 2, N = 141, 69 boys) or comforting (Experiment 3, N = 132, 66 boys) scenarios. Results showed that: (1) children's helping, sharing and comforting behaviours in the moral emotions (experimental) group were significantly higher than those in the control group, suggesting that positive moral emotions could positively influence the examined prosocial behaviours; (2) there were age differences in children's helping, sharing and comforting, but the effect of positive moral emotions on the examined prosocial behaviours did not differ by age and gender. These findings point to the need for fostering positive moral emotions in early cultivation of children's prosocial behaviour during pre‐schooler education.
... The understanding of prosocial behavior begins in early development, while infants typically start demonstrating their own prosocial behaviors after the age of 1 year. Numerous developmental studies have reported that from 14 to 16 months of age, infants begin to engage in helpful behaviors (Köster, Itakura, Omori, & Kärtner, 2019;Dunfield, Kuhlmeier, O'Connell, & Kelley, 2011;Warneken & Tomasello, 2007Rheingold, Hay, & West, 1976). These helpful behaviors involve removing physical obstacles or showing alternative means to achieve goals. ...
Although the development of prosocial behavior has been widely studied from the behavioral aspect, the neural mechanisms underlying prosocial behavior in the early stages of development remain unclear. Therefore, this study investigated the neural mechanisms underlying the emergence of prosocial behavior in 3-year-old children. Brain activity in the medial pFC and right TPJ (rTPJ) and facial expression activity, which are related to the ability to infer others' mental states (mentalizing), during the observation of prosocial and antisocial scenes were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy and electromyography, respectively. Subsequently, the children's helping and comforting behaviors toward an experimenter were assessed to examine prosocial behavioral tendencies. A correlation analysis revealed that the children who showed stronger activity levels in the rTPJ while observing prosocial scenes had more immediate helping behaviors toward others than those who did not show stronger response levels. Moreover, the amount of facial expression activity correlated with prosocial behavior, including both helping and comforting behaviors. These results suggest that the development of mentalizing ability and the social evaluation of others' actions, mediated by the rTPJ, contribute to the emergence of prosocial behavior.
... In this sample, the preferences for comforting and instrumental helping were negatively relatedsuggesting that children may value one type of prosocial behavior over the other. One explanation could be that as children develop prosocial behaviors at different rates and express them to different degrees, children may prioritize using one strategy to support others (Dunfield et al., 2011;Dunfield & Kuhlmeier, 2013;Sticker et al., 2023). Additionally, the development of one type of prosocial behavior does not transfer to other types of prosocial behavior, meaning children may prioritize using and developing one type of prosocial behavior at a time (Dunfield & Kuhlmeier, 2013). ...
The moral self-concept (MSC) describes how children view themselves as moral agents. Research suggests that the MSC may relate to moral behavior, yet little is known about how MSC relates to moral behavior in preschoolers. One hundred six low-income children ( M age = 52.78 months, SD = 6.61 months) and their teachers participated in this study. In the fall, children completed a MSC puppet task measure. In the fall and spring, teachers reported via children’s survey prosocial behavior and aggressive behavior. We used a person-centered approach to identify profiles of MSC, which revealed two profiles of behavior: c omforting prosocials and h elpful aggressors. Comforting prosocials showed a moderate preference for comforting, a slight preference for helping, and a slight preference for avoiding aggression. Helpful aggressors had a moderate aversion to comforting, a strong preference for helping, and a slight preference for aggressive behavior. Subsequent analysis of covariance analysis revealed that MSC profiles did not differ in concurrent behavior but did differ in behavior 6 months later. The comforting prosocial group participated in more aggression than the helpful aggressors. Additionally, analysis of covariance analysis of change in aggression scores over time showed that comforting prosocials aggression increased, while helpful aggressors aggression decreased. Both groups over time decreased in prosocial behavior, but to different degrees. Overall, findings reveal that the MSC in preschoolers may relate to future not concurrent moral behavior.
... Unlike many pro-social behaviors that children and adults widely regard as central to moral goodness, such as sharing and helping (e.g., Dunfield et al., 2011;Piazza et al., 2019;Schein & Gray, 2018;Warneken, 2015), curiosity has a more varied reputation. On the one hand, curiosity may signal that the curious individual is open to new experiences and willing to put in effort to learn, characteristics that many people view positively (e.g., Celniker et al., 2022). ...
Although children exhibit curiosity regarding science, questions remain regarding how children evaluate others' curiosity and whether evaluations differ across domains that prioritize faith (e.g., religion) versus those that value questioning (e.g.,science). In Study 1 ( n = 115 5- to 8-year-olds; 49% female; 66% White), children evaluated actors who were curious, ignorant and non-curious, or knowledgeable about religion or science; curiosity elicited relatively favorable moral evaluations(ds > .40). Study 2 (n = 62 7- to 8-year-olds; 48% female; 63% White) found that these evaluations generalized to behaviors, as children acted more pro-socially and less punitively toward curious, versus not curious, individuals (𝜂2p = .37). These findings(data collected 2020–2022) demonstrate children's positive moral evaluations of curiosity and contribute to debates regarding overlap between scientific and religious cognition.
... In this sample, the preferences for comforting and instrumental helping were negatively related -suggesting that children may value one type of prosocial behavior over the other. One explanation could be that as children develop prosocial behaviors at different rates and express them to different degrees, children may prioritize using one strategy to support others (Dunfield et al., 2011;Dunfield & Kuhlmeier, 2013;Sticker et al., 2023). Additionally, the development of one type of prosocial behavior does not transfer to other types of prosocial behavior, meaning children may prioritize using and developing one type of prosocial behavior at a time (Dunfield & Kuhlmeier, 2013). ...
The moral self-concept (MSC) describes how children view themselves as moral agents. Research suggests that the MSC may relate to moral behavior, yet little is known about how MSC relates to moral behavior in preschoolers. One hundred six low-income children (Mage = 52.78 months, SD = 6.61 months) and their teachers participated in this study. In the fall children completed a MSC puppet task measure. In the fall and spring teachers reported via children's survey prosocial behavior and aggressive behavior. We used a person-centered approach to identify profiles of MSC, which revealed two profiles of behavior: Comforting Prosocials and Helpful Aggressors. Comforting Prosocials showed a moderate preference for comforting, a slight preference for helping, and a slight preference for avoiding aggression. Helpful Aggressors had a moderate aversion to comforting, a strong preference for helping, and a slight preference for aggressive behavior. Subsequent ANCOVA analysis revealed that MSC profiles did not differ in concurrent behavior, but did differ in behavior six months later. The Comforting Prosocial group participated in more aggression than the Helpful Aggressors. Additionally, ANCOVA analysis of change in aggression scores over time showed that comforting prosocials aggression increased, while helpful aggressors aggression decreased. Both groups over time decreased in prosocial behavior, but to different degrees. Overall, findings reveal that the MSC in preschoolers may relate to future not concurrent moral behavior.
... Yapılan çalışmalarda on sekiz ile yirmi beş aylıkken çocuklar bazen kişisel bir nesneyi bir başkası tarafından zarar gördüğünü gördükleri bir yetişkinle paylaşırlar (örneğin, bir kişisel eşyanın alınması veya yok edilmesi). Ayrıca bazen yaralı veya sıkıntılı görünen bir yetişkini rahatlatır veya bir yetişkinin düşen bir nesneyi almasına veya yiyecek almasına yardımcı olur (Dunfield, Kuhlmeier, O'Connell & Kelley, 2011;Vaish vd., 2009). Bu tür davranışların, özellikle yetişkinlerin ihtiyacını açıkça ve duygusal olarak ilettiğinde ortaya çıkması muhtemeldir (Brownell, Svetlova & Nichols, 2009), ancak bazen yetişkin duygusal bir tepki göstermediğinde bile ortaya çıkabilir (Vaish vd., 2009). ...
