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The Relationship Between Psychological Understanding and Positive Social Behaviors
Author(s) -
Cassidy Kimberly Wright,
Werner Rebecca Stetson,
Rourke Mary,
Zubernis Lynn S.,
Balaraman Geetha
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
social development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.078
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1467-9507
pISSN - 0961-205X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9507.00229
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , popularity , mental state , perception , social behavior , determinacy , variance (accounting) , social skills , social psychology , cognitive psychology , mathematical analysis , mathematics , accounting , neuroscience , business
This research investigates the relationship between psychological understanding and positive social behavior in preschool children. A sample of 67 children were given measures of mental state understanding and emotion understanding. Positive social behavior was measured by classroom observation, teacher report and peer ratings. Both mental state understanding and emotion understanding were positively related to teacher ratings of social skills, behavioral observers’ global ratings of social skills and peer popularity. When language ability was partialled out of these relationships, many of the significant correlations disappeared; however, for variables related to peers’ perceptions, psychological understanding continued to predict unique variance. The results are discussed in terms of the multiple determinacy of positive social behaviors and the potential role of language in these processes.