The moral self-concept in preschool children: Its dimensions and relation to prosocial behaviors

• In Event: The Development of Prosocial Behavior in Early Childhood

Abstract

A major construct to explain prosocial behavior might be the moral self-concept (MSC; Blasi, 1983). While the MSC is found to relate to adults’ prosociality, its internal structure and behavioral relevance in childhood is still unknown. Dunfield and Kuhlmeier (2013) suggest that prosocial behaviors are split into three dimensions: helping, sharing and comforting. We hypothesized that the MSC splits into the same dimensions. With two studies (overall N = 443), we aimed to address this hypothesis.
We investigated the MSC’s structure and behavioral correlates of four to six year-olds (N = 127; 62 female; M =64.77 months, SD = 9.86) in our first study. To do so, we assessed the MSC with a puppet-interview and observed child behavior. In the puppet-interview, two puppets give opposing statements such as “I like to help” vs. “I do not like to help.” After the child chose a preferred puppet the experimenter asked: “Are you a bit or a lot like this puppet?”, resulting in a five point Likert-scale. We assessed prosocial behavior with observational tasks: sharing with an absent peer, comforting and helping the experimenter after minor accidents.
Our results show that MSC was independent from other self-concept domains (see Table 1). The three prosocial dimensions (helping, sharing, and comforting) appear to be represented within the MSC separately. The MSC of sharing and comforting related to sharing behavior. The MSC of comforting related to comforting behavior. The second study (N = 316; 158 female, M = 81.57 months, SD = 16.45) replicates the factor structure of the MSC with a confirmatory factor analysis, i.e. distinct factors for helping, sharing, and comforting rather than one conglomerate score (see Table 2).
In conclusion, the studies underscore the MSC’s different dimensions and their relations to prosocial behaviors in preschool children. We discuss the results in regard to the hierarchical self-concept model by Marsh and Shavelson (1985) and the relevance of the moral self-concept for prosocial behavior (Krettenauer, Campbell & Hertz, 2013).

Authors

• Regina Sticker, LMU Munic
  Presenting Author

• Natalie Christner, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
  Non-Presenting Author

• Carolina Pletti, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
  Non-Presenting Author

• Markus Paulus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
  Non-Presenting Author