Predictors Of Prosocial Behavior Research Articles

Predictors of Prosocial Behavior among Chinese High School Students in Hong Kong

This study examined the correlates and predictors of prosocial behavior among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. A sample of 518 high school students responded to a questionnaire containing measures of antisocial and prosocial behavior, prosocial norms, pragmatic values, moral reasoning, and empathy. Preliminary analyses showed that there were gender differences in some of the measures. While correlation analyses showed that parental education, prosocial norms, pragmatic values, moral reasoning, and empathy were related to prosocial behavior, regression analyses showed that prosocial norms, pragmatic values, and empathy dimensions (personal distress and empathy) were key predictors of it. The findings are largely consistent with theoretical predictions and previous research findings, other than the negative relationship between personal distress and prosocial behavior. The study also underscores the importance of values and norms in predicting prosocial behavior, which has been largely neglected in previous studies.

‘You Feel Sad?’ Emotion Understanding Mediates Effects of Verbal Ability and Mother–Child Mutuality on Prosocial Behaviors: Findings from 2 Years to 4 Years

AbstractEarly individual differences in prosocial behaviors are pivotal for children's peer relationships. To investigate the interplay among verbal ability, emotion understanding, and mother–child mutuality as predictors of prosocial behaviors, we observed 102 children at the ages of two, three, and four. All time points included verbal ability and emotion understanding tests and both video‐based and maternal ratings of prosocial behavior. The first two time points also included video‐based ratings of mother–child mutuality. The third time point included teacher ratings of prosocial behavior and an experimental task. Regression analysis demonstrated robust associations between emotion understanding at the age of three and prosocial behavior at the age of four. Path analysis showed that emotion understanding at the age of three mediated associations between verbal ability/mother–child mutuality at the age of two and prosocial behavior at the age of four.

Empathy and Self-Regulation as Mediators Between Parenting and Adolescents' Prosocial Behavior Toward Strangers, Friends, and Family

The current study examined the role of empathy and self-regulation as mediators between positive parenting (mothering and fathering) and early adolescents' prosocial behavior toward 3 targets (strangers, friends, and family). Data were taken from Time 1 and Time 2 of the Flourishing Families Project, and included reports from 500 families with an early adolescent child (mean age of child at Time 1=11.29). Analyses suggested that predictors of prosocial behavior toward the 3 targets differed, with empathy (as reported by mothers only) and self-regulation mediating the relation between positive parenting and prosocial behavior toward strangers and friends, but not toward family. Positive mothering was the only variable that was significantly related to prosocial behavior toward family. The discussion focuses on the need for continued research examining a relational approach to prosocial development.

Parenting and temperament as predictors of prosocial behaviour in Australian and Turkish Australian children

This study investigated the direct and indirect roles of parenting, child temperament and sociocultural context in predicting prosocial behaviour as identified by behavioural assessments and parent and teacher ratings. Comparisons of Australian children and Turkish children living in Australia allowed examination of cultural similarities and differences in levels of prosocial behaviours and in their predictors. Participants were 153 Australian 4–6-year-old children and 58 children with a Turkish background recruited from childcare centres serving low- and middle-class communities. Turkish and Australian children were similar in their levels of prosocial development, but the factors that predicted prosocial behaviour were somewhat different. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that maternal warmth and child persistence predicted prosocial behaviour for the Australian sample. For the Turkish sample, obedience-demanding behaviour had a facilitating effect upon prosocial development. The results are discussed in relation to cultural norms and their impact on children through parenting practices.

Accurate identification of fear facial expressions predicts prosocial behavior.

The fear facial expression is a distress cue that is associated with the provision of help and prosocial behavior. Prior psychiatric studies have found deficits in the recognition of this expression by individuals with antisocial tendencies. However, no prior study has shown accuracy for recognition of fear to predict actual prosocial or antisocial behavior in an experimental setting. In 3 studies, the authors tested the prediction that individuals who recognize fear more accurately will behave more prosocially. In Study 1, participants who identified fear more accurately also donated more money and time to a victim in a classic altruism paradigm. In Studies 2 and 3, participants' ability to identify the fear expression predicted prosocial behavior in a novel task designed to control for confounding variables. In Study 3, accuracy for recognizing fear proved a better predictor of prosocial behavior than gender, mood, or scores on an empathy scale.

Understanding Prosocial Behavior: The Impact of Empathy and Gender Among African American Adolescents

Although prosocial behavior in adolescence is associated with many positive outcomes, few studies have examined the factors that contribute to the development of prosocial behaviors. This study examines empathy and gender as predictors of prosocial behavior among African American early adolescents. Results revealed a significant main effect for empathy, as well as an interaction between empathy and gender in predicting prosocial behavior. In general, youth with more empathy reported more prosocial behavior, and this effect was more pronounced for males than females. These findings suggest that the ability to understand another’s perspective may be important in the development and expression of prosocial behaviors, particularly among males.

