Prosocial Behaviour In Children Is The Outcome Of

1970 Words8 Pages
49085042 PYC4805 Assignment 2 8th August 2011 Table Of Contents 1. Introduction 2 2. Cultural Factors 2 3. Socialisation of Prosocial behaviour within the Family 3 3.1 Parental disciplinary practices 4 3.2 Parental Warmth and the Quality of the parent-child 5 relationship 4. Individual personality characteristics 6 5. Conclusion 7 6. Reference List 9 1. Introduction Prosocial behaviour can be defined as voluntary behaviour which is internally motivated by moral concern for others’ needs and welfare, as an act of selflessness (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). Prosocial behaviour in children is the outcome of multiple individual and situational factors such as Cultural factors, Socialisation within the context of family, and Individual personality characteristics (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). In the following essay, these factors which amount to prosocial behaviour in children will be discussed and will be motivated by making reference to research findings on the topic. 2. Cultural Factors The environment and culture in which children are brought up in evidently determines prosocial development. Cultures vary greatly in the way in which they stress the importance of prosocial behaviour; prosocial development significantly differs across cultures (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). Research findings have shown that some cultures emphasise the importance of prosocial behaviour and others not, for example, according to Graves and Graves (cited in Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998) some individual cultures such as the Aitutaki people ,from a Polynesian island, highly value and practice prosocial behaviour. Alternatively, some cultures such as the Ik of Uganda practice hostility rather than prosocial behaviours and concern for others, according to Turnbull (cited in Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). Furthermore, according to Knight and
Open Document