Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T15:14:07.121Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Afterword

A Reminiscence on Origins of Prosociality and Antisociality

from Part IV - Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2023

Tina Malti
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Maayan Davidov
Affiliation:
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Get access

Summary

Research on prosociality through the lens of developmental psychology and related disciplines is recent in human history, starting just over 50 years ago when I began my career. It sounds like a long time, but it was not, when considered in terms of human evolution. It was exciting to get in on the ground floor. This transition to theory testing, data collection, combinations of methods, and interdisciplinary work created a niche for me to study the development of empathy and prosocial behavior. It also allowed for the study of several other aspects of prosociality that are well reflected in this volume. Malti and Davidov have created a remarkable, scholarly volume that testifies to all we have learned in a short period of time. Early students are now masters of their own innovative work with their own colleagues and students. As an epilogue to the volume, I share here with the reader some of my recollections, insights, and reflections on this body of knowledge and work that is so close to my heart.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Prosociality
Development, Mechanisms, Promotion
, pp. 614 - 630
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E., & Teasdale, J. D. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87(1), 4974. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.87.1.49Google Scholar
Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Psychology, 4(1, Pt. 2), 1103. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0030372Google Scholar
Bloom, P. (2017). Against empathy: The case for rational compassion. Random House.Google Scholar
Bregman, R. (2020). Humankind: A hopeful history. Little, Brown.Google Scholar
Cialdini, R. B., Darby, B. L., & Vincent, J. E. (1973). Transgression and altruism: A case for hedonism. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 9(6), 502516. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(73)90031-0Google Scholar
Cummings, E. M., Iannotti, R. J., & Zahn-Waxler, C. (1985). Influence of conflict between adults on the emotions and aggression of young children. Developmental Psychology, 21(3), 495507. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.21.3.495CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummings, E. M., Zahn-Waxler, C., & Radke-Yarrow, M. (1981). Young children’s responses to expressions of anger and affection by others in the family. Child Development, 52(4), 12741282.Google Scholar
Cytryn, L., & McKnew, D. H. (1996). Growing up sad: Childhood depression and its treatment. W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Darwin, C. (1872). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. John Murray.Google Scholar
Davidov, M., Paz, Y., Roth-Hanania, R., Uzefovsky, F., Orlitsky, T., Mankuta, D., & Zahn-Waxler, C. (2021). Caring babies: Concern for others in distress during infancy. Developmental Science, 24(2), e13016. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13016Google Scholar
de Saint-Exupéry, A. (1943). Le petit prince. Gallimard.Google Scholar
de Waal, F. B. M. (2008). Putting the altruism back into altruism: The evolution of empathy. Annual Review of Psychology, 59(1), 279300. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093625Google Scholar
Decety, J. (2011). The neuroevolution of empathy. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1231(1), 3545. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06027.xGoogle Scholar
Draghi-Lorenz, R., Reddy, V., & Costall, A. (2001). Rethinking the development of “nonbasic” emotions: A critical review of existing theories. Developmental Review, 21(3), 263304. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.2000.0524Google Scholar
Else-Quest, N. M., Hyde, J. S., Goldsmith, H. H., & Van Hulle, C. A. (2006). Gender differences in temperament: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 3372. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.33Google Scholar
Flook, L., Goldberg, S. B., Pinger, L., & Davidson, R. J. (2015). Promoting prosocial behavior and self-regulatory skills in preschool children through a mindfulness-based kindness curriculum. Developmental Psychology, 51, 4451. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038256Google Scholar
Golding, W. (1954). Lord of the flies. Faber and Faber.Google Scholar
Hastings, P. D., Zahn-Waxler, C., Robinson, J. L., Usher, B., & Bridges, D. (2000). The development of concern for others in children with behavior problems. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 36(1), 531546. https://doi.org/10.1037//0O121649.36.5.531Google Scholar
Hrdy, S. B. (2011). Mothers and others: The evolutionary origins of mutual understanding. Harvard University Press,.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knafo, A., Zahn-Waxler, C., Van Hulle, C., Robinson, J. A. L., & Rhee, S. H. (2008). The developmental origins of a disposition toward empathy: Genetic and environmental contributions. Emotion, 8(6), 737752. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014179CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacLean, P. D. (1985). Brain evolution relating to family, play, and the separation call. Archives of General Psychiatry, 42(4), 405417. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1985.01790270095011Google Scholar
Murphy, L. B. (1943). Social behavior and child personality. In Child behavior and development: A course of representative studies (pp. 345362). McGraw-Hill. https://doi.org/10.1037/10786-020Google Scholar
Paz, Y., Orlitsky, T., Roth-Hanania, R., Zahn-Waxler, C., & Davidov, M. (2020). Predicting externalizing behavior in toddlerhood from early individual differences in empathy. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13247Google Scholar
Pinker, S. (2011). The better angels of our nature: Why violence has declined. Viking Books.Google Scholar
Preston, S. D. (2022). The altruistic urge: Why we’re driven to help others. Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Rhee, S. H., Woodward, K., Corley, R. P., Du Pont, A., Friedman, N. P., Hewitt, J. K., Hink, L. K., Robinson, J., & Zahn-Waxler, C. (2021). The association between toddlerhood empathy deficits and antisocial personality disorder symptoms and psychopathy in adulthood. Development and Psychopathology, 33(1), 173183. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579419001676Google Scholar
Smith, A. (1759). The theory of moral sentiments. Printed for A. Millar, and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, S. E., Klein, L. C., Lewis, B. P., Gruenewald, T. L., Gurung, R. A. R., & Updegraff, J. A. (2000). Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: Tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight. Psychological Review, 107(3), 411429. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.107.3.411Google Scholar
Yarrow, M. R., Scott, P. M., & Waxler, C. Z. (1973). Learning concern for others. Developmental Psychology, 8(2), 240260. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034159CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zahn-Waxler, C. (2019). A researcher who found herself: An interview. In Price, C. & Walle, E. (Eds.), Emotion researcher, ISRE’s sourcebook for research on emotion and affect. http://emotionresearcher.com/a-researcher-who-found-herself/Google Scholar
Zahn-Waxler, C., Cummings, E., & Iannotti, R. (Eds.) (1986). Altruism and aggression: Social and biological origins. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Zahn-Waxler, C., Hollenbeck, B., & Radke-Yarrow, M. (1985). The origins of empathy and altruism. In Fox, M. W. & Mickley, L. D. (Eds.), Advances in animal welfare science 1984 (pp. 2141). Springer Netherlands.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zahn-Waxler, C., & Radke-Yarrow, M. (1982). The development of altruism: Alternative research strategies. In Eisenberg-Berg, N. (Ed.), The development of prosocial behavior (pp. 109137). Academic Press.Google Scholar
Zahn-Waxler, C., Radke-Yarrow, M., & King, R. A. (1979). Child rearing and children’s prosocial initiations toward victims of distress. Child Development, 50(2), 319. https://doi.org/10.2307/1129406CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zahn-Waxler, C., Shirtcliff, E. A., & Marceau, K. (2008). Disorders of childhood and adolescence: Gender and psychopathology. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 4, 275303. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.3.022806.091358CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zahn-Waxler, C., & Van Hulle, C. (2011). Empathy, guilt, and depression: When caring for others becomes costly to children. In Oakley, B., Knafo, A., Mudhaven, G., & Wilson, D. S. (Eds.), Pathological altruism (pp. 243259). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×