Petkova, Aleksandra
(2020)
I HELP WHEN I FEEL, I FEEL WHEN I HELP: INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF YOUNG CHILDREN’S EMOTION IN RELATION TO DIFFERENT TYPES OF PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
This study examined children’s emotion both preceding and following prosocial behavior in 215 children aged 16-28 months in three prosocial tasks (helping, sharing, and comforting). The study employed a novel emotion measure to capture children’s positive and negative emotion holistically and continuously. The study aimed to (1) determine to what extent negative emotion precedes and either motivates or inhibits early prosocial behavior, and to what extent positive emotion follows and possibly reinforces prosocial behavior; (2) whether these patterns vary by age or prosocial task; (3) whether children’s temperamental positivity or negativity account for relations between children’s emotion and prosocial behavior.
Results revealed first that, contrary to theoretical predictions, children were neither intensely negative nor highly positive, either preceding or following prosocial behavior. Rather, children’s emotion varied from mildly positive to more positive. This introduces the important theoretical possibility that very early prosocial behavior arises within and is governed by positive rather than negative emotional contexts. Second, older children were more prosocial and also more positive both preceding and following prosocial behavior, and positivity during prosocial tasks explained age differences in prosocial behavior. However, nuanced findings emerged regarding age- and task-specific effects in relation to children’s emotion preceding and following prosocial behavior. Third, children who were more temperamentally positive were more prosocial and were more positive preceding and following a prosocial act. Critically, controlling children’s temperamental emotionality reduced or eliminated the effects of positivity on prosocial behavior and changed previously found relations between age and prosocial task. However, controlling temperamental emotionality did not affect age differences in prosocial behavior; older children were still more prosocial than younger children.
These novel findings suggest that children’s emotion in prosocial situations is partly a function of their temperamental emotionality and that neither negative nor positive emotion can independently explain children’s nascent prosocial acts. In sum, prosocial behavior may arise in positive emotional contexts, with a limited role for negative emotion in motivating very early prosociality, and young children’s emotional responses in prosocial situations are likely driven in part by their temperament rather than being inherent to the prosocial act itself.
Share
| Citation/Export: |
|
| Social Networking: |
|
Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
| Creators | Email | Pitt Username | ORCID  |
|---|
| Petkova, Aleksandra | avp21@pitt.edu | avp21 | |
|
| ETD Committee: |
|
| Date: |
16 September 2020 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
15 May 2020 |
| Approval Date: |
16 September 2020 |
| Submission Date: |
26 June 2020 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
149 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Psychology |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Emotion, prosocial behavior, toddlers, early development |
| Date Deposited: |
16 Sep 2020 14:47 |
| Last Modified: |
16 Sep 2020 14:47 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/39288 |
Metrics
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[feed]](/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}