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Cited by 26Emotions and Moral BehaviorChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentChild and Animal Learning Development

You and me: Investigating the role of self-evaluative emotion in preschool prosociality

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Ross, Josephine·2017·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
DOI 10.1016/j.jecp.2016.11.001
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Abstract

Self-evaluative emotions depend on internalized social standards and motivate social action. However, there is a lack of empirical research documenting the impact of self-evaluative emotion on 3- and 4-year-olds' prosociality. Extant research relates children's experiences of guilt to empathetic concern and making amends. However, the relationship between guilt and both concern and making amends is potentially reductive. Empathetic concern involves similar bodily expressions to guilt, and amend making is used to distinguish guilt from shame in children. This is the first study to relate the development of both positive and negative self-evaluative emotions to empathetic concern and prosocial choice (making amends and spontaneous help). Results confirm that the broad capacity for self-evaluative emotion is established during the preschool years and relates to empathetic concern. Moreover, these social emotions can be used to predict prosocial choice. Making amends was best predicted by empathetic concern and by children's responses to achievement (pride following success and lack of shame following failure). Alongside moral pride, pride in response to achievement and resilience to shame was also the best predictor of spontaneous help. The data support the idea that young children's prosocial choices may be partially driven by the affective drive to maintain an "ideal" self. Psychologists have emphasized that in order to be adaptive, self-evaluative emotion should be guilt oriented rather than shame oriented. However, the adaptive role of pride has been neglected. We call on future research to redress the focus on negative self-evaluation in moral development and further explore the prosocial potential of pride.

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [52]52. Ross, J., Anderson, J.R., & Campbell, R.N. (2011). Situational self-awareness influences 3- and 4-year-olds' self-regulation. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,108, 126- 138.
  2. [62]62. Tracy, J. L., & Robins, R. W. (2007). The psychological structure of pride: a tale of two facets. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(3), 506.

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Authors
Ross, J.
Affiliations
University of Dundee (GB)
Corresponding author
Ross, Josephine
ORCID
Ross, Josephine
Venue
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-03
Volume
155
Pages
67-83
ISSN
0022-0965 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.jecp.2016.11.001
OpenAlex
W2558373013
Cited by
26
References
79
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 7 · 2017: 3
FWCI
5.23
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Journal of Experimental Child Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Discovery Research Portal (University of Dundee) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
Keywords
prosocial behavior, preschool children, empathic concern, guilt, shame, making amends, ideal self, moral development, social emotions
MeSH terms
Child, Child, Preschool, Choice Behavior, Emotions, Female, Guilt, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Morals, Motivation, Self-Assessment, Self Concept, Shame

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