Prosocial development in early adulthood: a longitudinal study

J Pers Soc Psychol. 2002 Jun;82(6):993-1006.

Abstract

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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cohort Studies
  • Empathy
  • Female
  • Friends / psychology
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations*
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Judgment / physiology
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Moral Development
  • Mothers / psychology
  • Personality Development*
  • Self Disclosure
  • Social Behavior*
  • Social Desirability
  • Time Factors