Prosocial Development

Question 1

what is prosocial behaviour

Answer 1

an action that benefits other people

Question 2

what is altruism

Answer 2

prosocial action that occurs at a net cost to the actor

Question 3

what contributes to the problem of underlying motivation

Answer 3

Can be self-interest as much as the desire to benefit others, for example:
- expectation of adult approval
- fear that failure to help would be punished
- the hope that the recipient will eventually reciprocate the favour
- the expectation that one will feel pride and pleasure for having acted the way one did

Question 4

what are the theories of prosocial development

Answer 4

• Trait Theory (dispositional as well as situational influences)
• Social Cognitive Theory (expectations of others, self-reactions linked to personal standards, self-efficacy beliefs for behaving prosocially)
• Cognitive-developmental Theory

Question 5

what are the three stages of cognitive-development theory

Answer 5

• under 7 years – children are likely to share when it leads to a desired external outcome
• primary school children – more likely to be motivated by the welfare of others than their own welfare
• adolescence – universal principles of moral fairness “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”)

Question 6

outline parental warmth and altruism

Answer 6

loving parents help reduce children’s preoccupations with their own needs; used noncontingently can create an atmosphere of self-indulgence which impedes consideration for others

Question 7

age-appropriate demands ______

Answer 7

promote social competence

Question 8

outline inductive reasoning

Answer 8

Inductive reasoning, particularly, victim-centered reasoning, promotes prosocialness

Question 9

how can you increase altruism

Answer 9

Parents can strengthen altruistic tendencies, especially for young children, by acknowledging their behaviour and making person attributions

Question 10

what is empathy, sympathy and personal distress

Answer 10

Empathy is “an affective reaction that stems from the apprehension or comprehension of another’s emotional state or condition, and that is identical or very similar to what the other person is feeling or would be expected to feel”

Sympathy - feelings of concern for others and a desire to alleviate their state

Question 10

Outline empathy and it’s influnece of prosociality

Answer 10

inked to moral development, altruistic and prosocial behaviour, and social competence – low levels of externalizing – plays a role in in the inhibition of aggressive and antisocial behaviour toward others

• empathy with positive emotions is positively related to boys’ aggression, but empathy with negative emotions is negatively related to boys’ aggression- a focus on others’ good fortune reduces propensity to help others

Question 11

what are the possible contribution of social influences

Answer 11

• Empathy development most likely to occur in families that satisfy the child’s own emotional needs and discourages excessive self-concern
• Encourages the expression of a broad range of emotions
• Can observe and interact with others who encourage emotional sensitivity and responsiveness

Question 12

parental warmth

Answer 12

parental warmth/responsivity reflects parents’ tendencies to provide support, affection, sensitivity to the child’s needs, express approval and direct positive emotion towards the child
- Minimizes feelings of self concern, develops a sense of predictability and hence agency, and leaves room to consider the feelings of others
- Warmth/sensitivity is a critical component for the development of secure attachment

Question 13

parental positive expressiveness

Answer 13

persistent pattern or style in exhibiting nonverbal and verbal expressions that often but not always appear to be emotion-related – boys are encouraged less than girls to be expressive

Question 14

outline the research on girls and empathy

Answer 14

• Although girls were more empathic, showed greater expressivity, scored higher on social competence and lower in externalizing behaviour than boys
• the linkage between parenting variables and children’s (both boys and girls) empathy involved the same psychological variables

Question 15

outline the research on empathy and negative emotions

Answer 15

• Children high in empathy for negative emotions had fewer externalizing problems and higher social competence.

Question 16

outline the research on parents empathy and child’s empathy

Answer 16

• mothers’ positive expressivity mediated the relation between parental warmth and children’s empathy supports the notion that a family environment that satisfies children’s own emotional needs and thereby minimizes self concern fosters empathy
• Children’s empathy mediated the relation between parental positive expressivity and children’s social functioning (externalizing)

Question 17

outline the research of Carlo et al on prosociality and the bidirectional relationship between children and parents

Answer 17

• Maternal warmth, sympathy, and prosocial moral reasoning predicted prosocial behaviour.
• Parental strict control was negatively and weakly associated with the above variables.
• The longitudinal evidence showed that maternal warmth was related to sympathy but not to prosocial reasoning, which in turn was related to prosocial behaviours.
• Evidence for a bi-directional relationship between parenting and prosocial behaviours.
  -mThat is, early prosocial behaviours promote maternal warmth.

