Collective music making has been associated with the emergence of prosocial behaviors in children and adults. Yet, the associations between participation in early childhood music education programs and prosocial skills in young children remain elusive. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine how children with varied amounts of music participation—in a formal program and in the home—performed in two prosocial tasks (i.e., instrumental helping and sharing) and how their parents rated their prosocial tendencies and interests for music. Thirty-six children (ages between 3 and 4 years) with varied amounts of participation in an early childhood music program completed prosocial tasks of instrumental helping and sharing. Results indicated that there were no significant age or sex differences in children’s prosocial responses. Instrumental sharing was positively correlated with time spent in the music program. Sharing scores, in turn, correlated with children’s active musical participation and parental prosocial ratings. These findings are discussed in light of theories of musical and prosocial development in childhood.

中文翻译：

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音乐参与与幼儿亲社会行为之间的关联

集体音乐制作与儿童和成人亲社会行为的出现有关。然而，参与幼儿音乐教育计划与幼儿亲社会技能之间的联系仍然难以捉摸。这项探索性研究的目的是检查在正式课程和家庭中不同程度地参与音乐的儿童在两项亲社会任务（即工具性帮助和分享）中的表现，以及他们的父母如何评价他们的亲社会倾向和兴趣音乐。36 名儿童（年龄在 3 至 4 岁之间）参与了不同程度的幼儿音乐课程，完成了器乐帮助和分享的亲社会任务。结果表明，儿童的亲社会反应没有显着的年龄或性别差异。乐器分享与在音乐节目中花费的时间呈正相关。反过来，分享分数与儿童积极参与音乐和父母亲社会评级相关。这些发现将根据儿童音乐和亲社会发展的理论进行讨论。