ÖZ
Bu araştırmanın amacı, 60-72 aylık çocukların prososyal davranışları ile babalarının anne bekçiliği davranışlarına ilişkin algılarında baba katılımının aracı rolünü incelemektir. Araştırmada nicel araştırma yöntemlerinden tarama modeli kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın örneklemi 60-72 aylık 520 çocuktan ve bu çocukların babalarından oluşmaktadır. Araştırmada veriler, Çocuk Prososyallik Ölçeği-Öğretmen Formu, Anne Bekçiliği Ölçeği Baba Formu (ABÖ-B), Baba Katılım Ölçeği (BAKÖ) ve araştırmacı tarafından hazırlanan Kişisel Bilgi Formu kullanılarak toplanmıştır. Verilerin analizinde Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis H Testi, korelasyon analizi kullanılmıştır. Çocukların prososyal davranışları ile babalarının anne bekçiliği davranışlarına ilişkin algılarında baba katılımının aracı rolünü incelemek amacıyla Hayes’in geliştirdiği SPSS uyumlu bir makro olan (PROCESS) kullanılmıştır. Araştırmada elde edilen sonuçlara göre, çocukların Çocuk Prososyallik Ölçeği-Öğretmen Formu puanları çocuğun cinsiyeti, okul öncesi eğitime devam süresi, anne yaşı, öğrenim durumu, algılanan ebeveynlik stili, baba yaşı, öğrenim durumu ve boş zamanlarını nerede geçirdiği değişkenlerine göre anlamlı farklılık gösterirken; çocuğun kardeş sayısı, doğum sırası, anne çalışma durumu, evlilik süresi, babanın algıladığı ebeveynlik stili, boş zamanlarını kimlerle geçirdiği, sosyal aktiviteleri ve ailenin gelir durumu değişkenlerine göre ise anlamlı farklılık göstermemektedir. Anne Bekçiliği Ölçeği-Baba Formu Kontrol alt boyutu puanları anne yaşı, öğrenim durumu, çalışma durumu, baba yaşı, evlilik süresi, öğrenim durumu, algıladığı ebeveynlik stili, boş zamanlarını kimlerle geçirdiği, sosyal aktiviteleri ve ailenin gelir durumu değişkenlerine göre anlamlı farklılık gösterirken; çocuğun cinsiyeti, okul öncesi eğitime devam süresi, kardeş sayısı, doğum sırası, annenin algılanan ebeveynlik stili ve babanın boş zamanlarını nerede geçirdiği değişkenlerine göre ise anlamlı farklılık göstermemektedir. Anne Bekçiliği Ölçeği-Baba Formu Engel alt boyutu puanları anne öğrenim durumu, babanın algıladığı ebeveynlik stili ve boş zamanlarını kimlerle geçirdiği değişkenlerine göre anlamlı farklılık gösterirken; çocuğun cinsiyeti, okul öncesi eğitime devam süresi, kardeş sayısı, doğum sırası, anne yaşı, çalışma durumu, algılanan ebeveynlik stili, baba yaşı, evlilik süresi, öğrenim durumu, babanın boş zamanlarını nerede geçirdiği, babanın sosyal aktiviteleri ve ailenin gelir durumu değişkenlerine göre ise anlamlı farklılık göstermemektedir. Anne Bekçiliği Ölçeği-Baba Formu Teşvik alt boyutu puanları babanın algıladığı ebeveynlik stili ve boş zamanlarını kimlerle geçirdiği değişkenlerine göre anlamlı farklılık gösterirken; çocuğun cinsiyeti, okul öncesi eğitime devam süresi, kardeş sayısı, doğum sırası, anne yaşı, öğrenim durumu, çalışma durumu, algılanan ebeveynlik stili, baba yaşı, evlilik süresi, öğrenim durumu, boş zamanlarını nerede geçirdiği, sosyal aktiviteleri ve ailenin gelir durumu değişkenlerine göre ise anlamlı farklılık göstermemektedir. Baba Katılım Ölçeği Temel Bakım alt boyutu puanları çocuğun cinsiyeti, doğum sırası, anne öğrenim durumu, çalışma durumu, evlilik süresi, baba öğrenim durumu, boş zamanlarını kimlerle geçirdiği, sosyal aktiviteleri, ailenin gelir durumu değişkenlerine göre anlamlı farklılık gösterirken; çocuğun okul öncesi eğitime devam süresi, kardeş sayısı, anne yaşı, algılanan ebeveynlik stili, baba yaşı, algıladığı ebeveynlik stili ve boş zamanlarını nerede geçirdiği değişkenlerine göre ise anlamlı farklılık göstermemektedir. Baba Katılım Ölçeği Keyfi Meşguliyet alt boyutu puanları çocuğun kardeş sayısı, doğum sırası, anne öğrenim durumu, çalışma durumu, evlilik süresi, baba öğrenim durumu, algıladığı ebeveynlik stili, boş zamanlarını nerede geçirdiği, boş zamanlarını kimlerle geçirdiği, sosyal aktiviteleri ve ailenin gelir durumu değişkenlerine göre anlamlı farklılık gösterirken; çocuğun cinsiyeti, okul öncesi eğitime devam süresi, anne yaşı, algılanan ebeveynlik stili ve baba yaşı değişkenlerine göre ise anlamlı farklılık göstermemektedir. Baba Katılım Ölçeği İlgi ve Yakınlık alt boyutu puanları çocuğun kardeş sayısı, doğum sırası, baba algıladığı ebeveynlik stili ve boş zamanlarını kimlerle geçirdiği değişkenlerine göre anlamlı farklılık gösterirken; çocuğun cinsiyeti, okul öncesi eğitime devam süresi, anne yaşı, öğrenim durumu, çalışma durumu, algılanan ebeveynlik stili, baba yaşı, evlilik süresi, öğrenim durumu, boş zamanlarını nerede geçirdiği, sosyal aktiviteleri ve ailenin gelir durumu değişkenlerine göre ise anlamlı farklılık göstermemektedir. Baba Katılım Ölçeği toplam puanları çocuğun cinsiyeti, doğum sırası, anne öğrenim durumu, çalışma durumu, evlilik süresi, baba öğrenim durumu, algıladığı ebeveynlik stili, boş zamanlarını kimlerle geçirdiği, sosyal aktiviteleri ve ailenin gelir durumu değişkenlerine göre anlamlı farklılık gösterirken; Baba Katılım Ölçeği toplam puanları çocuğun kardeş sayısı, okul öncesi eğitime devam süresi, anne yaşı, algılanan ebeveynlik stili, baba yaşı ve boş zamanlarını nerede geçirdiği değişkenlerine göre ise anlamlı farklılık göstermemektedir. Baba Katılım Ölçeği ile Anne Bekçiliği Ölçeği-Baba Formu Teşvik alt boyutu arasında pozitif yönlü orta düzeyde bir ilişki vardır. Çocuk Prososyallik Ölçeği-Öğretmen Formu ile Anne Bekçiliği Ölçeği-Baba Formu Teşvik faktörü arasında pozitif yönlü düşük düzeyde, Anne Bekçiliği Ölçeği-Baba Formu Engel ve Kontrol faktörü arasında negatif yönlü ve düşük düzeyde bir ilişki vardır. Baba Katılım Ölçeği toplam puanı ve alt boyut puanları ile Çocuk Prososyallik Ölçeği-Öğretmen Formu toplam puanı arasında pozitif yönlü düşük düzeyde bir ilişki vardır. Araştırma bulgularına göre Anne Bekçiliği Ölçeği-Baba Formunun Engel alt boyutu ile çocukların prososyal davranışları arasındaki ilişkide baba katılımının tam aracı etkiye sahip bir rolü olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to examine the mediatıng role of father involvement on the relationship between 60-72 months children’s prosocial behavior and their fathers' perception of maternal gatekeeping. The descriptive survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the research. The sample of the study consists of 520 children aged 60-72 months and their fathers. In the study, data were collected using the Child Prosocialness Scale-Teacher Form, the Maternal Gatekeeping Scale-Father Form, the Father Participation Scale, and the Personal Information Form prepared by the researcher. Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis H test, and correlation analysis were used to analyze the data. An SPSS compatible macro (PROCESS) developed by Hayes was used to examine the mediatıng role of father involvement on the relationship between children’s prosocial behavior and their fathers' perception of maternal gatekeeping. According to the results, while the Child Prosocialness Scale-Teacher Form scores of the children differ significantly according to the child's gender, duration of preschool education, mother's age, education level, parenting style, father's age, education level and where he spends his leisure time; however, do not differ significantly according to the number of siblings, birth order, mother's employment status, duration of the marriage, father's parenting style, with who he spends his leisure time, social activities, and family income. Control subdimension of the Maternal Gatekeeping Scale-Father scores Form differ significantly according to the mother's age, education level, employment status, father's age, duration of the marriage, education level, parenting style, with who he spends his leisure time, social activities and family income; but, do not differ significantly according to the child's gender, duration of preschool education, number of siblings, birth order, maternal parenting style and where father spends his leisure time. Discouragement subdimension of the Maternal Gatekeeping Scale-Father Form scores differ significantly according to the mother's education level, father's parenting style, and with who he spends his leisure time; while, do not differ significantly according to the gender of the child, duration of preschool education, number of siblings, birth order, maternal age, employment status, parenting style, father's age, duration of the marriage, education level, where he spends his leisure time, social activities and family income. Encouragement sub-dimension of the Maternal Gatekeeping Scale Father Form scores differ significantly according to the father's parenting style, and with who he spends his leisure time; nevertheless, do not differ significantly according to the child's gender, duration of preschool education, number of siblings, birth order, mother's age, education level, employment status, parenting style, father's age, duration of the marriage, education level, where he spends his leisure time, social activities and family income. Primary Care subdimension of the Father Involvement Scale scores differ significantly according to the child's gender, birth order, mother's education level, employment status, duration of the marriage, father's education level, with who he spends his leisure time, social activities, and family income; nonetheless, do not differ significantly according to the duration of the child's preschool education, the number of siblings, the age of the mother, the parenting style, father’s age, parenting style and where he spends his leisure time. Arbitrary Occupation sub-dimension of the Father Involvement Scale scores differ significantly according to the child's number of siblings, birth order, mother's education level, employment status, duration of the marriage, father's education level, parenting style, where he spends his leisure time, with who he spends his leisure time, social activities, and family income; on the other hand, there is no significant difference according to the child's gender, duration of preschool education, mother’s age, parenting style, father's age. Attention and Closeness subdimension of the Father Involvement Scale scores differ significantly according to the child's number of siblings, birth order, father's parenting style, and with who he spends his leisure time; while do not differ according to the child's gender, duration of preschool education, mother’s age, education level, employment status, parenting style, father's age, duration of the marriage, education level, where he spends his spare time, social activities and family income. Total scores of the Father Involvement Scale differ significantly according to the child's gender, birth order, mother's education level, employment status, duration of the marriage, father's education level, parenting style, and with who he spends his leisure time, social activities and family income; however, do not differ significantly according to the child's number of siblings, duration of preschool education, mother's age, parenting style, father's age and where he spends his leisure time. There is a moderate positive correlation between the Father Involvement Scale and the Encouragement subdimension of the Maternal Gatekeeping Scale-Father Form. There is a low positive correlation between the Child Prosocialness Scale-Teacher Form and the Encouragement, and a negative and low level relationship between the Discouragement and Control subdimensions of the Maternal Gatekeeping Scale-Father Form. There is a low level of positive correlation between the Father Involvement Scale total score and subdimensions scores and the Child Prosocialness Scale-Teacher Form total score. According to the research findings, father involvement has a mediating role in the relationship between the Discouragement subdimension of the Maternal Gatekeeping Scale-Father Form and the prosocial behaviors of the children.
