Work

The relation of prosocial behavior to the development of aggression and psychopathology

Year: 1984

Type: article

Abstract: The development of prosocial behavior is traced from middle childhood to adulthood in a 22-year longitudinal study of 800 children first seen at age 8 and is compared to the development of aggression over the same period. Prosocial behavior and aggression seem to represent opposite ends of a single dimension of behavior since they are consistently negatively related to each other and relate in opposite ways to correlated variables both synchronously and over time. Both are stable forms of behavior with good predictability over the time span studied and both are related to the quality of the parent-child relationship. The most important deterrent to the development of antisocial behavior and the encouragement of prosocial behavior is probably a close identification between the child and his/her parents.

Source: Aggressive Behavior

DOI: 10.1002/1098-2337(1984)10:3<201::aid-ab2480100304>3.0.co;2-s

Authors: Leonard D. Eron, L. Rowell Huesmann

Institution: University of Illinois Chicago

Language: English

Topic: Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health