Psychological Processes and Family Variables as Prosocial Behavior Predictors in a Sample of Spanish Adolescents

A review of personal and family variables that regulate prosocial behavior is based on a sample of 1,433 Spanish adolescents (ages 9 to 13; 743 boys and 690 girls) who were assessed on the Prosocial Reasoning Objective Measure, the Physical and Verbal Aggression Scale, the Emotional Instability Scale, the State-Trait Anger Inventory, the Child's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory, the Prosocial Behavior Scale, and the Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents. Discriminant analyses showed that empathy, self-control in anger-provoking situations, and affection in family relationships are the best predictors of prosocial behavior.

Pathways to Children’s Academic Performance and Prosocial Behaviour: Roles of physical health status, environmental, family, and child factors

The objective of this article is to examine the pathways by which children’s physical health status, environmental, family, and child factors affect children’s academic performance and prosocial behaviour, using a theoretically‐based and empirically‐based model of competence development. The model proposes that 3 types of relational processes, dealing with opportunity, support, and skill development through participation, lead to competence. Structural equation modelling was performed on cross‐sectional, parent‐report data for approximately 10,000 Canadian children aged 6–11 years from the 1994–95 National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. The analyses controlled for family socioeconomic status and child’s age and sex, and included 3 groups of children (those with activity‐limiting conditions, non‐activity‐limiting conditions, or no health problems). There was little evidence that children with chronic conditions were at direct risk for poorer outcomes. Children with activity‐limiting conditions were at increased indirect risk for academic difficulties through the role played by cognitive functioning. Cognitive functioning and hyperactivity/inattention difficulties were the major predictors of academic performance. Recreational participation and behavioural functioning were the main predictors of prosocial behaviour. The pathways in the model also indicated the importance of family functioning, social support to parents, and neighbourhood cohesion. In conclusion, the findings indicate the utility of the model of competence development in understanding the pathways and processes by which various factors affect children’s academic and social outcomes.

Predictors of Prosocial Behavior among Inmates

Abstract Laboratory research on persuasion suggests that induction of prosocial attitudes may be facilitated by such instructor characteristics as expertise, self-esteem, and similarity to the class, and by such class characteristics as size and age. Measures of these variables were used to predict the cooperativeness of 294 inmates in 26 Canadian prison workshops. Instructor data included two measures of expertise, a self-report measure of self-esteem, and a measure of instructor-inmate differences in formal education. Inmate cooperation was operationalized as voluntary participation in an outside research project. Correlational results support previous laboratory findings. Regression analyses, however, showed that only instructor expertise and inmate age made independent contributions to cooperation.

Role Taking as a Predictor of Prosocial Behavior in Cross-Age Tutors

HUDSON, LYNNE M.; FORMAN, ELLICE A.; and BRION-MEISELS, STEVEN. Role Taking as a Predictor of Prosocial Behavior in Cross-Age Tutors. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1982, 53, 1320-1329. 18 middle-class second-grade boys and girls were identified as high or low role takers using a battery of tasks assessing their ability to infer another's intentions, thoughts, and feelings. Each child was videotaped teaching two same-sex kindergartners to make caterpillars with construction paper, scissors, glue, and crayons. Props were limited to maximize the likelihood of social conflict. 16 categories of prosocial behavior were coded from these 18 20-min videotaped observations. High and low role takers differed significantly on 8 dimensions, including several helping measures, providing options, and social problem solving. High and low role takers differed most in their responses to indirect requests for help. Correlational analysis revealed significant relationships among many social behaviors. Additional factors contributing to the variance in observed social behavior were discussed.

Role Taking as a Predictor of Prosocial Behavior in Cross-Age Tutors

Role Taking as a Predictor of Prosocial Behavior in Cross-Age Tutors

Prosocial Behavior, Social Inferential Ability, and Assertiveness in Children

BARRETT, DAVID E., and YARROW, MARIAN RADKE. Prosocial Behavior, Social Inferential Ability, and Assertiveness in Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 475-481. Prosocial behavior in 5-8-year-old children was examined in relation to social inferential ability and assertiveness. It was hypothesized that assertiveness would be a significant predictor of prosocial behavior but that the strength of the relation would depend on the child's ability to make inferences about others' behaviors. 39 boys and 40 girls attending a summer day camp were each observed over a 6-week period and their assertive and prosocial behaviors recorded. Inferential ability was assessed by asking the child to interpret a series of videotaped social episodes in which an affective experience brought about an abrupt change in the central character's behavior. Correct interpretation depended on the subject's comprehending the relation between the earlier events in the sequence and the change in behavior. As hypothesized, assertiveness was positively and significantly related to prosocial behavior for high inferential ability subjects while no significant relations were identified in the low inferential ability group.