... En la actualidad, existen diferentes modelos teóricos para entender la conducta prosocial, pero uno de los modelos más comúnmente utilizados es el modelo multidimensional que comprende tres grandes dimensiones: Ayudar, Compartir y Reconfortar. Este modelo ha sido respaldado por una amplia literatura (por ejemplo, Dunfield, 2014;Dunfield et al., 2011;Dunfield y Kuhlmeier, 2013;Padilla-Walker y Carlo, 2014;Paulus, 2014Paulus, , 2018 y se basa en una variedad de estados negativos que niños, niñas y adolescentes deben identificar y superar para fomentar su prosocialidad. ...
Uno de los objetivos de las Comunidades de Aprendizaje es la búsqueda continua del desarrollo de una mejor convivencia y actitudes solidarias a través de Actuaciones Educativas de Éxito. Sin embargo, hasta la fecha se conoce poco sobre el impacto de las intervenciones realizadas en este tipo de centros educativos con este fin. Por ello, el objetivo de este estudio ha sido conocer si las principales Actuaciones Educativas de Éxito, como los grupos interactivos y las tertulias dialógicas, contribuyen a mejorar la conducta prosocial de los alumnos de Educación Primaria y Secundaria. Se realizó un estudio longitudinal en una Comunidad de Aprendizaje, en el que participaron 186 alumnos de Educación Primaria y Secundaria, que cumplimentaron la Escala Española de Evaluación de la Conducta Prosocial con una intervención intermedia de 9 meses. Los resultados revelaron que, tras la intervención, tanto el alumnado de Educación Primaria como el alumnado de Educación Secundaria no mostraron diferencias estadísticas significativas en ninguna de las dimensiones del instrumento de Conducta Prosocial, excepto en la dimensión de Ayudar, en la que los alumnos redujeron levemente sus valores a lo largo del tiempo. Estos resultados son relevantes para los profesionales de la educación por dos motivos: primero, porque permite al profesional reflexionar sobre la efectividad de las metodologías que se están llevando a cabo para mejorar la convivencia y las actitudes prosociales en las aulas; y segundo, porque los datos evidencian la importancia de diseñar intervenciones no centradas tanto en determinadas metodologías, sino en evidencias y marcos teórico-prácticos que permitan dar solidez a la intervención ejecutada, independientemente de la metodología usada.
... Children of 1 and 2 years-old express comforting behaviours towards someone who is in distress and can even give up their favourite object as an empathetic action (Davidov et al., 2013;Knafo et al., 2008). Also, children of 12 months can help others by informing, like pointing toward an object that the experimenter is searching for (Dunfield et al., 2011). According to , toddlers from 14-18 months old show signs of helping behaviours by fetching desired objects that are out of reach to the experimenter and helping to complete chores. ...
Concern for others’ welfare is part of normative development. However, some children respond to others’ distress with concern and helpful approaches, while others respond with suspicion, hostility, indifference. Although the literature around empathy has increased over the years, there isn’t a consensus over its associations with prosociality and internalizing or externalizing problems. A sample of 199 children (50.8% girls) between 10 and 15 years (M=12.05; SD=0.98), reported on their empathy and social behaviours using the QACE – Questionnaire to Assess Affective and Cognitive Empathy (Zoll & Enz, 2010) and the SDQ – Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997) respectively. Our results indicate that girls were more prosocial and empathic, but also presented higher levels of internalizing problems, compared to boys. Affective but not cognitive empathy was related with internalizing problems. Cognitive empathy was significantly related with prosocial behaviour. No significant relations between empathy and externalizing behaviours were found.
... Children engage in sharing behavior at an early stage of development (Paulus, 2014). They start to share with others as young as 2 years of age (Brownell et al., 2009;Dunfield et al., 2011). However, young children's overall sharing is scarce and their willingness to share gradually increases as they grow up (Benenson et al., 2007;Blake et al., 2014;Samek et al., 2020;Smith et al., 2013). ...
Children's sharing behavior is profoundly shaped by social norms within their society, and they can learn these norms by directly observing how most others share in their immediate environment. Here we systematically investigated the impact of majority influence on the sharing behavior of young Chinese children through three studies ( N = 336, 168 girls). Four‐ and 6‐year‐olds were allowed to choose 10 favorite stickers and had an opportunity to engage in anonymous sharing. Before making the sharing decision, children were assigned to one of two conditions: watching a video in which three peers all shared 8 out of 10 stickers (i.e., the majority sharing condition) or making their decisions without watching the video (i.e., the control condition). Results showed that both the 4‐ and 6‐year‐old children shared more stickers in the majority sharing condition than in the control condition (Studies 1 & 2). Moreover, the influence of the majority had a stronger effect compared to the influence of a single role model. Children shared more stickers after observing three peers sharing, compared to watching one peer sharing three times (Study 2). Furthermore, children were less likely to copy the majority's non‐sharing behavior when it came to giving away stickers without prosocial outcomes, which was particularly evident among 4‐year‐olds (Study 3). The results reveal that majority influence uniquely shapes children's sharing behavior and that children selectively follow the majority based on whether the behavior exhibits prosocial attributes.
Research Highlights
Observing a majority of three peers’ unanimous generous sharing promoted sharing behavior in both 4‐ and 6‐year‐olds.
The influence of three peers on children's sharing was stronger than that of one peer sharing three times.
Four‐year‐olds, but not 6‐year‐olds, did not copy the non‐sharing behavior of the majority as it did not lead to prosocial outcomes.
... Therefore, as children in the outsider group were at the younger end of the age span (in comparison to other participant roles), they may not yet have acquired the necessary skills to demonstrate effective comforting behaviours. In addition to this, comforting behaviours are more likely to occur when distress is explicitly identified (Dunfield et al., 2011). Very few children demonstrated overt distress (such as crying) during the observations. ...
High social rank is suggested to increase bystander intervention in bullying situations. The current research explored the effect of social rank on outsider prosocial and defending behaviours. The participants were 30 preschool children with an average age of 44.6 months. Initially, outsiders were identified using the Participant Role Questionnaire and a baseline measure of their prosocial behaviour was obtained via the Preschool Social Behaviour Questionnaire (PSBQ) and the Observational Measure of Prosocial Incidents (OMPI). Following this, outsider social rank was identified using a linear ranking method and elevated (relative to the peer group) through socio-dramatic play. Using the PSBQ and OMPI, observations of these play sessions provided a second measure of prosocial and defending behaviour, from which comparisons to the initial prosocial measures were made. Multivariate analysis of variance identified that by increasing outsider social rank, prosocial behaviour significantly increased (F (9, 12) = 7.72, p = .001; Wilk’s Λ = .147, partial η² = .853). Post hoc analysis identified that an increase in social rank significantly increased helping (p = .001), comforting (p = .021), affection (p = .002), and cooperation (p = .009). Yet, altruism and sharing behaviours were non-significantly influenced by the increase in social rank. Based on these results, the researchers propose that by elevating the social rank of the outsider population, bullying perpetration is likely to be reduced.
... Various studies have pointed out the role of different cognitive abilities in triggering altruistic behavior from infancy, where intention understanding positively predicts later instrumental helping in the second year of life, and initiating joint attention in infancy also positively predicts later sharing (Stout et al., 2021). As children reach 3 years of age and become attuned to subtle cues as well as another's emotional distress, their prosocial behavioral palette becomes more complex (Dunfield et al., 2011;Paulus, 2018;Svetlova et al., 2010;Wellman & Liu, 2004). Norm-based considerations and moral judgments then add to this palette, with children by 10 years of age actively giving more in dictator and ultimatum games (where an endowment is split between two players and the recipient can choose to refuse the split, bringing everyone's total to zero) and also rating happier emotions when doing so (Benenson et al., 2007;Fehr et al., 2008;Kogut, 2012;Smith et al., 2013). ...
... It is thus difficult to interpret the similarities or differences between cultures, reported in these studies. Importantly, studies from Experimental Psychology have shown that the development in different domains of prosocial behavior (i.e., helping, comforting, sharing, and collaborating) is largely uncorrelated (Dunfield & Kuhlmeier, 2013;Dunfield, Kuhlmeier, O'Connell, & Kelley, 2011). We also expect cultural differences in the capitalization on different domains of prosocial behavior throughout development. ...
