Prosocial Tendencies among Chinese American Children in Immigrant Families: Links to Cultural and Socio-demographic Factors and Psychological Adjustment
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AbstractThe present study examined relations between prosocial tendencies (dispositional sympathy and prosocial behavior) and psychological adjustment using a multimethod and multiinformant approach in a socioeconomically diverse sample of first and secondgeneration Chinese American children from immigrant families (N=238, M age=9.2 years). We tested the concurrent associations between: (a) children's dispositional sympathy (rated by parents, teachers, and children, and observed prosocial behavior), (b) psychological adjustment (parent and teacherreported externalizing problems and social competence); and (c) cultural and sociodemographic factors (children's Chinese and American orientations, family Socioeconomic Status (SES), only child status, and children's age, sex, and social desirability). Results from correlations and structural equation modeling suggested that different measures of prosocial tendencies related differently to children's psychological adjustment. Parent and teacherrated sympathy were associated with higher child social competence and lower externalizing problems within, but not across, reporter. By contrast, childrated sympathy was associated with higher teacherrated social competence, and observed prize donation was associated with lower teacherrated externalizing problems. Different measures of prosocial tendencies also showed different relations to cultural and sociodemographic factors. These findings suggest that prosocial tendencies are not a unitary construct in Chinese American immigrant children: the manifestations of prosocial tendencies and their adjustment implications might depend on the context and/or targets of these tendencies.
