Prosocial development in adolescence

Current Opinion in Psychology, vol. 44, pp. 220–225

Abstract

In this review, we describe the development of prosocial behavior in adolescence as a critical inflection period for social adjustment. Experimental research using prosocial giving tasks demonstrates that adolescents differentiate more between recipients and contexts, suggesting increasing ingroup-outgroup differentiation during adolescence. We also demonstrate that social brain development during adolescence is partly driven by environmental influences, further underlining adolescence as a critical period for social development. The COVID-19 pandemic has had and will have long-term effects on the current generation of adolescents, for which we describe both the risks, resilience factors, and opportunities for engaging in prosocial acts of kindness.

Authors 2

1. Eveline A. Crone corresponding Aachen Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology

   Leiden University · Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burg. Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: crone@essb.eur.nl

   Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, the Netherlands

   Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burg. Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

2. Michelle Achterberg Aachen Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology

   Leiden University · Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burg. Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, the Netherlands

   Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, the Netherlands

   Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burg. Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam, the Netherlands