Prosocial development in early adulthood: a longitudinal study.
Consistency of measures of a prosocial personality and prosocial moral judgment over time, and the interrelations among them, were examined. Participants and friends' reports of prosocial characteristics were obtained at ages 21-22, 23-24, and 25-26 years. In addition, participants' prosocial judgment was assessed with interviews and with an objective measure of prosocial moral reasoning at several ages. Reports of prosocial behavior and empathy-related responding in childhood and observations of prosocial behavior in preschool also were obtained. There was interindividual consistency in prosocial dispositions, and prosocial dispositions in adulthood related to empathy/sympathy and prosocial behavior at much younger ages. Interview and objective measures of moral reasoning were substantially interrelated in late adolescence/early adulthood and correlated with participants' and friends' reports of a prosocial disposition.
Eisenberg
Nancy
N
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe 85287, USA.
Guthrie
Ivanna K
IK
Cumberland
Amanda
A
Murphy
Bridget C
BC
Shepard
Stephanie A
SA
Zhou
Qing
Q
Carlo
Gustavo
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D035863:Moral Development; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D010553:Personality Development; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012919:Social Behavior; D012928:Social Desirability; D013997:Time Factors