Tested relationships between mood states, self-reflection, and helpfulness. Subjects read mood-inducing statements negative in content, containing the personal pronoun "I;" negative but not self-referencing; emotionally positive in content; emotionally neutral; or no statements. Results showed self-reflection was responsible for…

Four features of early adolescent friendship have received the greatest attention in the literature: intimacy of conversations, friends' responsiveness to each other's needs and desires, the degree of similarity or complementarity between friends, and the stability of friendships over time. Each of these features and its potential effect on the…

Students participated in dyadic disclosure exercises over a five-week period. Results indicated members of high functional similarity dyads evidenced greater attraction to one another than did members of low functional similarity dyads. "Friendship" pairs of male undergraduates displayed greater functional similarity than did…

Reviews positive and potential negative consequences of being high or low in interpersonal trust in social life, particularly in interacting with ordinary people. Research suggests that people who trust are less likely to lie or to be unhappy and more likely to be sought out as a friend. (Author/JLF)

There is no need for a special unit to be developed about courtesy. Everyday activities and situations offer ample opportunity for its practice, for children will imitate the good manners they see adults using. (Author/SJL)

Current social studies programs do not include the study of prosocial behaviors such as altruism, generosity, and compassion. This omission legitimizes the view that human behaviors are self-serving. Curriculum developers should fashion programs which provide prosocial models and opportunities for students to conceptualize such behaviors and…

Asserts that incorporating the identification and practice of caring skills into the curriculum contributes to a better education milieu and equips students with the means to find mature solutions to problems and ensure a lifetime of good personal mental health. Describes class dialogs, creativity tools, and action-oriented projects as ways to…

Explored the relationship between familial factors and behavior outcomes in Latino adolescents using a youth development framework. Surveys of 446 youth within an urban community indicated that higher levels of parental monitoring and familial connectedness consistently related to less problem behavior involvement. Sociocultural encouragement…

Examines first- and second-grade children's judgments of aggressive, withdrawn, and prosocial behavior by means of fictional scenarios. Results reveal that aggressive children were perceived as more responsible for their behavior and elicited more feelings of anger, while withdrawn children were more likely to be chosen as a friend and elicited…

Reports on a study of 18 pairs of mothers and infants of 14-22 months to determine the cognitive and social development of the child in its second year. Results support the prediction that a new stage of development is achieved between 18 and 22 months in both cognitive and social domains. (RJC)

Examined children's emotional and behavioral regulation and emotional and prosocial responses to a crying infant. Found that children who could regulate their arousal were unlikely to become distressed and more likely than other children to talk to and comfort the crying infant. Girls were more responsive and engaged in more active responses than…

Presents techniques for teachers, parents, schools, and communities to promote young children's social development. Cites research findings supporting these techniques, which focus on interpersonal interactions of caregivers with individual children or small groups of children. (HTH)

Mothers recorded their children's prosocial behavior and failure to be prosocial, and their own responses to their children's behavior. Helping occurred more frequently than other prosocial behaviors. Children were equally likely to receive acknowledgement, approval, praise and no response for prosocial behavior. (BC)

Investigated prosocial behaviors (i.e., helping, sharing) of 37 nonhandicapped and handicapped adolescents in public schools. Found that adolescents with handicaps displayed more prosocial behavior than did nonhandicapped; however, nonhandicapped adolescents perceived themselves as engaging more in prosocial behavior than did handicapped peers.…

Investigates the effect of sex, age, intelligence, and sex role flexibility on prosocial behavior among preschool children. Finds a significant and positive correlation between sex role flexibility and prosocial behavior among boys but not among girls. (FMW)