Prosocial Behavior in Adolescence: Gender Differences in Development and Links with Empathy

Abstract

Although adolescents’ prosocial behavior is related to various positive outcomes, longitudinal research on its development and predictors is still sparse. This 6-wave longitudinal study investigated the development of prosocial behavior across adolescence, and examined longitudinal associations with perspective taking and empathic concern. Participants were 497 adolescents (M age t1 = 13.03 years, 43% girls) who reported on their prosocial behaviors, empathic concern, and perspective taking. The results revealed marked gender differences in the development of prosocial behavior. For boys, levels of prosocial behavior were stable until age 14, followed by an increase until age 17, and a slight decrease thereafter. For girls, prosocial behavior increased until age 16 years and then slightly decreased. Regarding longitudinal associations, empathic concern was consistently related to subsequent prosocial behavior. However, perspective taking was only indirectly related to prosocial behavior, via its effect on empathic concern. Tests of the direction of effects showed support for the notion that earlier prosocial behavior predicts subsequent empathy-related traits, but only for girls. The findings support cognitive-developmental and moral socialization theories of prosocial development and the primary role of moral emotions in predicting prosocial behaviors. Our findings inform strategies to foster prosocial behaviors by emphasizing moral emotions rather than moral cognitions during adolescence.

Relational Aggression in Adolescents with Conduct Disorder: Sex Differences and Behavioral Correlates

“…In this sample perspective-taking ability does not seem to facilitate relational aggressive behavior, as has been suggested by some earlier authors (Batanova & Loukas, 2011;Sutton et al, 1999). This sex-specific correlation may be due to a differential course of pro-and antisocial behavior in females compared to males (Van der Graaff, Carlo, Crocetti, Koot, & Branje, 2018). This was supported by longitudinal, population-based studies that have found an earlier development of social cognitive functioning and perspective taking abilities in females compared to males (Smith, Shepperd, Miller, & Graber, 2016;Van der Graaff et al, 2014).…”

Positive youth development, thriving and social engagement: An analysis of gender differences in Spanish youth

“…Gender segregation was related to greater reference-group identity, cooperative orientation, and communicative responsiveness in adolescent girls. In this vein, Van der Graaff, Carlo, Crocetti, Koot and Branje (2018) have recently shown that prosocial behavior was longitudinally associated with more empathic concern only among girls, which is consistent with the stereotyped notion of prosocial behavior and empathy expressions as feminine-acceptable actions. As noted in Menon, Schellhorn and Lowe (2013), gender identity has a self-regulatory role in decreasing genderatypical characteristics to protect adolescent subjective wellbeing.…”

Anthropomorphism, social understanding, and imaginary companions

“…Both having an IC and gender were predictors of the IDAQ scores, βs = .11 and −.13, p s = .08 and .04, respectively. Although we did not originally predict gender differences in anthropomorphism, women generally score higher on variables that we hypothesized to be related to anthropomorphism, such as empathy (Van der Graaff, Carlo, Crocetti, Koot, & Branje, ; Klein & Hodges, ).…”