Internalizing Behaviors and Prosocial Sharing Decisions in Children

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - Social Cognition

Abstract

Prosocial behaviors have been linked to adaptive outcomes across the life span, including peer acceptance, quality friendships, higher self-esteem, and subjective well-being in children (Song et al., 2017). Prosocial behaviors are complex, and factors known to be involved in prosocial behaviors show different dynamics depending on individual differences and the developmental changes (Nantel-Vivier et al., 2014). Especially, findings are mixed regarding how children’s internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems are related to prosocial behaviors (e.g., Romano et al., 2005; Gill & Calkin, 2003). Some studies in adults and children have suggested that social anxiety may promote prosocial behavior as a coping strategy (Nantel-Vivier et al., 2014). This study investigated how internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and relevant affective and behavioral problems, influence children’s prosocial sharing decisions.

Thirty-two children between the ages of 5-8 and their mothers were participated. The mother completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) to report behavioral characteristics of children, and Griffith Empathy Measure (Dadds et al., 2008)
to report children’s cognitive and affective empathy levels. The child completed a one-shot dictator game (Smith et al., 2013) where she or he allocated four smiley face stickers in a favorite color and smell between self and anonymous child in a same age and sex who would be the next participant (see Figure 1). The ratio of stickers allocated to another child to the total number of stickers represented the prosocial decision weight (M = .30, SD = .27).

Multiple regressions revealed that children’s age (β=.452, p=.005), internalizing behaviors (CBCL; β=.519, p=.005), and cognitive empathy (β=.347, p=.028) significantly predicted the higher prosocial decision weight, F(5, 25)=6.42, p < .001, R2=.562. In children aged 6-8 years, as children’s anxiety problems were higher, the prosocial decision weight was increased, r(32)=.40, p = .025.

These results suggested that as children get older, has higher cognitive empathic understanding of others, and exhibiting more internalizing behaviors, children are more likely share prosocially. Especially, children with higher anxiety tend to share more with others. These findings suggest that children experiencing internalizing behaviors including anxiety may act more prosocially as an effort to adjust to and engage with their environment.

Authors

• Jarrod Sotos, University of Missouri - Kansas City
  Presenting Author

• Haley Killian, University of Missouri-Kansas City
  Non-Presenting Author

• Samuel Christopher Nelson, University of Missouri - Kansas City
  Non-Presenting Author

• Seung-Lark Lim, University of Missouri-Kansas City
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tina Malti, University of Toronto
  Non-Presenting Author

• Oh-Ryeong Ha, University of Missouri - Kansas City
  Non-Presenting Author