Anthropological studies and recent evidence from cross-cultural psychology suggest considerable variations in the way prosocial behavior is conceptualized and embedded in social interactions across cultures. Important questions are which aspects of different ecosocial contexts might explain these variations and how these aspects influence prosocial development throughout ontogeny. Here, building on the ecosocial model of culturally informed development (Keller, 2007), we hypothesize two prototypical developmental pathways towards prosocial behavior. In relational contexts, i.e., rural areas of non-Western countries, social interactions and the concept of prosociality is guided by interpersonal responsibilities. Conversely, in autonomous contexts, i.e. urban middle-class settings in Western countries, social interactions and the concept of prosociality is guided by an emphasis on personal choice. Furthermore, we point out three perspectives for future cross-cultural research on prosocial development. It is essential (1) to further investigate the cultural influences on prosocial development, (2) to understand the mechanisms of cultural transmission in different contexts, and (3) to identify the motivational processes underlying early prosocial behavior. We conclude that prosocial development can only be fully understood also taking into account a cultural perspective. In particular, future cross-cultural research may lead to a better understanding of the complex interplay between phylogenetic and ontogenetic factors underlying prosocial development.
Altruistic prosocial behaviours are an important subset of prosocial behaviours (i.e., actions that benefit others) that develop across age and can vary across cultures. These behaviours are defined by a selfless motive to assist others with little or no expectation for self-reward and at a cost or risk to oneself. Research has demonstrated several sociocognitive, socioemotive and social correlates of these actions. Importantly, scholars have posited the central role of altruistic prosocial behaviours in reducing and addressing social inequities and injustices, though direct supportive evidence is sparse. First, we briefly review prior theory and research on the development and social correlates of altruistic prosocial behaviours. Second, a new heuristic model of altruistic prosocial behaviours is presented that outlines the elements of varieties of such actions. The model provides avenues for future research that can further our understanding of the correlates and development of distinct forms of altruistic prosocial behaviours across development and cultures. And third, we propose recommendations for future research to significantly advance the developmental scholarship on this important construct.
Introduction. Prosocial behavior is a type of a socially oriented behavior which purpose is to benefit individuals, social groups, and society as a whole. In the modern world, where ensuring the social well-being of a person is one of the main tasks of any state, it is this orientation of behavior that is socially approved and supported by the state. In this context, the study of the factors that determine a personality’s propensity to such forms of behavior is not only relevant, but also necessary. Despite the fact that interest in the problem of determinants of personality behavior has not waned for a long time, the results of research in this area are often ambiguous and sometimes contradictory. Moreover, most studies are based on comparative analysis, which does not allow us to solve the problems of predicting success and propensity for socially oriented forms of behavior. The purpose of our study is to identify the psychological prerequisites of modern students’ propensity to prosocial activity. Materials and Methods. A total of 102 respondents, students of the Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology of the Moscow Pedagogical State University, aged 18–25 years, participated in the empirical study. To study the level of involvement of young people in prosocial activities, the author’s questionnaire “Youth Prosocial Activity Scale” was developed and used. To study the psychological prerequisites of a person for prosocial activity, a number of questionnaires were used, including the assessment of characteristics at the organismic, formal-dynamic level of the person’s organization (temperament) and characteristics at the personal level of individual organization (person’s orientation). In order to identify the prerequisites of prosocial activity, a number of methods of mathematical analysis were used, including comparative and factor analysis, as well as multiple regression analysis to build a model of a socially active person. Results. The authors have shown that the psychological prerequisites of personality prosocial activity are both the properties of the basic, formal-dynamic level of organization of individuality (high rigidity and plasticity) and the property of the personal level – orientation of personality to altruism. The development of the questionnaire “Youth Prosocial Activity Scale” is also one of the significant results of the conducted research. Discussion and Conclusion. The results of the study contribute to the development of ideas about the psychological conditions of personality predisposition to prosocial behavior. The material of the article can be used in applied projects on formation of prosocial activity of modern youth in the organization of psychological and pedagogical support of educational work in the student’s environment.
Cross‐sectional research employing the mirror mark test of self‐recognition has dominated research focused on the development of self‐reflection in children. However, the mirror mark test may fail to capture the complexity of self as a social object, and the developmental antecedents and consequences of self‐reflection remain largely uncharted. Here, we provide an overview of the extant longitudinal data on mirror self‐recognition and present our own longitudinal findings based on a multidimensional parent‐report measure of children's self‐development. Offering a snapshot of development over 3 months for 74 children aged between 14 and 36 months, and mirroring extant longitudinal data for mirror self‐recognition, our results suggest that increases in self‐reflection are longitudinally related to developments in pretend play, prosocial behaviour, imitation and declarative pointing. However, although baseline self‐reflection was statistically predictive of children's prosocial behaviour at follow‐up, no strong developmental predictor of self‐reflection emerged. We conclude that more longitudinal research, moving beyond or supplementing mirror self‐recognition, is needed to identify the cognitive and social precursors of self‐reflection. Nevertheless, growth in ‘moral’ behaviour emerges as a significant developmental consequence of this capacity in a western sample. Further research is needed to explore cultural variability in developmental pathways to and from self‐reflection.
Although the presence of early helping behavior has been firmly established, it is unclear to what extent children are willing to adopt costs to help others, as well as how this willingness changes as children get older. Canadian 21‐ to 36‐month‐olds ( N = 48) participated in four helping tasks varying in the type and degree of effort required to help (lifting force, cognitive load, the number of steps in a task, and pushing force). When costs were lower, toddlers were not only more likely to help but also provided help more readily and helped in ways that prioritized others’ needs. Importantly, we found that age and how costly helping was to individual children each uniquely predicted high‐cost helping, but not low‐cost helping. Overall, we demonstrate that toddlers’ helping is sensitive to a variety of effortful costs, while simultaneously demonstrating that maturation and individual costs appear to uniquely influence high‐cost helping.
Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent of all mental health disorders, often originating in early childhood and extending into later childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Determining salient risk factors that precede their development is important for prevention and intervention efforts. Towards this end, we examined the role of temperament, theory of mind, inhibitory control, and prosocial behavior on child anxiety symptoms in the first 5 years of life. A community sample of children and their parents (N = 399) enrolled in a longitudinal study of emotion processing were assessed when the children were infants and at ages 2 years, 3 years, and 5 years. Linear mixed models and linear regression models revealed that greater anxiety at 5 years was associated with greater negative affectivity and behavioral inhibition, lower effortful control, lower theory of mind scores on the “desires” domain, and higher scores on the “intentions” domain (assessed from infancy to 3 years of age). These characteristics may be useful to assess in clinical settings to evaluate a patient’s risk for developing anxiety. They may also be useful in developing interventions targeting specific vulnerabilities.
Prosocial behavior is a distinguishing characteristic of human nature. Although prosocial behaviors emerge early in development, contextual factors play an important role in how these behaviors are manifested over development. A large body of research focuses on the trajectory of prosocial development across diverse cultures and investigating contexts that foster it. Against this backdrop of developmental research endeavoring to understand and enhance the cooperative side of humanity, is the catastrophic impact of profoundly negative forces on social‐emotional development for children forced to flee from violent conflict. Close to half a million Rohingya children, whose families were forced to flee genocide in Myanmar, now live in the largest refugee camp in the world. To examine the resilience of human prosociality in the face of extreme adversity, we documented initial levels of prosociality in Rohingya refugee children living in a mega‐camp (Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh) and the extent to which those levels were improved following a multifaceted intervention designed to foster prosociality. The research was a partnership between Rohingya community members with lived experience, humanitarian practitioners, and developmental researchers.
A sample of 152 Rohingya children (5–12 years) participated in pre‐ and postintervention assessments of prosocial behaviors and related cognitive‐affective processes. The 10‐day collaboration‐based intervention was implemented between November 2021 and January 2022 by Rohingya researchers. Birthplace was used as a proxy measure of trauma level. Children born in Myanmar ( N = 88) directly experienced relatively higher levels of trauma (genocide, forced migration) than children who were born in the camp after their families fled from Myanmar ( N = 64). Children were individually tested pre‐ and postintervention with a task battery, including a helping (Origami) and two sharing tasks (Dictator Game [DG], Forced Choice sharing) measuring prosocial behavior. Assessments of related cognitive‐affective processes included measures of empathic responding and emotion perspective‐taking in story tasks (Imagine, Judgment) and executive function (EF) skills (Younger: Hearts & Flowers; Older: Dimensional Change Card Sorting). Small group intervention sessions conducted over 10 days targeted these prosocial behaviors and cognitive‐affective processes and were based on collaborative activities, emotion perspective taking and EF skills training with the same partner throughout the intervention phase.
