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Parental values, reinforcement, and young children's prosocial behavior: a longitudinal study

N Eisenberg1, S A Wolchik, L Goldberg

  • 1Department of Psychology, Arizona State University.

The Journal of Genetic Psychology
|March 1, 1992
PubMed

Insights

Parental values and reinforcement impact children's prosocial behaviors. While parental reinforcement of compliance hindered peer prosocial actions, fathers valuing prosocial behavior encouraged it in young children.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychology
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Parental reinforcement and values are crucial in shaping young children's prosocial behaviors.
  • Understanding the interplay between parenting styles and early childhood social development is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the relationship between parental reinforcement, parental values, and young children's prosocial behaviors.
  • To investigate how parental emphasis on compliance versus prosocial behavior influences children's social interactions with peers.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study involving home videotaping of parent-child interactions (1-2 years old) and peer play sessions (3.5-4.5 years old).
  • Coding of parental reinforcement of prosocial behaviors and children's prosocial and compliant behaviors.
  • Analysis of the association between parental values (compliance, prosocial behavior) and children's observed behaviors.

Main Results:

  • Girls' spontaneous prosocial behaviors decreased with age; boys showed modest consistency in parental interactions.
  • No direct link was found between children's prosocial behaviors with parents and peers.
  • Maternal and paternal valuing of compliance negatively correlated with mothers' reinforcement of spontaneous prosocial behaviors.
  • Parental reinforcement of compliant prosocial behaviors was linked to lower compliance and higher defensive behavior with peers.
  • Fathers' valuing of prosocial behavior positively related to children's compliance with peer requests for prosocial action.

Conclusions:

  • Parental values significantly moderate the impact of reinforcement on children's prosocial development.
  • An overemphasis on compliance by parents may inadvertently suppress children's prosocial engagement with peers.
  • Fathers' focus on prosocial behavior appears more directly supportive of children's prosocial interactions with peers.

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