Parenting and temperament as predictors of prosocial behaviour in Australian and Turkish Australian children

Abstract

This study investigated the direct and indirect roles of parenting, child temperament and sociocultural context in predicting prosocial behaviour as identified by behavioural assessments and parent and teacher ratings. Comparisons of Australian children and Turkish children living in Australia allowed examination of cultural similarities and differences in levels of prosocial behaviours and in their predictors. Participants were 153 Australian 4-6-year-old children and 58 children with a Turkish background recruited from childcare centres serving low- and middle-class communities. Turkish and Australian children were similar in their levels of prosocial development, but the factors that predicted prosocial behaviour were somewhat different. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that maternal warmth and child persistence predicted prosocial behaviour for the Australian sample. For the Turkish sample, obedience-demanding behaviour had a facilitating effect upon prosocial development. The results are discussed in relation to cultural norms and their impact on children through parenting practices.