We used latent change modeling to examine initial levels (preintervention) and intervention‐related changes in these measures from pre‐ to postintervention. Prosocial responding was found across all measures (preintervention) and improvements (pre‐ to postintervention change) were apparent across most measures. Age and birthplace variables were significant predictors of initial levels and intervention‐related change. Initial levels : Regarding age, older children (9–12 years) showed higher levels than younger children (5–8 years) of sharing in the Forced Choice task but lower levels in the DG. Older children also showed higher levels of empathic responding when asked to report how they would feel and respond to another person's misfortune in the Imagine task. Regarding birthplace, prior to the intervention camp‐born children showed higher levels than Myanmar‐born children of helping in the Origami task and reported more behavioral responses indicating how they would respond to misfortune in the Imagine task. In contrast, Myanmar‐born children had higher levels of sharing in the DG and consistently chose equality over inequality in the Forced Choice sharing task, even when their partner would receive more, indicating a pattern of generosity in these children. Myanmar‐born children had lower levels than camp‐born children on EF measures. Intervention‐related change : Regarding age, older but not younger children were more likely to increase choices for equality over inequality on the Forced Choice sharing task following the intervention. Regarding birthplace and helping, camp‐born children increased behaviors that helped their partner make origami shapes themselves (“how‐to” helping), whereas Myanmar‐born children increased behavior that took over folding for their partner (“do‐for” helping). For sharing tasks, Myanmar‐born but not camp‐born children increased sharing in the DG and showed an increased pattern of generosity in Forced Choice sharing task. In the Imagine story task, children born in Myanmar were more likely than those born in camp to increase empathic responding (i.e., imagining how they would feel). Children born in Myanmar showed less improvement on EF measures than children born in the camp. Taken together, these findings provide evidence that in a context of extreme adversity, Rohingya children exhibited prosociality and benefitted from a multifaceted intervention.
Our research adds credence to the view that human prosociality is a fundamental characteristic of humanity that not only survives but can be enhanced in even the most adverse of childhood environments. Our multifaceted intervention, which was implemented within a collaborative social context and targeted prosocial behaviors and related cognitive‐affective processes, was designed to be easily implemented within existing psychosocial support programs in refugee contexts. As the numbers of children affected by violent conflict and forced migration rise alarmingly worldwide, there is a critical need to expand research partnerships that aim to improve developmental outcomes for these millions of children.
Objectives: As infants spend extensive time in caregiving and educational institutions, there is a heightened emphasis on the significance of prosocial behavior in cultivating positive relationships. Consequently, this study explores the effects of mothers’ parenting stress on preschoolers' prosocial behavior, with a focus on the mediating effect of mothers’ emotion socialization and preschoolers' effortful control.Methods: A total of 215 mothers of children aged 3-5 years were included in this study. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and path analyses were conducted.Results: First, mothers’ parenting stress did not directly affect preschoolers’ prosocial behavior. Second, mothers’ parenting stress significantly affected preschoolers’ prosocial behavior, mediated by supportive emotion socialization. However, the unsupportive response of emotion socialization did not mediate the relationship between mothers’ parenting stress and preschoolers’ prosocial behavior. Third, mothers’ parenting stress significantly affected preschoolers’ prosocial behavior, mediated by preschoolers’ effortful control. Finally, the serial mediating effect of mothers’ parenting stress on preschoolers’ prosocial behavior, mediated by mothers’ emotion socialization and preschoolers’ effortful control, was significant.Conclusion: The results show that positive parenting aspects such as mothers’ supportive responses (rather than unsupportive responses) and preschoolers’ effortful control have an positive influence on preschoolers’ prosocial behavior. This finding underscores the necessity for targeted intervention programs to mitigate mothers’ parenting stress and enhancing supportive responses to improved prosocial behavior in preschoolers.
Dieses Buch widmet sich dem jahrtausendealten Mysterium des Altruismus, bei dem Menschen das Wohl anderer über ihre eigenen Interessen stellen. Es untersucht die Vielfalt dieses Phänomens, von kleinen Freundlichkeiten bis zu heroischen Taten, und erforscht seine Auswirkungen auf das tägliche Leben und die soziale Ordnung. Leser werden dazu ermutigt, aktiv über die Bedeutung von Altruismus nachzudenken und moralische Fragen zu diskutieren. Angesichts der zunehmenden Individualisierung der Gesellschaft bietet Altruismus einen Ansatzpunkt für Solidarität und Gemeinschaft. Die interdisziplinäre Herangehensweise trägt zur aktuellen Forschung bei, indem sie die Verbindung zwischen individuellen Motiven und gesellschaftlichen Strukturen beleuchtet und Altruismus als integralen Bestandteil der menschlichen Natur und als Schlüssel für die Zukunftsfähigkeit der Gesellschaften darstellt.
Helping and seeing others being helped elicits positive emotions in young children but little is known about the nature of these emotions, especially in middle childhood. Here we examined the specific emotional characteristics and behavioral outcomes of two closely related other-praising moral emotions: elevation and admiration. We exposed 182 6.5- to 8.5-year-old children living in New Zealand, to an elevation- and admiration-inducing video clip. Afterwards children’s emotion experiences and prosocial behaviour was measured. Findings revealed higher levels of happiness, care, and warmth after seeing prosociality in others (elevation condition) and higher levels of upliftment after seeing talent in others (admiration condition). We found no differences in prosocial behavior between the elevation and admiration conditions. This is the first study to assess elevation in childhood and offers a novel paradigm to investigate the role of moral emotions as potential motivators underlying helping.
We studied the reactivity features of the EEG mu rhythm amplitude in the individually determined frequency range, as well as the beta rhythm in the central, frontal and parietal EEG leads in children while performing tasks for instrumental, emotional and altruistic helping behavior. The study engaged 24 children aged 4 to 7 years. ANOVA showed a significant decrease of the mu rhythm amplitude in the central and parietal regions, which is supposed to be associated with the activation of the mirror system of the brain. When performing tasks for instrumental and altruistic helping behavior, there was an increase in the amplitude of the beta rhythm in the frontal, central, and parietal regions, which may be associated with children observing actions that are emotionally charged and cause empathy with a person in need of help. The more the beta rhythm increased, the sooner the children provided help, which can be explained by a greater degree of emotional involvement and activation of cognitive processes in children with high performance of prosocial behavior.
Humans and many other animal species act in ways that benefit others. Such prosocial behaviour has been studied extensively across a range of disciplines over the last decades, but findings to date have led to conflicting conclusions about prosociality across and even within species. Here, we present a conceptual framework to study the proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour in humans, non-human primates and potentially other animals. We build on psychological definitions of prosociality and spell out three key features that need to be in place for behaviour to count as prosocial: benefitting others, intentionality, and voluntariness. We then apply this framework to review observational and experimental studies on sharing behaviour and targeted helping in human children and non-human primates. We show that behaviours that are usually subsumed under the same terminology (e.g. helping) can differ substantially across and within species and that some of them do not fulfil our criteria for prosociality. Our framework allows for precise mapping of prosocial behaviours when retrospectively evaluating studies and offers guidelines for future comparative work.
Prosocial behaviours such as sharing are essential for young children’s collaborative learning experiences and social development. When learnt during the early years, these behaviours enable positive peer interactions and relationship building in social settings, laying the foundation for young children’s social and emotional competencies with implications for individual and societal wellbeing. It is, therefore, critical that the early years are optimised to facilitate the development of young children’s prosocial behaviours. Set against this context, we present the findings of our qualitative teacher inquiry project that examined the role of social stories intervention in developing children’s prosocial behaviours, particularly sharing. The study was conducted at a private kindergarten in Singapore with four preschool children between the ages of four and five with difficulties in sharing resources with peers in classroom settings. The findings show children’s gradual progress from self-centred behaviours to independent problem-solving and other-oriented sharing behaviours, demonstrating the importance of consistency, teacher facilitation and authenticity as the three key elements of a successful social stories intervention. Thus, this small-scale qualitative study adds value to the limited literature on social stories intervention to promote sharing behaviours in preschool children.
p>The work is aimed at identifying the features of prosocial behavior in sibling pairs of preschool and early age children. The materials of an empirical study obtained on a sample of three two-child families are presented. The study involved children aged 2 to 5,5 years (M=3,917) and their mothers aged 25 to 37 years (M=29,7). Two pairs of siblings were of different sexes (older brother — younger sister and older sister — younger brother) and one pair consisted of two sisters. The study was conducted by observing the behavior of children, interviews with mothers and a series of experimental situations developed by E.O. Smirnova, V.M. Kholmogorova. The results obtained suggest that children of both preschool and early age are capable of showing prosociality in relation to sibling. Their prosocial behavior manifests itself in the form of instrumental help, empathy and altruism.</p
Bu çalışmada, 2010-2022 yılları arasında Türkiye’de gerçekleştirilen okul öncesi dönemde olumlu sosyal davranış konulu yüksek lisans ve doktora tezlerinin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Veri toplama sürecinde, YÖK Ulusal Tez Merkezi’nde olumlu sosyal davranış, prososyal davranış, başkasına yardım amaçlı davranış, alturizm, özgecilik anahtar kelimeleri doğrultusunda tarama yapılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu okul öncesi dönemde olumlu sosyal davranış konulu 27 tez oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma bulgularına göre belirlenen tarih aralığındaki ilk yüksek lisans tezi 2014, ilk doktora tezi 2012 yılına aittir.Sayı açısından yüksek lisans tezlerinin doktora tezlerine göre daha fazla olduğu belirlenmiştir. Tezlerin büyük çoğunluğunun nicel araştırma yöntemleriyle gerçekleştirilmiş olup nitel ve karma yöntemlerin yer aldığı tezlerin daha az olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.Doktora tezlerinin tamamında farklı konularda hazırlanmış eğitim programlarının etkisinin incelendiği; yüksek lisans tezlerinde ise doktora tezlerinde olduğu gibi eğitim programları olmakla birlikte gelişim alanları, zihin kuramı, ebeveyn çocuk ilişkisi ve öğretmen çocuk ilişkisine dayalı vb. birçok farklı konunun çalışıldığı görülmektedir. Tezlerde demografik bilgilere yönelik analizlerin yoğun olarak ele alınmasına karşılık konu başlıklarında çeşitlilik olduğu söylenebilir.Tezlerin bulguları doğrultusunda, bazı bireysel özelliklerin, aile ve okul öncesi eğitimle ilgili değişkenlerin küçük çocukların olumlu sosyal davranışlarını etkileyebildiği söylenebilir. Ek olarak bazı bireysel özelliklerin, aile ve okul öncesi eğitim değişkenlerinin olumlu sosyal davranışları etkilemediğine yönelik bulgulara da rastlanılmaktadır.
