The effects of role playing on prosocial behavior in preschool children

• Published in: Shinrigaku kenkyū Vol. 63; no. 1; pp. 42 - 46
• Main Author: Hamazaki, Takashi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan The Japanese Psychological Association 01.04.1992
• Subjects: Child; Child, Preschool; Empathy; Female; helping; Humans; Male; prosocial behavior; Psychology, Child; Role Playing; sharing; Social Behavior
• ISSN: 0021-5236; 1884-1082
• DOI: 10.4992/jjpsy.63.42

The purpose was to examine the effects of two types of role-playing experience on prosocial behavior in preschool children, Subjects were 72 6-year-olds. In the Empathy role-playing (E), each pair of children enacted alternately a victim and an eyewitness using a glove puppet, in which the emphasis was only on empathizing with the victim. In the Empathy and Helping role-playing (EH), they enacted alternately a victim and a helper, in which the emphasis was on empathizing and helping a victim. In the Contorol role-playing (C), they played roles alternately of a customer and a salesman in a grocery store. All children were assessed as for helping and sharing behaviors for a real victim before and after the role playing session. In the comparison between pre- and post-tests for helping behaviors All groups (C, E, EH) increased helping tendency, but only in EH group the proportion of subjects, whose attitude changed from helper to non-helper. As for sharing behavior, all three groups increased the number of sharing significantly in the post-test.