Question 18

Outline the bystander effect

Answer 18

The failure of bystanders to take action is not unexpected. The phenomenon of bystander inaction has been recognised and explored since 1968 by Darley and Latané : the phenomenon whereby individuals are less likely to offer help if other passive bystanders are present.

Question 19

outline the relationship between age and moral reasoning

Answer 19

• younger children were more hedonistic; stereotyped and sometimes focused on the recipient’s needs
• older children had reasons that were more need-orientated and general

Question 20

Needs-oriented reasoning relates to greater ____ – possibly through the link with _____

Answer 20

prosocial conduct, empathy

Question 20

outline empathy and role taking

Answer 20

• Empathy involves reacting to another person’s situation or display of emotion with the same emotion as the other is experiencing
• Role-taking involves accurately comprehending what another is feeling, thinking, or perceiving, but it does not necessarily entail actually feeling the same way as the other person.
• Links between empathy and prosocialness are inconsistent
• Role-taking can sometimes promote prosocialness

Question 21

outline Caprara et al’s research into prosocialness, peers and aggression

Answer 21

• the path to peer acceptance and academic achievement in adolescents was through prosocial behaviour not aggressive behaviour
• earlier prosocialness was the prime predictor of later achievement
• Strong peer preferences for prosocial peers

Question 21

Outline Hastings et al’s research in prosocialness and and mental health

Answer 21

• Children who showed more concern in the distress simulation had fewer behavioural problems two years later
• the moderating influence of concern for other was evidenced by the decreased ability to predict externalizing at about 7 years from their earlier externalizing scores
• the moderating influence of concern on the stability of severe externalizing problems in children persisted from 6-7 years to 9-10 years
• Deficits in concern for others has been associated with antisocial personality disorders
• Development of concern for others plays an important protective role in externalizing problem behaviours
• The actual level of externalizing behaviours decreased as age increased when children displayed relatively more concern at 4-5years (parenting issues)

Question 22

outline Hay et al’s research into age, prosocial behaviour and aggression

Answer 22

• At young ages, prosocial and aggressive behaviours were positively associated, later became unrelated, and still later, became negatively correlated.
• Prosocial behaviour occurred more often than aggressive behaviour at all ages, but a pattern of angry aggressiveness in infancy predicted aggressive behavioural problems at 2.5 and 7 years.

Question 23

Outline Bandura et al’s research into regulation influence affective, prosocial and transgressive spheres of functioning

Answer 23

• Perceived self-efficacy to manage positive affect contributed indirectly to the three domains of self-efficacy (academic, self-regulatory, and empathic).
• Academic self-efficacy was accompanied by low concurrent engagement in delinquent activities and low depression in females but not males.
• Self-regulatory efficacy was accompanied by low involvement in delinquent activities both concurrently and distally.
• Empathic self-efficacy was linked to prosocial behaviour both distally and concurrently for males and females. It was also associated with proneness to depression in females but not in males (the possibility that females personalize the distress). It also predicts low delinquency in the long term.

Question 24

outline how to promote prosocial behaviour according to

Caprara et al

Flook et al

Schonert-Reichl et al

Answer 24

Caprara et al: results showed that the school based pro social intervention program increased prosocial behaviour and reduced physical and verbal aggression. The intervention group also showed an increase in academic achievement.

Flook et al: teacher-reported social competence increased for those children in the mindfulness intervention condition. Higher grades for those in the intervention group. Less sharing in the control group.
Greater effect sizes for cognitive flexibility and delay of gratification for intervention group children

Schonert-Reichl et al: children in the SEL plus mindfulness program versus the social responsibility program showed:
- Greater cognitive control and less stress physiology
- Greater empathy, perspective-taking, emotional control, and mindfulness
- Decreased self-reports of depression and peer aggression
- Increased peer reports of prosocialness

Question 25

Outline Pozzoli et als research into bullying defending and prosociality

Answer 25

Greater empathetic anger was associated with great defending and less passive witnessing