Previous research has shown that both receiving support and providing support enhance employee well‐being and work engagement. In the current study, we integrate social exchange theory (SET) and conservation of resources (COR) theory to investigate under which conditions receiving and providing daily support are most likely to occur. Specifically, we test the hypotheses that receiving requested support and reciprocating received support are more likely when the support is requested or received from a co‐worker who perceives the quality of the exchange relationship as high (vs. low), and less likely when the support is requested or received from a co‐worker high (vs. low) on workaholism. To test these hypotheses, we collected data among 45 employees and their co‐workers during two moments per day for five consecutive working days (N = 90 participants; N = 614 work episodes). Multilevel analyses supported all hypotheses, except for the moderating effect of partner's workaholism on the link between receiving and providing support. These findings imply that receiving and providing support do not occur automatically but are dependent on characteristics of the exchange relationship and the exchange partner. We discuss the implications for SET and COR theories, as well as practical implications.
Addressing the debate on whether there are reliable individual differences in toddler's prosociality, this study employed a person‐centred approach to investigate (1) profiles of instrumental helping, sharing and empathic helping at 22, 28 and 34 months, and (2) the predictive role of toddler's temperament (anger/frustration, impulsivity and inhibitory control) to these profiles. Variable‐centred analyses examined cross‐task and over time associations. Participants were 93 Dutch toddlers observed in standardised behavioural assessments at each wave. Parents rated their toddler's temperament at wave 1. Results revealed small but significant across‐task and over time associations of the prosocial behaviours and children were distinguished into three profile groups at 22 months (high prosocial, instrumental helper and low prosocial), three at 28 months (high, moderate and low) and two profiles at 34 months (high prosocial and instrumental and empathic helpers), with low to moderate membership stability across waves. For 34‐month‐olds, those in the high prosocial group were rated as being less impulsive compared to their peers in the helper group. These findings indicate reliable individual differences of prosociality exist at early ages with impulsivity as a potential precursor to these individual differences.
هدفت الدراسة الحالية إلى التعرف على مستوى السلوك الاجتماعيّ الإيجابيّ، الذي يظهر في أبعاده الثلاثة، وهي المشاركة والمساعدة والتَّعاطف، كما اهتمت الدراسة الحالية في بحث الفروق في السلوك الإيجابيّ بين الذكور والإناث. وتكونت عينة البحث من 100 طفلٍ و(53 أنثى) في محافظة مسقط. وقد تم استخدام مقياس السلوك الاجتماعيّ الإيجابيّ المبكر، الذي يتطلب استجابات الأمهات على عبارات المقياس؛ لعكْس مدى توفر السلوك الاجتماعيّ الإيجابيّ لدى أطفالهن. وأظهرت نتائج الدراسة أن مستوى السلوك الاجتماعيّ الإيجابيّ العام وأبعاده الثلاثة متوسط، وأنه لا توجد فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين الذكور والإناث إلا في بُعد المشاركة حيث أظهرت الدراسة فروقاً لصالح الإناث. وتناولت الدراسة أهم التطبيقات المنعكسة للسلوك الإيجابيّ، وكذلك ناقشت الدراسات المستقبلية. الكلمات المفتاحية: السلوك الاجتماعيّ، السلوك الإيجابيّ، المشاركة، المساعدة، التَّعاطف.
Examined empathy in 94 monozygotic (MZ) and 90 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs during the 2nd year of life. Children's reactions to simulations of distress in others were videotaped in home and laboratory settings. Some components of concern for others increased with age between 14 and 20 mo for both MZ and DZ twins. Girls scored higher than boys on most of these observational measures. The different components (e.g., emotional concern, prosocial acts, and cognitive exploration) showed substantial coherence and low but significant stability over time. There was modest evidence for heritability of empathy, particularly for the affective component. Maternal reports of prosocial orientations indicated both genetic and environmental influences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Mothers of 4- and 7-yr-olds recorded their children's spontaneous prosocial behavior, failure to be prosocial, and failure to comply with requests for prosocial behavior, as well as responses that the children received for these acts. Helping occurred more frequently than sharing and giving, affection and praise, or reassuring and protecting. Children were equally likely to receive no response, acknowledgment, social approval, and praise for spontaneous prosocial behavior, with all other responses (including discussion of the feelings of others and character attribution) occurring minimally. When children did not comply with requests for prosocial behavior, they were more likely to receive threats and nonverbal punishment than when they failed to be prosocial. Empathy training was the most frequently occurring response to failures of prosocial behavior and tended to be used more after these failures than after failures to comply. Four-year-olds whose prosocial behavior was most frequently followed by no response tended to be the most prosocial. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined relationships between parents' childrearing style, the child's prosocial behavior, and the child's sociometric status. The sample consisted of 112 children (6–11 yrs of age) and both their parents. Parental behavior in the interaction with the child was observed at home when parents and child worked together in 2 structured tasks. Factor analyses of parental behavior revealed that 2 factors, Authoritative/Democratic and Authoritarian/Restrictive, can be found in the subsamples of mothers and fathers. These 2 dimensions of maternal and paternal behavior appeared to be predictive of both the child's prosocial behavior and sociometric status. Results are discussed in terms of the possible link between parent and peer systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Recorded early forms of cooperation and sharing displayed by 12-, 18-, and 24-mo-old children in the course of the children's interactions with their parents in a play setting. Eight children at each age were observed. One 12-, 7 18-, and 7 24-mo-olds engaged the parent in cooperative interchanges characterized by coordinated operations on a mutual array of toys. The children also shared by showing and giving objects to the parent. Showing was recorded for 7 of the 12-mo-olds and all of the older children, and giving was recorded for 4 12-, 8 18-, and 7 24-mo-olds. The sharing data for the 18-mo-olds did not depart reliably from previous findings. Both cooperative interchanges and sharing appeared to increase in frequency in the course of the 2nd year. The 3 behaviors were reliably interrelated. Although the relation of these activities to later sharing and cooperation is unclear, they serve contemporary prosocial functions and provide opportunities for further prosocial learning. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Investigated whether children would re-enact what an adult actually did or what the adult intended to do. In Experiment, 1 children were shown an adult who tried, but failed, to perform certain target acts. Completed target acts were thus not observed. Children in comparison groups either saw the full target act or appropriate controls. Results showed that children could infer the adult's intended act by watching the failed attempts. Experiment 2 tested children's understanding of an inanimate object that traced the same movements as the person had followed. Children showed a completely different reaction to the mechanical device than to the person: They did not produce the target acts in this case. Eighteen-mo-olds situate people within a psychological framework that differentiates between the surface behavior of people and a deeper level involving goals and intentions. They have already adopted a fundamental aspect of folk psychology—persons (but not inanimate objects) are understood within a framework involving goals and intentions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Investigated the development of prosocial and reparative behaviors by examining children's responses to distresses they caused and those they witnessed in others during the 2nd yr of life. Prosocial behaviors (help, sharing, provision of comfort) emerged between the ages of 1 and 2, increasing in frequency and variety over this time period. These behaviors were linked to expressions of concern as well as efforts to understand and experience the other's plight. Children's reparative behaviors after they had caused distress also increased with age. Age changes in these early signs of moral development were accompanied by social–cognitive changes in self-recognition. In assessments at age 2, children were most responsive to distress in their mothers but also showed some sensitivity toward unfamiliar persons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
the concepts of empathy, sympathy, and role taking frequently are embedded in theories and models of moral development / however, these various terms frequently have not been adequately differentiated
consider definitions of the aforementioned terms, review empirical research on relations among the constructs of interest, and hypothesize about possible links among vicariously induced emotional reactions and cognitive processing / the cognitive processes considered are conditioning/direct association, labeling, elaborated networking, and role taking; the various vicarious emotional processes are empathy, sympathy, and personal distress / alternative tentative causal models are presented and discussed / the possible sequencing of these various processes is addressed / issues concerning the elicitation and maintenance of vicariously induced emotional responses and related cognitive processes are viewed of importance to an understanding of pro- and antisocial behavior (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
90 8th graders were rated by peers on sociometric dimensions of helpful and popular (and their converses) and were each observed or rated on 6 helping tasks in the school setting that differed in terms of perceived demand characteristics. In general, sociometric nominations were accurate in predicting who was not behaviorally helpful—those Ss rated as the unpopular and unhelpful. Sociometric status of Ss rated more positively by peers did not predict well the level of behavioral performance. To examine the interaction between peer-group status and helping behavior, the most helpful Ss were divided into 2 groups on the basis of peer status. There were significant differences in the types of situations in which these 2 groups performed: More popular helpers scored higher on peer-related helping tasks, whereas less popular helpers were more facilitative in non-peer-related helping tasks. Implications for individual socialization and future research in helping behavior are discussed in relation to peer-group status. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Reviews the evidence regarding the development of altruism and suggests that various forms of perspective-taking (perceptual, social, empathic, moral) might be the mediators of this development. Previous reviews in this area have generally concluded that the evidence relating perspective-taking and prosocial behavior is equivocal. Using a technique that allows the assignment of an exact probability to the results of a series of studies, the present authors conclude that there are reliable relations between altruism and perceptual, social, and moral perspective-taking. The results concerning empathy and altruism are nonsignificant overall, but it is suggested that a reliable association between empathy and altruism develops over time and is found in adults. The significant effects cannot be attributed to artifactual effects of either age or other measures of perspective-taking, nor can these relations completely account for age-related increases in altruism. The evidence for a causal influence of perspective-taking on altruism is strongest for studies of empathy and altruism among adults, but even there it is not totally conclusive. (64 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
