Temperament, parenting, and prosocial behaviors: Applying a new interactive theory of prosocial development

The primary purpose of the current study was to examine whether theoretically based interactions between dimensions of children\u27s temperament and maternal socialization predicted children\u27s and early adolescents\u27 prosocial behaviors. A new theory was derived by examining how an existing interactive model of early moral development, namely Kochanska\u27s (1993) theory of early conscience internalization, would apply to the prediction of prosocial behaviors. Aspects of child temperament and maternal socialization were thought to operate in a different manner from Kochanska\u27s theory. Fearful temperament and parental socialization entailing punishment do not appear to promote prosocial behavior, unlike early conscience internalization. Moreover, it was thought that children with vulnerable temperaments (i.e., fearful, angry/frustrated, shy) may especially benefit from maternal responsiveness to children\u27s distress as the regulation of distressful emotions is necessary for children to engage in prosocial behaviors. The current study thus tested the hypothesis that the relations between responsive parenting and prosocial behaviors would be the most positive for children and early adolescents with vulnerable temperaments. It was also expected that the relations between firm discipline and prosocial behaviors would not be positive for individuals with vulnerable temperaments. The current study examined 1,068 (538 girls, 83% White) children across several time points (54 months, 6 and 10, 11, and 12 years) who participated in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. No support for the hypotheses proposing interactions between maternal socialization and children\u27s vulnerable temperament was evident. However, partial support was found for main effects such that angry/frustrated temperament was generally negatively related to prosocial behaviors, and maternal responsiveness to children\u27s distress and firm discipline were generally positively related to prosocial behaviors. Contrary to the hypothesis, fearful and shy temperament were not related to prosocial behaviors and maternal responsiveness did not emerge as a unique predictor in relation to prosocial behaviors. Demographic variables were related to children\u27s prosocial behaviors; girls were rated as being more prosocial than boys, White children were rated as being more prosocial than minority children, and family income was positively related to prosocial behaviors. Taken together, these results indicate that interactions between children\u27s temperament and maternal socialization may not be predictive of children\u27s and early adolescents\u27 prosocial behaviors