Abstract
Research on age-related change in prosocial behavior from the preadolescent through adolescent years is usually limited to the question of whether the frequency of this behavior increases or decreases as children grow older. Frequency, however, is not consistently related to age. Data from existing research do not support the view that there is any simple unidirectional trend. Increases, no changes, and decreases have been found — depending on the behavior under scrutiny, the method of investigation, and the age group (cf. Radke-Yarrow, Zahn-Waxier & Chapman, 1983). Consequently, there is a growing belief that developmental profiles should be based on more qualitative dimensions; that studying change in the motivational base of prosocial behavior may resolve inconsistencies in earlier results (cf. Reykowski, 1982 a; Rushton, 1976). Yet few empirical studies have dealt with the issue of prosocial motivation directly; one of the few is the subject of the following report.
All studies were conducted in collaboration with a research group at the Polish Academy of Science (principal investigator: J. Reykowski). This research was supported in part by German Research Council Grant Si 296/1–1 through 4 (principal investigators: R. K. Silbereisen and K. Eyferth) and in part by a grant awarded to J. Reykowski by the Polish Academy of Science. The paper was prepared during a sabbatical leave made possible by German Research Council Grant Si 296/2-1 to R. K. Silbereisen. The authors thank Nancy Eisenberg for helpful comments on an earlier version of this chapter.
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Silbereisen, R.K., Boehnke, K., Reykowski, J. (1986). Prosocial Motives from 12 to 18: A Comparison of Adolescents from Berlin (West) and Warsaw. In: Silbereisen, R.K., Eyferth, K., Rudinger, G. (eds) Development as Action in Context. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02475-1_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02475-1_8
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