To assess the social interactions between unfamiliar peers, 30 pairs of home-reared children-10 pairs in each of 3 age groups, 10-12, 16-18, and 22-24 mo of age-were observed in an unfamiliar play setting with their mothers. The children contacted their mothers little and interacted more with toys and one another, exchanging smiles, vocalizations, and toys and imitating each other's actions. Contact with the same objects and involvement in the peer's activities with objects increased reliably with age. By 2 yrs of age, social play exceeded solitary play and the social partner was most often the peer. Results suggest that children generalize to peers' behaviors developed through child-adult interaction, but that peers provide stimulation differing from that of familiar adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The developmental origins of sharing remain little understood. Using procedures adapted from research on prosocial behavior in chimpanzees, we presented 18- and 25-month-old children with a sharing task in which they could choose to deliver food to themselves only, or to both themselves and another person, thereby making it possible for them to share without personal sacrifice. The potential recipient, a friendly adult, was either silent about her needs and wants or made them explicit. Both younger and older toddlers chose randomly when the recipient was silent. However, when the recipient vocalized her desires 25-month-olds shared whereas younger children did not. Thus, we demonstrate that children voluntarily share valued resources with others by the end of the second year of life, but that this depends on explicit communicative cues about another's need or desire.
The study explored how the meaning of prosocial behavior changes over toddlerhood. Sixty-five 18- and 30-month-olds could help an adult in 3 contexts: instrumental (action based), empathic (emotion based), and altruistic (costly). Children at both ages helped readily in instrumental tasks. For 18-month-olds, empathic helping was significantly more difficult than instrumental helping and required greater communication from the adult about her needs. Altruistic helping, which involved giving up an object of the child's own, was the most difficult for children at both ages. Findings suggest that over the 2nd year of life, prosocial behavior develops from relying on action understanding and explicit communications to understanding others' emotions from subtle cues. Developmental trajectories of social-cognitive and motivational components of early helping are discussed.
The second year of life sees dramatic developments in infants' ability to understand emotions in adults alongside their growing interest in peers. In this study, the authors used a social-referencing paradigm to examine whether 12-, 18-, and 24-month-old children could use a peer's positive or negative emotion messages about toys to regulate their own behavior with the toys. They found that 12-month-olds decreased their play with toys toward which a peer had expressed either positive or negative emotion compared with play following a peer's neutral attention toward a toy. Also, 18-month-olds did not respond systematically, but 24-month-old children increased their toy play after watching a peer display negative affect toward the toy. Regardless of their age, children with siblings decreased their play with toys toward which they had seen a peer display fear, the typical social-referencing response. The authors discuss results in the context of developmental changes in social understanding and peer interaction over the second year of life.
In most research on the early ontogeny of sympathy, young children are presented with an overtly distressed person and their responses are observed. In the current study, the authors asked whether young children could also sympathize with a person to whom something negative had happened but who was expressing no emotion at all. They showed 18- and 25-month-olds an adult either harming another adult by destroying or taking away her possessions (harm condition) or else doing something similar that did not harm her (neutral condition). The "victim" expressed no emotions in either condition. Nevertheless, in the harm as compared with the neutral condition, children showed more concern and subsequent prosocial behavior toward the victim. Moreover, children's concerned looks during the harmful event were positively correlated with their subsequent prosocial behavior. Very young children can sympathize with a victim even in the absence of overt emotional signals, possibly by some form of affective perspective taking.
Two experiments investigated the proclivity of 14-month-old infants (a) to altruistically help others toward individual goals, and (b) to cooperate toward a shared goal. The infants helped another person by handing over objects the other person was unsuccessfully reaching for, but did not help reliably in situations involving more complex goals. When a programmed adult partner interrupted a joint cooperative activity at specific moments, infants sometimes tried to reengage the adult, perhaps indicating that they understood the interdependency of actions toward a shared goal. However, as compared to 18- and 24-month-olds, their skills in behaviorally coordinating their actions with a social partner remained rudimentary. Results are integrated into a model of cooperative activities as they develop over the 2nd year of life.
Contemporary theories have generally focused on either the behavioral, cognitive or emotional dimensions of prosocial moral development. In this volume, these three dimensions are brought together while providing the first comprehensive account of prosocial moral development in children. The main concept is empathy - one feels what is appropriate for another person's situation, not one's own. Hoffman discusses empathy's role in five moral situations. The book's focus is empathy's contribution to altruism and compassion for others in physical, psychological, or economic distress. Also highlighted are the psychological processes involved in empathy's interaction with certain parental behaviors that foster moral internalization in children and the psychological processes involved in empathy's relation to abstract moral principles such as caring and distributive justice. This important book is the culmination of three decades of study and research by a leading figure in the area of child and developmental psychology.
Mothers of 4- and 7-year-olds recorded their children's spontaneous prosocial behavior, failure to be prosocial, and failure to comply with requests for prosocial behavior, as well as responses that the children received for these acts. Helping occurred more frequently than sharing and giving, affection and praise, or reassuring and protecting. Children were equally likely to receive no response, acknowledgment, social approval, and praise for spontaneous prosocial behavior, with all other responses (including discussion of the feelings of others and character attribution) occurring minimally. When children did not comply with requests for prosocial behavior, they were more likely to receive threats and nonverbal punishment than when they failed to be prosocial. Empathy training was the most frequently occurring response to failures of prosocial behavior and tended to be used more after these failures than after failures to comply. Four-year-olds whose prosocial behavior was most frequently followed by no response tended to be the most prosocial.
Episodes of children's crying and children's and teachers' responses to crying were observed in natural preschool settings using an event-sampling technique. Narrative descriptions of the episodes were coded as to cause of crying, teacher response, peer response, and context. The most common causes of crying were peer related. Peers responded to about 20% of the crying incidents. Children's responses to crying, in order of frequency, were approaches, comments, stares, mediates, consoles, and chastises. Girls were twice as likely to be consoled as boys. Older preschoolers responded more frequently than younger children, and children with more friends responded more often than those with fewer friends. Children who responded more frequently were also those who themselves cried more. The frequency of negative (chastising) responses was correlated with that of prosocial responses. It was concluded that an overriding factor in response to crying may be the degree of the child's social involvement with peers.
This study focused on the predictive contributions of infants' temperamental negative emotionality (proneness to fear, anger), sex, maternal responsivity, and their interaction on toddlers' empathy-related responding to distress in 3 contexts. Ninety-eight infants and their mothers participated in a longitudinal study. When the infants were 10 months of age, mothers completed assessments of infant temperamental anger and fear, and maternal behaviors were observed in a free-play setting. At 18 months of age, toddlers' empathy-related responding to the distress of a stranger, a crying baby doll, and the mother was assessed. A series of hierarchical and logistic regressions were performed, and results indicated that infant fear predicted higher concerned awareness toward adults and higher personal distress reactions toward the mother. In addition, maternal responsivity predicted higher concerned attention and lower personal distress reactions toward the baby doll and mother. Findings also revealed several interaction effects to predict toddlers' empathy-related responding to distress.
A series of experiments demonstrated that sharing was a characteristic activity of children 18 months of age and younger. In play situations in the laboratory the 111 children shared with others what they saw and found of interest by the 3 behaviors of showing, giving, and partner play. They shared whatever objects the environment provided with their mothers, fathers, and unfamiliar persons. Changes in the recipients' behavior or in the familiarity of toys did not affect their sharing. Informal observations in the field and laboratory corroborated the findings of the experiments. We therefore propose that these early manifestations of sharing qualify as developmental milestones of social behavior.
