Identifying the male prosocial niche: the gender-typing of prosocial behaviour across childhood and adolescence

Across childhood and adolescence prosocial behaviour is consistently female-typed. This is in contrast to patterns in adulthood suggesting that some prosocial behaviour, congruent with the male gender role, is distinctly male-typed. This study investigated the gender-typing of prosocial behaviour in children and adolescents aged 9–19 years. 1189 participants rated 24 prosocial items on a 5-point masculinity/femininity scale. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a distinct subset of seven behaviours, characterised by masculine qualities that loaded onto a separate, masculine factor. Contrary to previous studies, these results suggest that male-typed prosocial behaviour, or a ‘male prosocial niche’, exists before adulthood.