Social cognition, prosocial behavior, and emotion in preschoolers: contextual validation

• Published in: Child development Vol. 57; no. 1; pp. 194 - 201
• Main Author: Denham, S.A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, MA University of Chicago Press 01.02.1986; Blackwell; University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc
• Subjects: behavior; Biological and medical sciences; Child development; Children; cognitive development; Developmental psychology; Emotion; Emotional expression; Empathy; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Happiness; peer relationships; personal development; Preschool children; Prosocial behavior; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Puppets; Social behavior; Social cognition; Human; Preschool age; Affect affectivity; Social development; Emotionality; Social behavior; Child
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.2307/1130651

Relations among young preschoolers' social cognitive abilities, expression of emotions, and prosocial responses to others' emotions were investigated. 3 types of measures were employed with 27 2- and 3-year-olds: structured social cognitive, structured assessment of response to emotion, and observational coding of response to emotion displays. Results suggested that subjects' social cognitive acuity and differential responding to emotion have heretofore been underrated. Moreover, affective knowledge was significantly related to prosocial behavior in semistructured situations. Prevalent affect was related to expression of prosocial behavior (e. g., frequent expressions of anger were associated with low levels of affective knowledge and prosocial behavior). Thus this investigation benefited from broader conceptual definitions and contextualized measures.