A three-wave study on the development of prosocial behaviours across toddlerhood: The role of socialization

Y. Song*, M.L. Broekhuizen, J.J.S. Dubas

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This 3-wave longitudinal study investigated the developmental trajectories of instrumental helping, sharing and empathic helping across toddlerhood, and how socialisation processes (i.e., parents' and teachers' practices) contribute to these developments. Participants were 50 18-months-olds and 62 24-months-olds, their parents, and daycare teachers, who were followed 6 months and 12 months later. At each wave, toddlers' prosocial behaviours were observed through three laboratory tasks, and socialisation processes were examined through parents' and teachers' self-report at the first and second waves. Instrumental helping increased from 18 to 36 months. Sharing increased from 18 to 30 months. Empathic helping increased from 24 to 36 months. Both parental and teachers' practices predicted prosocial behaviours at the ages when they are still emerging, but the relationship varied by types of behaviour examined. These findings confirm the developmental trajectories proposed in cross-sectional studies and add evidence to the role of socialisation processes in the early development of prosocial behaviour.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2289
Pages (from-to)1-21
JournalInfant and Child Development
Volume31
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
the Chinese Scholarship Council, Grant/Award Number: 201406040036 Funding information

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Funding

the Chinese Scholarship Council, Grant/Award Number: 201406040036 Funding information

Keywords

  • development
  • longitudinal study
  • prosocial behaviours
  • socialisation processes
  • toddlers

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