Dimensions and Correlates of Prosocial Behavior in Young Children

Abstract

YARROW, MARIAN RADKE, and WAXLER, CAROLYN ZAHN, with the collaboration of BARRETT, DAVID; DARBY, JEAN; KING, ROBERT; PICKETT, MARILYN; and SMITH, JUDITH. Dimensions and Correlates of Prosocial Behavior in Young Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1976, 47, 118-125. 3 kinds of prosocial behavior-helping, sharing, and comforting-were studied in experimental and naturalistic settings, in 108 children, ages 3 to 71/2. 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.