Discusses whether humans have a capacity to care about others, or if the target of concern is always oneself. Presents evidence that supports the empathy-altruism hypothesis, suggesting that humans are capable of empathy and caring for another in need. Discusses limits on human capacity for altruistic caring. (JS)

Children with secure attachments at 12 and 18 months of age were found to be more empathic and prosocial toward others as preschoolers. (PCB)

In an examination of the association of shared positive affect during 2 communicative contexts, it was found that 18 normal children displayed positive affect toward an adult during joint attention situations, while 18 autistic children did not. Eighteen mentally retarded children displayed high levels of positive affect during requesting as well…

Studied responses of children aged 48-77 months to scenarios in which a friend or an acquaintance was frightened or angry. With friends, children were more likely to report sympathetic responses and propose an intervention. With acquaintances, children were less likely to intervene and more likely to report being unaffected. (BG)

Presents Life Space Interview (LSI), intervention strategy for use during crisis work with troubled students. Focuses on New Tools Salesmanship, special category of LSI in which interviewer helps student see failed connection between student's intention and behavior. Presents New Tools Salesmanship interview with fourth-grade student who…

Investigated the ways 0-6 year-old children express their altruism, particularly the feelings and actions making up the altruistic behavior in this period of development, based on parent reports. Found that children behave altruistically almost from birth, with a great variety of this feeling from 2-4 years old, mostly expressed toward loved…

Examines self-reported histories of victimization among two groups of men. Violence, provocation, hostility, and aggression inventories were administered to a prosocial group of firefighters and an antisocial group of incarcerated felons. Fourteen of the 15 possible behavioral-abuse correlations were significant when both groups were considered…

Naturalistically observed 52 preschoolers' responses to their crying peers. Found that variations in preschoolers' ways of responding were related to the children's temperament, friendship status, and interactive style with peers. (Author/BC)

Many interventions for children's behavior problems successfully utilize a group format for social skills training, providing opportunities for practice and performance feedback from peers. Recent studies however, suggest that grouping aggressive children together may reduce intervention effectiveness or even increase risk. The present study…

Research in aggressive behavior development has distinguished between proactive (i.e., intended to achieve an instrumental goal) and reactive (i.e., emitted as an emotional response to provocation) subtypes of aggression. A similar distinction has not been made with regard to prosocial behavior. In this study, subtypes of both aggressive and…

Homophily, a term used to describe the tendency to associate with similar others, serves as a basis for attraction among children. The converse may also be true. Dissimilarity appears to contribute to dislike. In one of the only published studies to examine homophily and its converse, D. W. Nangle, C. A. Erdley, and J. A. Gold (1996) found that…

Though they play the least active role, bystanders are a critical element in bullying. With peers looking on and providing at least tacit support, the bully is no longer acting alone. The bystanders have become allies to the point of magnifying the supposed negative attributes of the target. If the bullying cycle is to be broken, the role of the…

This study examined the hypothesis that religiosity would be differentially related to six types of adolescent prosocial behaviour, and that these relations would be mediated by the prosocial value of kindness. Self-report data were collected from 142 high school students (63 per cent female; 91 per cent White; M age = 16.8, S = .80). Religiosity…

Children's target experiences (as recipients of prosocial peer acts and victims of peer aggression) were investigated for their concurrent and longitudinal associations with prosocial and aggressive behavior. Forty-four children (initially 22-40 months) were observed in naturalistic interactions with peers during a two-month period for each of…

The present study assessed children's evaluations of hypothetical peer provocation. Participants (N = 75, ages 8-11) were presented with hypothetical vignettes depicting relationally aggressive, physically aggressive and prosocial peers engaging in provocative behaviours directed at the participant, including (a) relational (not receiving a party…