Handbook of Asian education: A cultural perspective

International Review of Education -     

The role of prosocial attitudes and academic achievement in peer networks in higher education

After the transition to university, students need to build a new peer network, which helps them to adapt to university life. This study investigated to what extent students’ prosocial attitudes and academic achievement facilitate the embeddedness in friendship and help-seeking networks, while taking structural network characteristics into account. Participants were 95 first-year bachelor’s degree students and were part of learning communities consisting of 12 students at a university in the Netherlands. Measures included student-reports of prosocial attitudes, peer nominations of friendship and help-seeking networks, and officially registered grades (GPA). Longitudinal social network analysis, stochastic actor-based modeling with the package RSiena, revealed that both students’ own prosocial attitudes and achievement played a role in their friendship formation, whereas only students’ own achievement made the formation of their help-seeking relationships more likely. When students were friends, it was more likely that they approached each other for help and vice versa. Similarity in achievement level contributed to relationship formation in friendship and help-seeking networks. Overall, the results underscore the importance of both student’ prosocial attitudes and achievement for their social adjustment (i.e., making friends) and only achievement for their academic adjustment (i.e., seeking help) during the first year of university within the context of small-scale teaching.

     

Conducta prosocial en preescolares

Resumen

Esta investigación pretende analizar la conducta prosocial de los niños/as de edad preescolar y algunas variables cognitivas y afectivas predictoras de la misma. La conducta prosocial se analizó mediante diversos procedimientos y técnicas de medida: evaluatión de los compañeros, evaluatión del maestro/a a través de dos cuestionarios diferentes y observación sistemática por parte de los investigadores en situaciones de juego espontáneo. En esta observación se registraron también las conductas agresivas. Las variables predictoras analizadas fueron: empatía, toma de perspectiva espacial y social y calidad del apego. Los resultados mostraron una mayor proporción de conductas prosociales en las niñas y una mayor proporción de conductas agresivas en los niños. La calidad del vínculo con la madre y la empatía se revelaron como dos importantes predictores de la conducta pro-social en esta edad.     

Promoting prosocial behaviors through literature

Cathleen looked forward to visiting her older sister's nursery school. During the Thursday morning visit, Cathleen enthusiastically investigated blocks, sand, paints and a basket of toy trucks. As the visit drew to a close Cathleen's mother said: We've had a nice visit and now let's put away these toys, Cathleen. I'll put a truck in the basket and then you put one in. A few minutes later when the cleaning up was completed, Cathleen's mother hugged her and said, You're the best two-and-a-half-year-old helper in the world.Joan S. McMath teaches in the School of Curriculum and Instruction at Ohio University in Athens, OH.     

Preschoolers' prosocial repertoires: Parents' perspectives

Two cross-sectional developmental studies of prosocial behaviors displayed in natural settings by 2- and 5-year-olds using a prototype approach are reported. In the first study, caretakers described the most prosocial child they knew, resulting in 20 attributes for 2-year-olds and 24 attributes for 5-year-olds. In the second study, parents rated the relative importance of each attribute in defining a child as prosocial. Results indicated more similarities than differences between the two age groups and that research has underrepresented the rich repertoire of naturally occurring prosocial behavior in young children, ignoring behaviors salient and important to parents (e.g., being cheerful, sensitive, affectionate, friendly, and praising others) in favor of less typical behaviors (e.g., donation of commodities to charity). Broader and more relevant indices of prosocial behavior are needed. Results provide researchers with a data base which enables them to make informed decisions about the assessment of prosocial behavior.     

试析影响儿童亲社会行为的因素

儿童心理的发展经历了一个极其漫长的过程.自个体出生之日起,就受到来自社会各方面的影响,儿童随着自身认识能力和自我意识的发展逐渐的适应社会生活,实现从"自然人"向社会人的过渡.在此过程中亲社会行为是较为常见的一种社会行为,也是个体社会化发展的一个重要指标.本文着重分析影响儿童亲社会行为的诸因素.     

Emotional displays associated with preschoolers' prosocial behavior

The purpose of the study was to examine the relation between preschoolers' emotional status and their performance and receipt of prosocial behaviors. Triads of children were filmed while playing with a toy. Instances of sharing behaviors as well as benefactors' and recipients' facial expressions were coded prior and subsequent to sharing. Moreover, recipients' affect prior to defensive behaviors of potential benefactors was noted. Recipients and benefactors exhibited more than average positive affect subsequent to spontaneous prosocial behaviors, and benefactors tended to exhibit more than average positive affect prior to emitting such behaviors. Benefactors exhibited more positive emotion subsequent to the performance of spontaneously emitted than requested prosocial behaviors. Recipients displayed more positive affect subsequent to the receipt of spontaneous than requested behaviors and more anger prior to the receipt of requested actions. Displays by recipients tended to be followed by the receipt of prosocial behaviors, whereas nonpositive displays tended to be followed by the receipt of defensive reactions.     

Assessing children's perceptions of prosocial and antisocial peer behaviour

The aims of this study were to administer an assessment measure that would identify prosocial children, bullies and their victims, and to examine the underlying structure of children's perceptions of peer social behaviour in these three groups. Three versions (peer nomination, self and teacher rating) of a newly developed child social behaviour questionnaire (CSBQ) were completed by children (aged 9/10 years, n=321) and their teachers in 14 Scottish primary schools. The CSBQ is distinguished from other extant measures by its joint focus on both prosocial and antisocial child behaviours, and by its use of concrete and empirically derived items. In conjunction with sociometric data, which was also elicited from the children, the CSBQ yielded scores on 12 behavioural dimensions. Based upon the peer nomination data, a set of rigorous criteria, capable of reliably identifying children in the three groups, was developed to take account of varying peer nomination practices within and between schools. Factor analysis of the 12 measures yielded four factors (two antisocial factors, a prosocial factor and a victim factor) which accounted for 71% of the variance, and which offer further insight into the organisation of children's perceptions of social behaviour. Gender differences in peer nomination patterns and comparisons between the different informant groups are discussed in relation to previous work.     

Promoting prosocial pupil behaviour and the roles of counselling

Antisocial behaviour of pupils isgetting more and more attention in many countries.Information is given about relevant definitions andthe prevalence of antisocial behaviour of pupils inthe Netherlands. Policy strategies and actions toreduce antisocial behaviour at the national level,regional or municipal level, school and class level,and individual or pupil level are focussed. Researchto explain antisocial behaviour and to promoteprosocial behaviour provides clues to a moresystematic prosocial approach, which is formulated infive guidelines towards optimum education. Practiceexperiences in developing optimum education since thebeginning in kindergarten also suggest roles ofcounselling.