3 kinds of prosocial behavior-helping, sharing, and comforting-were studied in experimental and naturalistic settings, in 108 children, ages 3 to 7½. In both settings, helping occurred more frequently than sharing or comforting. There was some consistency across settings in sharing and comforting. Neither age nor sex is related to frequency of prosocial responding. Prosocial and aggressive behavior are complexly related-sometimes positively, sometimes negatively, and sometimes unrelated-depending on absolute level of aggression and on amount of aggression received. Observations document considerable differences in affect and motivation accompanying both intervention and nonintervention in others' distress.
The purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship between preschoolers' moral reasoning about altruistic moral conflicts and their sharing, helping, and comforting in a naturalistic environment. 35 preschoolers aged 48-63 months were observed for a minimum of 70 2-min timings and responded to four simple moral-reasoning stories about helping and sharing. The results demonstrated that moral reasoning was differentially related to the various types of prosocial behavior. The children's sharing (particularly spontaneous sharing rather than sharing in response to a request) was significantly, negatively related to hedonistic reasoning and positively related to needs-oriented reasoning. Helping/comforting behaviors tended to be related to sociability in the nursery rather than to moral reasoning. Furthermore, the preschoolers did not use Kohlberg's stage 1 punishment and authority reasoning in their moral reasoning about helping and sharing conflicts. The children did use much hedonistic and needs-oriented reasoning.
This volume includes 11 chapters on prosocial behavior and concludes with a commentary by John Darley. . . . There are two reviews of research on the development of prosocial behavior (by Grusec and by Eisenberg and Fabes), and a number of chapters examine what individuals' motivations for helping might be (for example, by Batson and Oleson, by Dovidio, Piliavin, Gaertner, Schroeder, and Clark, and by Fiske). Further, evidencing a new trend in the field, a number of chapters emphasize the consequences of providing help for the helper (see, for example, the chapters by Clary and Snyder, by Salovey, Mayer, and Rosenhan, and by Midlarsky). . . . In addition, Nadler's review chapter on help-seeking behavior reveals that we have accumulated a substantial amount of knowledge in that area as well, largely due to Nadler's and his collaborator's efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The book is primarily intended for upper-level undergraduate classes and graduate courses in psychology, sociology, and related disciplines. [It] provides students with a comprehensive review of research literature on helping and altruism and gives the reader a sense of how individual studies fit into the big picture of prosocial behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In this chapter, we review research and some current theory on the development of prosocial responding (including prosocial behavior and empathy-related responding) and possible antecedents/causes, outcomes, and correlates. In the initial section of this chapter, we briefly present a general framework for integrating factors that contribute to prosocial responding. Then the empirical literature related to the development of prosocial behavior, with an emphasis on the emerging literature on early development and development during adolescence, is reviewed. Next we review literature on the potential origins of prosocial responding, including potential biological, cultural, familial, and peer/school factors. Then we address sociocognitive correlates of prosocial responding and the relations of temperamental/personality and social-behavioral individual differences (e.g., aggression) to prosocial behavior and/or empathy-related responding. Due to space constraints, we focus more on current rather than older publications and disproportionately on topics of central importance to prosocial development and issues that have been foci of interest in the past decade. In the final sections of the chapter, gaps in the field and future directions are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of a measure of children's dispositional prosocial behavior (i.e., peer nominations) to individual differences in children's negative emotionality, regulation, and social functioning. Children with prosocial reputations tended to be high in constructive social skills (i.e., socially appropriate behavior and constructive coping) and attentional regulation, and low in negative emotionality. The relations of children's negative emotionality to prosocial reputation were moderated by level of dispositional attentional regulation. In addition, the relations of prosocial reputation to constructive social skills and parent-reported negative emotionality (for girls) increased with age. Vagal tone, a marker of physiological regulation, was negatively related to girls' prosocial reputation.
Participants in this study were 66 British toddlers who were observed at home with familiar peers on two occasions, six months apart. The majority of toddlers spoke to their peers, with short sequences of conversation emerging after the age of 24 months. The use of possessive pronouns emerged between 18 and 24 months of age and consolidated over the next year. Toddlers who said ‘mine’ were also more likely than other children to say ‘yours.’ The use of possessive pronouns was associated with other language about the possession of objects and references to the motivational states of desire and need, suggesting a general understanding of the concept of object possession. The use of possessive pronouns was initially associated with physical aggression but children who used possessive pronouns at the first visit were significantly more likely to share objects with their peers six months later. The findings suggest that general conversational competence and the particular ability to talk about the possession of objects may facilitate positive relations with peers.
This study explored infants' ability to discriminate between, and their tendency to reproduce, the accidental and intentional actions of others. Twenty 14- through 18-month-olds watched an adult perform a series of two-step actions on objects that made interesting results occur. Some of the modeled actions were marked vocally as intentional (“There!”), some were marked vocally as accidental (“Woops!”). Following each demonstration, infants were given a chance to make the result occur themselves. Overall, infants imitated almost twice as many of the adult's intentional actions as her accidental ones. Infants before age 18 months thus may understand something about the intentions of other persons. This understanding represents infants' first step toward adult-like social cognition and underlies their acquisition of language and other cultural skills.
The study examined the effect of different interactive experiences on the tendency of 12-month-old infants to offer objects to their companions. It was reasoned that the modeling of offers was but one of a number of types of interactions that might induce an infant to offer objects in turn. Four girls and four boys were each assigned randomly to one of four treatment groups, distinguished by the nature of the interaction between the infant and an adult experimenter. During a 3-minute exposure trial the experimenter either offered objects to the infant (i.e., modeled the target action), requested objects from the infant (i.e., prompted the target action while modeling a complementary action), initiated a game of give-and-take (i.e., modeled both the target action and its complement), or merely chatted with the infant's mother, neither offering nor requesting objects (the control condition). The requesting and give-and-take experience facilitated the infants' offers to the model in the exposure trial, in comparison with the control condition; modeling the target action by itself was not effective. In addition, the experience of playing give-and-take with the model promoted infants' later-sharing with their mothers in a transfer trial. The findings suggested that the modeling of a social action alone, without explicit prompts for imitation and/or a game-like pacing of modeled events, may not be sufficient to induce infants to perform that action. Thus the impact of the social behaviors infants see modeled is likely to be tempered by the network of interactive events in which they are embedded.
This research tested the hypothesis that prudence and altruism, in situations involving future desires, follow a similar developmental course between the ages of 3 and 5 years. Using a modified delay of gratification paradigm, 3- to 5-year-olds were tested on their ability to forgo a current opportunity to obtain some stickers in order to gratify their own future desires—or the current or future desires of a research assistant. Results showed that in choices involving current desires, altruistic behavior was unrelated to age. However, prudence and altruism involving future situations were correlated with one another and with age. Children under 4 years of age demonstrated significantly less future-oriented prudence than the older children (F(1,49) = 15.75; p < .001) and significantly less altruism involving future situations (F(1,49) = 33.24; p < .001). The data for the 3-year-olds, but not for the older children, also showed age-partialled correlations between the two future-oriented choice situations. These results suggest that between 3 and 4 years, children acquire the ability to deal with future-oriented situations through the development of some common mechanism which affects both future-oriented prudence and altruism.
Two experiments investigated the proclivity of 14-month-old infants (a) to altruisti- cally help others toward individual goals, and (b) to cooperate toward a shared goal. The infants helped another person by handing over objects the other person was un- successfully reaching for, but did not help reliably in situations involving more com- plex goals. When a programmed adult partner interrupted a joint cooperative activity at specific moments, infants sometimes tried to reengage the adult, perhaps indicat- ing that they understood the interdependency of actions toward a shared goal. How- ever, as compared to 18- and 24-month-olds, their skills in behaviorally coordinating their actions with a social partner remained rudimentary. Results are integrated into a model of cooperative activities as they develop over the 2nd year of life. Prosocial behaviors such as helping and cooperation are interesting both cog- nitively and motivationally: To help someone with a problem, the helper must un- derstand the other's unachieved goal and possess the altruistic motivation to act on behalf of the other. Whereas in the case of helping, understanding another's indi- vidual goal of action might be sufficient, cooperative activities are based on the formation of a shared goal. That is, two or more persons have to perform interde- pendent roles directed at a shared goal and possess the motivation to mutually sup- port each other's action to reach that goal. These kinds of prosocial behaviors are at the core of the human condition. Indeed, humans might act altruistically and coop- erate in ways not found in other primates (e.g., Alexander, 1987; Richerson & Boyd, 2005), giving rise to social-cognitive skills such as complex mind reading and communication (Tomasello, Carpenter, Call, Behne, & Moll, 2005).
Cooperation in peer interaction emerges during the second half of the second year. A consideration of the skills and knowledge entailed in these early forms of cooperation suggests that young children's emerging ability to differentiate self from other as causal agents may relate to their ability to coordinate behavior with age mates toward a common goal. Children at 12, 18, 24, and 30 months were observed in same-age, same-sex dyads (8 dyads per age) while attempting to solve a simple cooperation problem. They were also individually administered an elicited imitation task used to index decentration, or self-other differentiation. No 12-month-old dyad could cooperate, 18-month-olds did so infrequently and apparently accidentally, whereas 24- and 30-month-olds were able to coordinate behavior with one another quickly and effectively. Children who were better able to accommodate their behavior to one another during cooperation also represented the agency of others at a more advanced, decentered level.