Social injustices toward minority groups are pervasive around the world, and further exacerbated by global threats such as COVID-19 and climate change. Prosocial tendencies, such as empathy, moral reasoning, and helping behaviors directed only toward members of one's own social groups, discriminate against outgroups, and can perpetuate an unjust status quo. Yet, recent meta-analyses point to effective intervention programs that can foster prosocial responses across group lines. Developmental science has identified evidence-based interventions, policies, and programs to foster inclusive prosocial tendencies (toward both in-group and out-group members) to redress social injustices and inequities, and ultimately, lead to more just and peaceful societies. The recent developmental science informs five policy principles (e.g., developmental science, resilience, culture, collaboration, and sustainability) that can advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) around inclusion and peace.
AbramsD.Van de VyverJ.PelletierJ.CameronL. (2015). Children’s prosocial behavioural intentions towards outgroup members. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 33(3), 277-294. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12085
2.
BattistichV.WatsonM.SolomonD.SchapsE.SolomonJ. (1991). The child development project: A comprehensive program for the development of prosocial character. In KurtinesW. M.GewirtzJ. L. (Eds.), Handbook of moral behavior and development, Vol. 3. Application (pp. 1-34). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
3.
BerkowitzM. W.BierM. C. (2004). Character based education. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591(1), 72-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716203260082
4.
BornsteinM. H. (2017). The specificity principle in acculturation science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(1), 3-45. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616655997
5.
CarloG. (2014). The development and correlates of prosocial moral behaviors. In KillenM.SmetanaJ. G. (Eds.), Handbook of moral development (2nd ed., pp. 208-234). Psychology Press.
6.
CarloG.ConejoL. D. (2019). Traditional and culture-specific parenting of prosociality in U.S. Latino/as. In LaibleD.CarloG.Padilla-WalkerL. (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of parenting and moral development (pp. 247-266). Oxford University Press.
7.
CarloG.de GuzmanM. R. T. (2009). Theories and research on prosocial competencies among U.S. Latinos/as. In VillarruelF. A.CarloG.GrauJ. M.AzmitiaM.CabreraN. J.ChahinT. J. (Eds.), Handbook of U.S. Latino psychology: Developmental and community-based perspectives (pp. 191-211). Sage Publications, Inc.
8.
CarloG.Padilla-WalkerL. M. (2020). Adolescents’ prosocial behaviors through a multidimensional and multicultural looking glass. Child Development Perspectives, 14(4), 265-272. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12391
9.
DavisA. N.CarloG. (2019). Towards an integrative conceptual model on the relations between discrimination and prosocial behaviors in U.S. Latino/a youth. In FitzgeraldH.JohnsonD.QinD.VillarruelF.NorderJ. (Eds.), Handbook of children and prejudice: Integrating research, practice, and policy (pp. 375-388). Springer Press.
10.
DavisA. N.CarloG.MaiyaS. (in press). Towards a multisystems, strengths-based model of social inequities in U.S. Latinx youth. Human Development.
DoK. T.Guassi MoreiraJ. F.TelzerE. H. (2017, June 1). But is helping you worth the risk? Defining prosocial risk taking in adolescence. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 25, 260-271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2016.11.008
13.
DunneL.Brennan-WilsonA.CraigN.MillerS.ConnollyP.LeckmanJ.AberL.YoshikawaH.FitzpatrickS.PhamP.VinckP.WalmsleyP. (2021). Promoting social cohesion and peacebuilding through investment in early childhood development programs. In Lopéz LopézW.TaylorL. K. (Eds.), Transitioning to peace: Promoting global social justice and nonviolence. Springer.
14.
EisenbergN. (2002). Empathy-related emotional responses, altruism, and their socialization. In DavidsonR. J.HarringtonA. (Eds.), Visions of compassion: Western scientists and Tibetan Buddhists examine human nature (pp. 131-164). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195130430.003.0007
15.
FriscoM.MullerC.DodsonK. (2004). Participation in voluntary youth-serving associations and early adult voting behavior. Social Science Quarterly, 85(3), 660-676. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0038-4941.2004.00238.x
16.
García CollC.LambertyG.JenkinsR.McAdooH.CrnicK.WasikB.& GarcíaH. (1996). An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67(5), 1891-1914. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01834.x
17.
HayashiA.KarasawaM.TobinJ. (2009). The Japanese preschool’s pedagogy of feeling: Cultural strategies for supporting young children’s emotional development. Ethos (Berkeley, Calif ), 37(1), 32-49. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1352.2009.01030.x
18.
KeenanC.TaylorL. K.ConnollyP. (in press). Universal preschool- and school-based education programmes for reducing ethnic prejudice and promoting respect for diversity among children aged 3-11. (Submitted to Campbell Systematic Reviews).
19.
Luengo KanacriB. P.ZuffianoA.PastorelliC.Jimenez-MoyaG.TiradoL. U.ThartoriE.GerbinoM.CumsilleP.MartinezM. L.. (2020). Cross-national evidences of a school-based universal programme for promoting prosocial behaviours in peer interactions: Main theoretical communalities and local unicity. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 55(S1), 48-59.
20.
