Parental Psychological Control and Children’s Prosocial Behavior: The Mediating Role of Social Anxiety and the Moderating Role of Socioeconomic Status

Weida Zhang, Guoliang Yu, Wangqian Fu () and Runqing Li
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Weida Zhang: School of Education, Renmin University of China, 59 Zhongguancun Ave., Haidian District, Beijing 100872, China
Guoliang Yu: School of Education, Renmin University of China, 59 Zhongguancun Ave., Haidian District, Beijing 100872, China
Wangqian Fu: Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Ave., Haidian District, Beijing 100875, China
Runqing Li: School of Philosophy and Social Development, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 18, 1-12

Abstract: Complementing internalizing and externalizing developmental outcomes of parental psychological control, in this study, we shift the focus to children’s prosocial behaviors. Drawing on self-determination theory and problem-behavior theory, this study addresses the relationship between parental psychological control, social anxiety, socioeconomic status (SES), and children’s prosocial behavior. The parental psychological control scale, social anxiety scale for children, and prosocial behavior were applied in the study. Participants were 1202 elementary school-age children in China. The present study showed that parental psychological control was negatively associated with prosocial behavior and social anxiety played a partial mediating role between parental psychological control and prosocial behavior. Meanwhile, SES moderated the relationship between parental psychological control and prosocial behavior. The effect of parental psychological control on prosocial behavior was more significant among students with low levels of SES than the higher ones. The findings showed that parenting plays an essential role in the development of children’s prosociality.

Keywords: parental psychological control; prosocial behavior; social anxiety; SES (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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