Do attributional feedback and self-concept influence child prosocial behavior in

描述(由申请人提供)：童年中期的亲社会行为与青春期和成年期的教育和职业成功以及对反社会行为的适应能力有关；因此，关键是要更好地了解在童年中期鼓励亲社会行为的过程。在拟议的研究中，结合了两个关键领域来阐明儿童中期亲社会行为的发展。首先，关于儿童行为原因的沟通很重要。关于归因反馈的文献表明，以人为中心的反馈(例如，儿童的成功源于智力)和以过程为中心的反馈(例如，儿童的成功是由于努力或策略选择)对儿童的学习和任务表现有很强的影响。然而，归因反馈与一般的社会行为，特别是亲社会行为的关系研究较少。将归因反馈的文献应用于亲社会行为的一个关键的方法论障碍是为儿童提供了一个需要克服的挑战。先导研究产生了一种新颖的、生态上有效的范式，用于评估儿童在人际挑战后亲社会行为的变化。因此，本研究将首次考察儿童亲社会行为的归因反馈如何影响随后的人际挑战后的亲社会行为。第二个需要整合的关键领域是儿童的自我概念。童年中期的发展转变尤其重要，因为儿童的自我概念在这个时候转变为包含各种特征。对于一些孩子来说，善良或有同情心可能会成为他们自我意识的核心，而对另一些孩子来说，这不会。由于对特质的归因被认为是通过将注意力集中在自我来影响儿童的行为，儿童的亲社会自我概念可能会改变以个人为中心的反馈对儿童亲社会行为的影响。这项研究将首次探讨儿童的自我概念是否会调节归因反馈对亲社会行为的影响。这些目标将通过对102名9岁和10岁儿童的自我概念和亲社会行为的实验操作和多方法测量来实现。这项研究将通过(A)解决关于儿童对自身特征的反思如何影响他们的行为的相互矛盾的理论解释，以及(B)揭示鼓励亲社会行为的过程，从而推动儿童发展的科学。将产生新的方法论范式。生态效度高的实验方法的使用加强了结果在发展心理学、社会心理学、临床心理学和教育心理学中的适用性。 公共卫生相关性：鉴于公立学校对品格教育的日益重视，以及最近的积极心理学运动，目的是了解利他主义等品格优势如何促进韧性和幸福感，拟议中的研究结果可能对教育实践以及旨在促进儿童社会情绪发展的干预和预防计划具有重要的直接相关性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Prosocial behavior in middle childhood is linked to educational and occupational success and resiliency to antisocial behavior in adolescence and adulthood; thus, it is critical to better understand processes through which prosocial behavior may be encouraged in middle childhood. In the proposed research, two key areas are integrated to illuminate the development of prosocial behavior in middle childhood. First, communication about the reasons for children's behavior is important. The burgeoning literature on attributional feedback demonstrates strong influences of person-focused feedback (e.g., child's success is due to intelligence) and process-focused feedback (e.g., child's success is due to effort or strategic choices) on children's academic and task performance. Attributional feedback, however, has been less studied in relation to social behavior in general and prosocial behavior in particular. A critical methodological obstacle in applying the literature on attributional feedback to prosocial behavior is providing a challenge for children to surmount. Pilot research yielded a novel, ecologically-valid paradigm for assessing children's change in prosocial behavior following an interpersonal challenge. Thus, this research will be the first to examine how attributional feedback about children's prosocial behavior influences subsequent prosocial behavior following interpersonal challenge. The second key area to be integrated regards children's self-concept. The developmental shift in middle childhood is especially important, as children's self-concept transforms at this time to encompass traits. For some children, being kind or empathetic may become centrally important to their sense of self, whereas for others, it will not. Because attributions about traits are presumed to affect children's behavior by focusing attention on the self, children's prosocial self-concept may alter the impact of person-focused feedback on children's prosocial behavior. This research will be the first to address whether children's self-concept moderates the effect of attributional feedback on prosocial behavior. These aims will be addressed through experimental manipulation and multi-method measurement of children's self-concept and prosocial behavior with 102 nine- and ten-year-old children. This research will advance the science of child development by (a) resolving contrasting theoretical explanations about how children's reflection on their own traits influences their behavior and (b) shedding light on the processes through which prosocial behavior can be encouraged. Novel methodological paradigms will result. Use of experimental methods high in ecological validity strengthens the applicability of results for developmental, social, clinical, and educational psychology. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Given the increased emphasis on character education in public schools, and the recent positive psychology movement toward understanding how character strengths such as altruism may promote resilience and well- being, findings from the proposed research may have important direct relevance for educational practice and for intervention and prevention programs aimed at promoting children's socio-emotional development.