MastenA. (2014). Global perspectives on resilience in children and youth. Child Development, 85(1), 6-20. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12205
21.
McKeownS.TaylorL. K. (2017). Intergroup contact and peacebuilding: Promoting youth civic engagement in Northern Ireland. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 5(2), 415-434. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v5i2.769
22.
McKeownS.TaylorL. K. (in press). Perceived teacher support, collective efficacy in school and constructive engagement among youth in a conflict-affected society. Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology.
23.
MesuradoB.OñateM. E.RodriguezL. M.PutrinoN.GuerraP.VanneyC. E. (2020). Study of the efficacy of the hero program: Cross-national evidence. Plos one, 15(9), e0238442. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238442
24.
MoranD.TaylorL. K. (2022). Outgroup prosocial behaviour among children and adolescents in conflict settings. Current Opinion in Psychology, 44(1), 69-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.030
O’DriscollD.TaylorL. K.DautelJ. (2021). Essentialist beliefs affect children’s outgroup empathy, attitudes and prosocial behaviours in a setting of intergroup conflict. International Journal of Psychology, 56(1), 151-156. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12679
27.
PashakT. J.ConleyM. A.WhitneyD. J.OswaldS. R.HeckrothS. G.SchumacherE. M. (2018). Empathy diminishes prejudice: Active perspective-taking, regardless of target and mortality salience, decreases implicit racial bias. Psychology, 9(6), 1340-1356. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2018.96082
28.
RaffaelliM.CarloG.CarranzaM. A.Gonzalez-KrugerG. E. (2005). Understanding Latino children and adolescents in the mainstream: Placing culture at the center of developmental models. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 109, 23-32. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.134
29.
SansonA. V.Van HoornJ.BurkeS. E. L. (2019). Responding to the impacts of the climate crisis on children and youth. Child Development Perspectives, 13(4), 201-207. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12342
30.
Schonert-ReichlK. A.SmithV.Zaidman-ZaitA.HertzmanC. (2012). Promoting children’s prosocial behaviors in school: Impact of the Roots of Empathy program on the social and emotional competence of school-aged children. School Mental Health, 4(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-011-9064-7
31.
Shamoa-NirL.Razpurker-ApfeldI.DautelJ. B.TaylorL. K. (2021). Outgroup prosocial giving during childhood: The role of ingroup preference and outgroup attitudes in a divided society. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 45(4), 337-344. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025420935619
32.
SierksmaJ.ThijsJ.VerkuytenM. (2015). In-group bias in children’s intention to help can be overpowered by inducing empathy. British Journal Developmental Psychology, 33(1), 45-56. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12065
33.
SuperC. M.HarknessS. (1997). The cultural structuring of child development. In BerryJ. W.DasenP. R.SaraswathiT. S. (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology: Basic processes and human development (pp. 1-39). Allyn & Bacon.
34.
TaylorL. K. (2020). The developmental peacebuilding model (DPM) of children’s prosocial behaviors in settings of intergroup conflict. Child Development Perspectives, 14(3), 127-134. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12377
35.
TaylorL. K.ChristieD. (2015). Promoting harmonious relations and equitable well-being: Peace psychology and “intractable” conflicts. In HalperinE.SharvitK. (Eds.), The social psychology of intractable conflicts (pp. 203-212). Springer Peace Psychology Book Series.
36.
TaylorL. K.DautelJ.MalokuE.Tomovska MisoskaA. (2021). Children’s outgroup prosocial giving in settings of intergroup conflict: The developmental role of ingroup symbol preference. Developmental Psychology, 57(8), 1350-1358. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001222
37.
TaylorL. K.McKeownS. (2021). Adolescent outgroup helping, collective action, and political activism in a setting of protracted conflict. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 85, 37-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2021.09.001
38.
TaylorL. K.MerrileesC. E.Goeke-MoreyM. C.ShirlowP.CairnsE.CummingsE. M. (2014). Political violence and adolescent outgroup attitudes and prosocial behaviors: Implications for positive intergroup relations. Social Development, 23(4), 840-859. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12074
39.
TaylorL. K.O’DriscollD.DautelJ.McKeownS. (2020). Empathy to action: Child and adolescent outgroup attitudes and prosocial behaviors in a setting of intergroup conflict. Social Development, 29(2), 461-477. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12421
40.
TaylorL. K.TownsendD.MerrileesC. E.Goeke-MoreyM. C.ShirlowP.CummingsE. M. (2019). Adolescent civic engagement and perceived political conflict: The role of family cohesion. Youth & Society, 51(5), 616-637. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X17697236
van ZomerenM.LouisW. R. (2017). Culture meets collective action: Exciting synergies and some lessons to learn for the future. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 20(3), 277-284. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430217690238
44.
WatsonM.BattistichV.SolomonD. (1998). Enhancing students’ social and ethnical development in school: An intervention program and its effects. International Journal of Educational Research, 27(7), 571-586. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-0355(97)00055-4
45.
YiJ.ToddN. R.MekawiY. (2020). Racial colorblindness and confidence in and likelihood of action to address prejudice. American Journal of Community Psychology, 65(3–4), 407-422. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12409
