Abstract
The development of aggressive and prosocial behaviors are important issues in social development. While many studies have been conducted over the years, the relationship between the two remains controversial. Depending on factors such as child age, abilities, and even situations, they have been found to be negatively correlated in some studies, while in others have been found to be independent or even coexisting. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relationship between aggression and prosocial behavior in early childhood through a one-year longitudinal study. The role of inhibitory control ability in the relationship between the two is the focus of this study.
118 4-year-olds were recruited from 6 preschools. The Aggressive Behavior Subscale of the Preschool Social Behavior Scale, the Preschool Prosocial Behavior Scale, and the Self-inhibitory Control Subscale of the Taiwanese Traditional-Chinese Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory were used in this study.
First, the cross-sectional correlational analysis showed that aggressive behaviors (overt and relational aggression) were negatively correlated with prosocial behaviors (sharing, helping, caring and cooperation) both in the first and the second year. Next, inhibitory self-control was found to be negatively correlated with aggressiveness and positively correlated with prosocial behaviors. Finally, the hierarchical regression analysis showed that, after excluding the effect of inhibitory control, the cross-sectional and the longitudinal relationship between aggressive and prosocial behaviors were no more significant. The findings suggested the modulating role of inhibitory control in the association between aggression and prosocial behaviors.
This study suggested that helping young children develop the ability of inhibitory control might be the key to reduce aggression and improve prosocial behaviors. The findings of this study can provide reference for child development researchers and early childhood educators.