The Role of Education in Middle Childhood - Week 5 Lecture 2

Empathy - Eisenberg et al. (1987)

middle childhood → prosocial behaviour costly in effort, wellbeing.

long. study 4-12 years:

• increase in complex reasoning accounting for diff. contexts, needs.

• girls - reasoning more role-taking, empathy-based

• empathy related to complex moral reasoning and prosocial behaviours e.g. donating

Social Norms - Warneken & Tomasello (2006)

middle childhood → cultural variations in social norms impact prevalence of prosocial behaviour.

socialisation → transmit cultural norms, values, knowledge across generations.

Social Norms - Dunsmore et al. (2015)

role of persuading in kids 9-10.

• parents use person-centered explanations → children more likely to act prosocially

• parents give process feedback/no feedback → less likely to act prosocially

House (2018)

cross-cultural lit. review on social norms supporting prosocial behaviour in development.

middle childhood = children have foundational cognitive skills ready to start adopting social norms.

social norms encourage egalitariansism, cooperation - in line with Lew-Levy et al. (2017).

Genetics - Knafo et al. (2006)

long. twin study 2 → 7yrs.

2 yrs - environment explains 47% variance; drops to 3% by 7 yrs.

suggests genetics more prominent in explaining differences in prosocial development over time.

Ma et al. (2020)

low prosocial = more likely peer relationship conflict in adolescence.

friendly, not kind = more likely to engage in bullying in adolescence.

suggest interventions should focus on these groups and support kindness.

School Interventions - Battistich (2003)

3-year study from age 8.

CDP encouraging self-regulation, cooperation, empathy.

children in program higher in acceptance, lower in social anxiety.

measures of social adjustment not observed = inconsistent picture of support.

School Interventions - Johnson et al. (2013)

Head Start program → to decrease risk of social/emotional issues in children of depressed parents.

increased risk for children with depressed parents decreased over intervention w/ more prosociality.

Emotion Regulation - Powers et al. (2015)

school-based intervention for mental health, emotional regulation to support prosocial development.

having school support predicted easier access to mental health support.

increase in uptake of provision, student wellbeing, and prosocial behaviours.