The Relationship of Children's Household Work to Measures of Children's Prosocial Behaviors and Positive Self-perceptions

Abstract

Data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics regarding 648 racially and ethnically diverse children was used to examine the relationship between the amount of time 10-12 year old children were expected to spend in household work that benefits the family and its relationship with children's prosocial behaviors, as well as children's self-reported positive self-perceptions. Children who were expected to almost always do household work that benefits the family were found to behave more prosocially, compared to children who rarely were expected to do such work. Boys who were almost always expected to do household work that benefits the family were reported to have more responsibility behaviors, although this pattern did not hold for girls. Research results showed no significant effect for positive self-perceptions of children who were expected to almost always do household work benefiting the family compared to children who were rarely expected to do such household work.