Normative Beliefs About Prosocial Behavior in Middle Childhood: What Does It Mean to Be Nice?

Abstract

Our purpose in the present studies was to discover what types of prosocial behavior children consider to be normative and how systematically varying the gender combinations of the actor and target child impacts those beliefs. Two studies were conducted (n = 468 and = = 393 third‐through sixth‐grade children) in which participants were asked to describe normative prosocial behaviors in their peer groups. A content analysis of children's responses revealed that relationally inclusive acts (behaviors that initiate and sustain relationships) were cited by children significantly more often than the types of prosocial behaviors typically assessed in past research (e.g., helping, sharing). Further, the kinds of prosocial behaviors cited varied as a function of children's age and the gender of the actor and target.

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