Poster #126 - Cultural contributions to prosocial development: Parenting and prosocial behavior in urban Canada and rural Mexico

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Moral Development

Integrative Statement

Over the last decade a growing body of literature has demonstrated that humans act on behalf of others in a wide variety of ways, frequently, from very early in development (Eisenberg, Spinrad, Knafo, 2015). Yet, despite this broad interest, attempts to characterize the nature of early prosocial behaviour have been challenged by inconsistent and sometimes contradictory findings. One way to address these explanatory challenges is by specifying the representations that support the ability to act effectively on behalf of another. Specifically, Dunfield (2014) proposes that within the broad domain of prosocial behaviour there are three specific acts that differ based on the negative state that the prosocial individual is recognizing and responding to: Helping which involves recognizing and responding to an instrumental need, sharing which involves recognizing and responding to material desire, and comforting which involves recognizing and responding to emotional distress. Importantly, both age and experience may influence the ease with which individuals respond to each variety of negative state. For example, though recognizing an instrumental need appears relatively robust across individuals, the ability to recognize emotional distress shows striking variability (Johnson, Dweck, & Dunfield, 2013). The present study examines how culture influences the production of prosocial behaviour through parental socialization goals and practices.

Eighty-seven 3 to 6 year-old participants (44 female) were recruited through preschools in an urban Canadian (Montreal: N = 47) and a rural Mexican (Zinacatan: N = 38) cultural context as part of a large multi-method examination of cultural influences on prosocial development. Prosocial behaviour was assessed using structured observations and parent-report questionnaires. Participants received six prosocial trials in which the three negative states (instrumental need, material desire, and emotional distress) were either present (Experimental condition) or absent (Control condition). Parenting goals and practices were assessed through semi-structured interviews as well as an adjusted version of the Parental Goals and Practices Questionnaire (Torrens & Kärtner, 2016).
Results suggest a strong effect of culture on the development of prosocial behaviour. Specifically, though participants in both cultural contexts were sensitive to need, producing more prosocial behaviour in the experimental condition than the control condition, urban Canadian participants produced more prosocial behaviour overall than rural Mexican participants. These differences in prosocial behaviour appear to be related to parenting goals and practices. For example, though rural Mexican mothers reported using more punitive practices after their children did not follow a helping request, urban Canadian mothers used praise following successful prosocial behavior. Importantly, the relation between parenting practices and prosocial outcomes varied across types of prosocial behaviour. On the basis of these results, we argue that the culture-specific conceptions of prosocial behavior influence how parents foster attention to other’s needs, and children’s motivation to act prosocially. Together, these findings contribute to the growing body of research examining the development of other-oriented behaviour by exploring how different socialization goals and practices influence the children’s attention to, and ability to effectively alleviate, other’s negative states.

Authors

• Kristen Dunfield, Concordia University
  Presenting Author

• Astrid Kleis, Concordia University
  Non-Presenting Author