Abstract
The Investigation of Elementary School. Childrens''''''''
Prosocial Behavior and its Related Factors
Juei-Yu Lo
There were four purposes of this study:
1. to review the research and theories of elementary school
children''''''''s prosocial behavior.
2. to investigate the development and disposition of
elementary school children''''''''s prosocial behavior.
3. to investigate elementary school children''''''''s prosocial
behavior and it''''''''s related factors.
4. to provide useful information for parents, teachers, and
educational researchers regarding the enhancement of
elementary school children''''''''s prosocial behavior.
Four related factors of children''''''''s prosocial behavior
were investigated:(1)demographic factors（including sex,age,
grade, and area);(2)family environment factors（including
parental discipline methods, family socioecomic status,
family size, family religion, and birth ordinal);(3)personal
factors（including empathy and self-efficacy）;(4)school
factors（including teachers'''''''' classroom discipline styles and
peer sociometric status).
3825 subjects were selected from 30 elementary schools
in different areas (metropolis, provincial city, town, and
village)grades three to six(ages between 9 to 13 years old).
There were 1973 boys and 1852 girls.
All children completed six questionnatires: (1)The
Prosocial Behavior Questionnaire; (2)The Parents'''''''' Discipline
Styles Iventory; (3)The Children Empathy Measure; (4)The
Children Self-Perception Profile; (5)Teacher Power Styles
Inventory; (6)The Sociomertic Status Rating.
The significant results of this study were:
1. a positive correlation (r=.7621) between children''''''''s
disposition prosocial behavior and performance prosocial
behavior.
2. the girls showed higher prosocial behavior than the boys;
grades four, five, six children showed higher prosocial
behavior than the grade three children; metropolis,
provincial city, and town areas children showed higher
prosocial behavior than the villiage area children.
3. there were statistical significant differences in prosocial
behavior among children''''''''s family environment factors:
authoritarian parental discipline children showed higher
prosocial behavior than others; the ignoring parental
discipline children showed the least prosocial behavior;
the higher and middle socioecnomic families children
appeared higher prosocial behavior than the lower
socioecnomic families children; single-parent family
children showed the least prosocial behavior than the other;
the Buddhist family children appeared higher prosocial
behavior than the other.
4. the school factors significantly influenced children''''''''s
prosocial behavior. The Children with normative discipline
style teachers reported higher prosocial behavior than the
children with coercive and remunerative discipline styles
teachers. The higher peer sociometric status children
showed higher prosocial behavior than the other.
5. there were significat correlation between children''''''''s
personal factors and prosocial behavior. The higher empathy
children showed higher prosocial behavior. The higher
self-effecicy children showed higher prosocial behavior
6. there were significant multiple correlation from the related
factors to predict children''''''''s prosocial behavior by the
multiple stepwise regression analysis. The multiple
correlation (r=.5791) predicted 33.54% variance of children''''''''s
disposion prosocial behavior. The parent discipline was the
best predictor. The multiple correlation (r=.6056) predicted
36.67% variance of children''''''''s performance prosocial behavior.
The teacher''''''''s normative discipline method was the best
poedictor.
Finally, limitations of this study and suggestions for future
study were discussed.