Adolescent Empathy and Prosocial Behavior in the Multidimensional Context of School Culture.

The authors investigated whether students' positive perceptions of their high school's culture were associated with higher levels of empathy and prosocial behavior. The authors collected information from 2 samples to ensure a wide range of school culture perceptions. As expected, empathy and prosoci...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Genetic Psychology Vol. 168; no. 3; pp. 231 - 251
Autores principales: Barr, Jason J., Higgins-D'Alessandro, Ann
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd September 2007
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:The authors investigated whether students' positive perceptions of their high school's culture were associated with higher levels of empathy and prosocial behavior. The authors collected information from 2 samples to ensure a wide range of school culture perceptions. As expected, empathy and prosocial behavior were correlated. As evidence of the validity of the measure of school culture, students in a small alternative school perceived their school culture as more positive than did students in the companion large, traditional high school. More positive perceptions of school culture were associated with higher levels of empathy but not with prosocial behavior. Results were moderated by gender but not by age. Male students with higher levels of emotional concern (one aspect of empathy) perceived peer relationships (one aspect of school culture) to be more positive than did those with lower levels of emotional concern. This study highlights the importance of using multidimensional constructs for school culture and empathy to understand the effects of schooling on youth. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.