Assessing children's perceptions of prosocial and antisocial peer behaviour

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Gender
Inclusion
Pupil Voice

Authors

Warden, D., Cheyne, B., Christie, D., Fitzpatrick, H., and Reid, K., University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland

Publisher

Educational Psychology, Vol. 23. No. 5. 2003 pp. 547-567

Introduction

How do children see the ways other children behave?

This study was designed to investigate the judgements children made of other children's social behaviour. The study was the first stage of a larger, ongoing project that has three aims: to categorise different types of children's social behaviour; to differentiate the social competence skills of prosocial, asocial and antisocial children; and to implement and evaluate a training programme designed to foster children's social competence. The aim of this first study was to categorise different behaviour types. The researchers designed a measure, the 'Child Social and Behaviour Questionnaire' (CSBQ) to help them identify different aspects of children's prosocial behaviour (behaviours which benefit others e.g. sharing or helping) and antisocial behaviour (physical and verbal abuse) and explore the relationships between them.

Three versions of the questionnaire were completed by 321 nine and ten year old children and their teachers in fourteen Scottish primary schools. The researchers found:

the children commented more on antisocial than prosocial behaviour;
most children judged to be antisocial were considered unpopular, but some children who saw themselves as antisocial were, surprisingly, judged as popular;
prosocial children appeared to apply stricter criteria for judging behaviour;
bullied pupils identified by their peers were not seen as popular;
both genders believed that boys were more likely to demonstrate verbal abuse than physical abuse;
girls believed that girls were more likely to perform prosocial acts than boys; and
boys believed that boys and girls were equally likely to perform prosocial acts.

The study gives an insight into how children see other children's behaviour which may help practitioners to understand their pupils' behaviour in school. The study may also help inform school policies on bullying and behaviour.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What did the researchers want to find out? What categories of behaviour did the researchers identify? What judgements did the children make of their peers' behaviour? Did boys and girls differ in how they saw other children's behaviour? How was the study designed? What are the implications of the study? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader Assessing children's perceptions of prosocial and antisocial peer behaviour This digest found in Gender Inclusion Pupil Voice Send to a friend Word doc 50KB Printer friendly Collate for later Authors Warden, D., Cheyne, B., Christie, D., Fitzpatrick, H., and Reid, K., University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland Publisher Educational Psychology, Vol. 23. No. 5. 2003 pp. 547-567 Introduction How do children see the ways other children behave? This study was designed to investigate the judgements children made of other children's social behaviour. The study was the first stage of a larger, ongoing project that has three aims: to categorise different types of children's social behaviour; to differentiate the social competence skills of prosocial, asocial and antisocial children; and to implement and evaluate a training programme designed to foster children's social competence. The aim of this first study was to categorise different behaviour types. The researchers designed a measure, the 'Child Social and Behaviour Questionnaire' (CSBQ) to help them identify different aspects of children's prosocial behaviour (behaviours which benefit others e.g. sharing or helping) and antisocial behaviour (physical and verbal abuse) and explore the relationships between them. Three versions of the questionnaire were completed by 321 nine and ten year old children and their teachers in fourteen Scottish primary schools. The researchers found: the children commented more on antisocial than prosocial behaviour; most children judged to be antisocial were considered unpopular, but some children who saw themselves as antisocial were, surprisingly, judged as popular; prosocial children appeared to apply stricter criteria for judging behaviour; bullied pupils identified by their peers were not seen as popular; both genders believed that boys were more likely to demonstrate verbal abuse than physical abuse; girls believed that girls were more likely to perform prosocial acts than boys; and boys believed that boys and girls were equally likely to perform prosocial acts. The study gives an insight into how children see other children's behaviour which may help practitioners to understand their pupils' behaviour in school. The study may also help inform school policies on bullying and behaviour.