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Numerous researchers have argued early adolescent behavior patterns are among the best predictors of later achievement and social-psychological adjustment outcomes. In the current study, a secondary data analysis was conducted to determine the extent to which four prosocial behaviors (cooperation, assertiveness, self-control and prosocial behaviors toward peers) and two forms of aggression (overt and relational) influence academic performance (as indexed by GPA and standardized achievement scores). Additionally, the potential moderating role of two school environment variables (perception of school climate and teacher bonding) were also considered in order to further examine the social-emotional environment of middle schools. Examining concurrent relations between grade 5 social behaviors and academic performance revealed all four forms of prosocial behavior were positively related to higher academic performance. Predictive relations between grade 6 social behaviors and academic outcomes at grade 9 indicated that of the four prosocial behaviors and two forms of aggression, cooperation alone predicted the likelihood of later academic achievement. Finally, it was hypothesized that prosocial behaviors, perception of school climate and teacher bonding would serve as moderators between aggression and academic performance; however, this prediction was unsupported. By drawing attention to the limited typology employed in studying prosocial behavior, as well as the methodological challenges that arise when examining these behaviors during adolescence, the hope is to spur research geared towards a more comprehensive understanding of prosocial development. / Master of Science

The most common school-based interventions to prevent victimization from bullying use disciplinary methods and increase playground supervision. While enforcement approaches can prevent bullying, the effects are often short term and may lead to undesirable side effects. Thus, it seems a positive approach to increase prosocial behavior and prevent victimization is needed. This study evaluated the Actively Caring for People (AC4P) approach in four Southwest Virginia middle schools. Sixth and seventh grade students from two schools (n=209) participated in a five-week prosocial-focused curriculum, while 194 students served in the control group. All participants completed pre and post-test measures on their prosocial behavior performed and received, aggressive victimization and aggression performed, as well as bullying victimization and bullying performed to others. Linear regression and binary logistic regression were used to assess the impact of the Intervention. Follow-up moderator analyses were performed to assess the impact of Intervention Fidelity, Classroom Climate, Coaches' Entity Prosocial Mindset, and Role Model Perceptions. No intervention effects were observed and no moderators of the intervention were significant. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed. / Master of Science

Kindness movements toward a kinder more compassionate world are proliferating worldwide. One of the key challenges facing these movements is attracting and sustaining members. This research identified a range of dispositional, motivational, and contextual factors significantly related to participation in a kindness movement initiated on the Virginia Tech campus after the tragic shootings on April 16, 2007: the AC4P Movement. Strongly resembling existing research on motivational functions served by volunteerism, the present research identified five motives for participation in kindness movements: social action, gratitude expression, social enhancement, impression management, and protective. Additionally, regression analysis identified a model with five significant predictors of participation: required participation, history of traumatic experience, belief that society is in danger, extroversion, and social action motivation. Findings are integrated within the context of Geller's (2016) model of empowerment. / Ph. D. / Kindness movements to inspire a kinder more compassionate culture are proliferating worldwide. These movements reflect a novel and potentially effective means for promote acts of kindness within and between individuals. To date, however, the factors that influence participation in kindness movements have not been systematically investigated. The present research aimed to determine whether key motivational, dispositional, and contextual factors influence participation in a worldwide kindness movement initiated at Virginia Tech: the Actively Caring for People (AC4P) Movement. Participation was defined as having passed an AC4P wristband on to another person as a reward for performing an act of kindness. Related to prior research on motivation and volunteerism, the present research identified five motives for participating in kindness movements: social action, gratitude expression, social, impression management, and protective. Both social action and gratitude expression related significantly to whether an individual passed on a wristband to reward another person for an act of kindness. How these motives were derived and their defining features are described in the following pages. A number of dispositional factors (i.e., extroversion, exposure to traumatic experience, religiosity, spirituality, and beliefs regarding the state of the world and the importance of recognizing others for acts of kindness) and contextual factors (i.e., the context in which the AC4P wristband was received and passed on) were also assessed. Extroversion, exposure to traumatic experience, beliefs about the state of the world and the importance of recognizing others, receiving a wristband one-on-one for an act of kindness as opposed to receiving a wristband in a group setting, and being assigned the task of passing on a wristband to another person were all significantly correlated with passing on an AC4P wristband. Once the motivational, dispositional, and contextual variables that significantly correlated with having passed on a wristband were determined, the relative influence of each variable was assessed. A model was revealed in which five of the included variables, when considered within the context of one another, predicted whether an individual would or would not pass on a wristband with a reasonably high degree of reliability. The five variables were: a group assignment to participate, history of a traumatic experience, belief that society is in danger, extroversion, and social action motivation. These findings were integrated within the context of Geller’s (2016) model of empowerment and their implications for developing intervention strategies to attract and sustain participation are discussed.

The presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., shallow affect, lack of empathy) in children predicts reduced prosocial behavior. Similarly, CU traits relate to emotion recognition deficits, which may be related to deficits in visual attention to the eye region of others. Notably, recognition of others' distress necessarily precedes sympathy, and sympathy is a key predictor in prosocial outcomes. Thus, visual attention and emotion recognition may mediate the relationship between CU traits and deficient prosocial behavior. Elucidating these connections furthers the development of treatment protocols for children with behavioral problems and CU traits. This study seeks to: (1) extend this research to younger children, including girls; (2) measure eye gaze using infrared eye-tracking technology; and (3) test the hypothesis that CU traits are linked to prosocial behavior deficits via reduced eye gaze, which in turn leads to deficits in fear recognition. Children (n = 81, ages 6-9) completed a computerized, eye-tracked emotion recognition task and a standardized prosocial behavior task while parents reported on the children's CU traits. Results partially supported hypotheses, in that CU traits predicted less time focusing on the eye region for fear expressions, and certain dimensions of eye gaze predicted accuracy in recognizing some emotions. However, the full model was not supported for fear or distress expressions. Conversely, there was some evidence that the link between CU traits and deficient prosocial behavior is mediated by reduced recognition for low intensity happy expressions, but only in girls. Theoretical and practical implications for these findings are considered. / Master of Science / Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are defined as experiencing limited emotion and empathy for others. Children with CU traits are less likely to show prosocial behavior, such as sharing or helping others. Similarly, children with CU traits also have more difficulty recognizing emotions compared to peers. This may be related to less attention to the eye region of other’s faces, which conveys emotional information. Notably, accurate recognition of others’ distress is necessary for children to feel concern for others and want to engage in prosocial behavior. Elucidating these connections furthers the development of interventions for children with and CU traits, which often related to behavior problems. This study seeks to: (1) extend this research to younger children, including girls; (2) measure eye gaze using eye-tracking technology; and (3) test the hypothesis that CU traits predict prosocial behavior deficits due to reduced eye gaze and subsequent deficits in fear and distress recognition. While this hypothesis was not fully supported, results did indicate that CU traits predicted less time focusing on the eye region for fear expressions, and certain forms of eye gaze predicted better emotion recognition accuracy for some emotions. Instead, results indicated that eye gaze and recognition of subtle happy expressions played a role linking CU traits and prosocial behavior, but only in girls. Results suggest that CU traits relate to less attention to the eye region and poorer emotion recognition across emotions, and that these mechanisms may operate differently in boys and girls.

Prosocial behaviors and a lack of conduct problems are critical components of social competence in middle childhood. A host of biological factors (e.g., temperament) and social relationships (e.g., relationships with parents and friends) are predictive of both prosocial behaviors and conduct problems during this period. However, the genetic and environmental underpinnings of these associations are not known. Additionally, temperament may interact with parent and friend influences to predict prosocial behaviors and conduct problems such that such that children with more reactive temperaments are more susceptible to both positive and negative relationship experiences. The purpose of the current study was to examine effects of temperament, perceived parenting, and perceived best friend characteristics on prosocial behaviors and conduct problems in middle childhood. The three aims were to 1) examine temperamental, perceived parenting, and perceived best friend behavioral predictors of prosocial behaviors and conduct problems, 2) examine the genetic and environmental underpinnings of those associations, and 3) examine interactions between the genetic likelihood for temperamental reactivity and social relationships as predictors of prosocial behaviors and conduct problems. The sample included 111 twin pairs (n = 221) who completed measures of prosocial behaviors and conduct problems as well as their perceptions of the parenting that they received and their perceptions of the behaviors of one best friend. One parent of each twin set also completed questionnaires about the twins’ prosocial behaviors, conduct problems, and temperaments. Broadly, results showed that temperament, perceived parenting, and best friend behaviors were related to child behaviors through both genetic and environmental mechanisms. Additionally, two gene-environment interactions were found. Specifically, the interaction between the genetic likelihood for temperamental surgency/extraversion and parental psychological control predicted self-reported conduct problems, and the interaction between the genetic likelihood for temperamental negative affectivity and best friends’ prosocial behaviors predicted self-reported prosocial behaviors. These results suggest that the etiologies of prosocial behaviors and conduct problems are complex and involve biological and social factors, as well as interactions between them.