3-153 - Varieties Of Prosocial Behavior From A Diversity Of Perspectives: What We’ve Learned And Where We’re Going

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The “better angels of our nature” have long inspired reflections on human social life. In recent years, researchers across a wide range of psychological and allied disciplines have increasingly sought to investigate the developmental causes, consequences, and trajectories of these fundamental human behaviors. This movement has brought attention to the need to clarify the construct of “prosocial behavior.” One popular solution specifies different varieties of prosocial behavior (e.g., helping, sharing, and comforting; Dunfield 2014), an approach which encourages researchers to look more closely at the unique developmental patterns that are associated with distinct forms of prosocial behavior. The focus of this symposium is how this conceptualization informs the measurement and understanding of prosocial behavior from infancy through adolescence.

This symposium presents research assessing multiple measures of prosocial behavior in a diverse set of participant populations. The first talk describes a new parent-report questionnaire that differentiates three varieties of prosocial behavior, validated longitudinally in urban German toddlers. The second talk describes a meta-analysis examining the unique links between theory-of-mind and four varieties of prosocial behavior during early childhood. The third talk reports that separate measurements of distinct prosocial behaviors reveal complex associations between attachment security and prosociality in an at-risk, urban American sample. The fourth talk discusses links between prosocial behavior and peer-acceptance in urban Colombian pre-teenagers. Together, these talks demonstrate that recognizing the diversity of prosocial behavior has improved research methodology and brought theoretical advancements. Discussion will focus on how we can build off this success in future investigations.

Sub Unit

• Moral Development

Chairs

• Jonathan S Beier, University of Maryland, College Park

• Kristen Dunfield, Concordia University

Individual Presentations

• The Early Prosocial Behavior Questionnaire – Assessing Toddlers’ Helping, Sharing And Comforting - Presenting Author: Marta Giner Torrens, University of Munster; Joscha Kartner, University of Munster

• Prosocial Behavior And Theory Of Mind In Childhood: A Meta-Analytic Review - Presenting Author: Kana Imuta, University of Queensland; Virginia Slaughter, University of Queensland; Julie Henry, University of Queensland; Bilge Selcuk, Koc University; Ted Ruffman, University of Otago

• Helping, Sharing, and Comforting in Young Children: Links to Individual Differences in Attachment - Presenting Author: Jonathan S Beier, University of Maryland, College Park; Jacquelyn T. Gross, University of Maryland, College Park; Bonnie Brett, University of Maryland; Jessica A Stern, University of Maryland, College Park; David R. Martin, University of Maryland, College Park; Ben Mitchell, University of Maryland, College Park; Jude Cassidy, University of Maryland

• Helping, Popularity And Acceptance: Differential Associations During Childhood - Presenting Author: Melisa Castellanos, Concordia University; William M. Bukowski, Concordia University; Lina Maria Saldarriaga, Red PaPaz, Bogota, Colombia; Ana Maria Velásquez, Universidad de los Andes