Helping Kids! Cross-Cultural Research on Children’s Prosocial Behavior in Societies Transitioning to Peace

Abstract

Intrastate conflicts dominate the twenty-first century. Understanding the psychological mechanisms necessary to transform such settings into more peaceful societies is essential. Toward that end, Helping Kids! is a cross-cultural project that focuses on children in conflict-affected contexts. Moving away from the conceptualization of youth as perpetrators or powerless victims, Helping Kids! recognizes that children can foster a peaceful future, despite growing up in the shadow of war. This chapter approaches peace holistically and understands it as not merely the absence of violence, exploring a conceptualization of positive peace. In line with this understanding, Helping Kids! goes beyond reducing prejudice to focus on intergroup prosocial acts. The chapter first outlines 16 Helping Kids! Cross-cultural research on children's prosocial behavior in societies transitioning to peace 2 how outgroup prosociality can be understood as an antecedent of peacebuilding, then presents evidence from elementary school-aged children in five different contexts of intergroup conflict (Northern Ireland, Croatia, Kosovo, Republic of North Macedonia, and Israel) to reflect both the complexity and diversity of this area of research. We highlight both the common characteristics as well as differences across the Helping Kids! contexts and how children can contribute to a transition to peace. The chapter concludes with recommendations for future research and practice.

Children’s outgroup giving in settings of intergroup conflict: The developmental role of ingroup symbol preference.

“…Yet the findings also point to children’s peace-building potential. In each postaccord setting, children demonstrated a willingness to share resources with a member of a conflict-rival outgroup (Bähr et al, in press). As outlined by the DPM, children’s outgroup prosocial behavior in the microsystem, such as sharing with an individual member of the conflict-rival group (Taylor, O’Driscoll, et al, 2020), may have implications for prosociality in adolescence and emerging adulthood that aims to promote constructive change in the exo- and macrosystems (Taylor et al, 2018; Taylor & McKeown, 2021).…”

The Developmental Peacebuilding Model (DPM) of Children’s Prosocial Behaviors in Settings of Intergroup Conflict

“…Neighborhood cohesion also has positively and directly affected prosocial behavior in Italy (Lenzi et al, 2012). Finally, comparing predictors of children’s prosocial behaviors across different macrosystems through cross‐national research is an essential piece of this puzzle, but is still lacking (for exceptions, see Carlo, Koller, Eisenberg, Da Silva, & Frohlich, 1996, comparing the United States and Brazil; Bähr et al, in press, comparing Northern Ireland, Croatia, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, and Israel). For the most part, studies about broader influences on children’s prosocial behavior are rare.…”

Beliefs about the factors that motivate prosocial sentiments among people in the privileged class of Pakistan during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…In collectivism, individuals are expected to assist members within their social networks. It has been observed that, in comparison to individualist societies, collectivist societies tend to view extending social help towards others as a priority (Bahr et al., 2021 ). This research is also compatible with the theory of planned behavior.…”