The Influence of Socialization on Early Helping From a Cross-Cultural Perspective

This cross-cultural study examines, first, whether 18-month-olds' helping behavior differs between cultures and, second, the way in which caregivers' socialization goals and practices are associated with toddlers' helping behavior. Helping behavior was assessed in three out-of-reach tasks with increasing motivational demands. We found that Delhi toddlers (n = 32) helped more than Munster toddlers (n = 60). Regarding socialization practices (SPs), Delhi mothers, compared with Munster mothers, reported to provide more opportunities to help in the family context and to praise less when fostering toddlers' prosocial behavior. Furthermore, Delhi mothers reported to use more punitive practices after their children did not follow a helping request. On an intra-cultural level, we found that helping was positively associated with punitive practices in the Delhi sample, whereas helping was negatively related with punitive practices and providing opportunities to help in Munster. On the basis of these results, we first propose that culture affects toddlers' helping behavior from the time of emergence during the second year. Second, we propose that the culture-specific conceptions of prosocial behavior influence which SPs parents use, which, in turn, may influence children's motivation underlying early prosocial behavior.