Is prosocial behaviour a good thing? Developmental changes in children's evaluations of helping, sharing, cooperating, and comforting

This study investigated the development of prosocial thinking in children. The participants were 83 children (7–12 years of age) who responded to questions concerning helping, sharing, cooperating, and comforting. Specifically, for each of the prosocial behaviours studied, participants were asked: (1) whether they would respond in a prosocial manner (Expected Behaviour); (2) whether they thought it would be alright if they did not respond in a prosocial manner (Obligation); (3) whether they would feel good about themselves for not responding prosocially (Selfevaluation); (4) whether it would bother them if others thought they were mean for not responding prosocially (Peer Evaluation). The results revealed age and prosocial behavioural differences as well as an interaction between age and prosocial behaviour type (e.g. curvilinear relationships are reported).