Relationship between perceived self-regulation and prosocial behavior in preschool children

The present study examined the relation between perceived self-regulation and prosocial behavior in preschool children. Thirty-three 5-year-old children evaluated their self-assertiveness and self-inhibition on the Self-Regulation Scale. Their prosocial behavior observed in a free-play session was classified as self-initiated behavior or requested behavior. For the data analysis, the children were divided according to their scores on self-assertiveness and self-inhibition into 4 types of perceived self-regulation : high-high, high-low, low-high, and low-low. The children who were high on both measures, that is, who recognized themselves as more assertive and more inhibited, engaged in more self-initiated prosocial behavior than did other children; the high-low children, that is, those who recognized themselves as more assertive and less inhibited, were less frequently asked by their friends for help than were other children. These results suggest that there are different types of perceived self-regulation in both self-assertiveness and self-inhibition. Furthermore, the children's prosocial behavior is related to the type of perceived self-regulation.