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7 - Prosocial Behavior in Infancy and Early Childhood

from Part I - Development of Prosociality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2023

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

Early forms of empathy and sharing appear before the first birthday. In the second year, toddlers cooperate and help or comfort others, as they begin to recognize other people’s needs. The different types of early prosocial behavior are not necessarily correlated with each other or with measures of infants’ temperament. Individual differences and gender differences in prosocial behavior begin to emerge in early childhood, when prosocial behavior becomes associated with children’s developing skills and their social understanding.

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The Cambridge Handbook of Prosociality
Development, Mechanisms, Promotion
, pp. 127 - 144
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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