1-148 - International Perspectives on Sociocognitive and Socioemotive Mechanisms in Prosocial Development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Prosocial behaviors (acts intended to benefit others; Carlo, 2014) are important to investigate because prosociality predicts positive adjustment in children and adolescents (Eisenberg et al., 2015). Several sociocognitive and socioemotive correlates of prosocial behaviors have been identified (e.g., perspective taking, empathic concern, prosocial moral reasoning, emotion regulation; see Eisenberg et al., 2006, for a review). However, most studies on prosocial development have been conducted in European or European American populations, and there is sparse research in populations with a collectivistic orientation. There is recent evidence that self-regulation may play a relatively minor predictive role in collectivist-oriented, racial minority populations relative to individualistic-oriented populations (Streit et al., 2016). Thus, the symposium brings together researchers from four different countries (i.e., Argentina, Costa Rica, Germany, USA) to present different approaches in studying prosocial development in culturally distinct populations. The papers present evidence on the importance of self-regulation and sociocognitive and socioemotive skills in prosocial development. The papers investigate different developmental periods (from preschool children to adolescents) using different methodologies (behavioral tasks, parent-child conversations, self-reports and teacher-reports) with both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. Importantly, the studies show that self-regulation can be better understood if we consider both emotional and cognitive aspects. Also, the symposium demonstrates emotion-related mechanisms (e.g., attachment styles, parent-child conversations) as important considerations in understanding empathy and prosocial behaviors. In summary, the papers address several gaps in our knowledge of the interplay of parenting, cognitions, and emotion processes in understanding prosocial development across distinct cultural populations.

Sub Unit

• Moral Development

Chairs

• L. Diego Conejo, University of Costa Rica

• Gustavo Carlo, University of Missouri

Individual Presentations

• Emotion Talk During Mother-Child Reminiscing and Book Sharing and Children’s Socioemotional Competence - Presenting Author: Ana M. Carmiol, University of Costa Rica; Non-Presenting Author: Lisa Schröder, University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal

• Attachment and Prosocial Behavior: The Mediating Role of Empathy - Presenting Author: María Cristina Richaud, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Non-Presenting Author: Belén Mesurado, National Scientific and Technical Research Council

• Emotional and Cognitive Self-Regulation and Prosociality in Preschool Children - Presenting Author: L. Diego Conejo, University of Costa Rica; Non-Presenting Author: Gustavo Carlo, University of Missouri

• Latent Growth in Dimensions of Self-regulation in Relation to Negative and Positive Outcomes Across Adolescence - Presenting Author: Madison Memmott-Elison, University of Missouri; Non-Presenting Author: Kristin L. Moilanen, West Virginia University; Non-Presenting Author: Laura M Padilla-Walker, Brigham Young University