Separate lines of research on prosocial development suggest that although toddlers worldwide are eagerly helpful, older children help voluntarily in some communities but in other communities, children become resistant to helping with household work. This study investigated these discrepancies by interviewing 64 Mexican-heritage and middle-class European American mothers of 2–3-year-olds and 6–7-year-olds, all living in the US (20 and 12 at these ages in each community). Mothers’ reports are consistent with diverging developmental patterns, and illuminate how the children become involved in helping with work at home: Most 2–3-year-olds helped voluntarily, with their own initiative (although Mexican-heritage children did so more). At age 6–7, Mexican-heritage children usually helped with their own initiative whereas middle-class European American children seldom did so; they generally helped under adult management and control, in contractual arrangements. Accounting for cultural variation is important for advancing theories of prosocial development; the paper suggests socialization practices that may explain the different patterns.

中文翻译：

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儿童亲社会帮助主动性早期发展的文化差异

关于亲社会发展的不同研究表明，尽管世界各地的幼儿都非常乐于助人，但在某些社区，年龄较大的儿童会自愿提供帮助，但在其他社区，儿童会拒绝帮助做家务。本研究通过采访 64 名墨西哥裔和中产阶级欧洲裔美国母亲来调查这些差异，她们的 2-3 岁和 6-7 岁的孩子都生活在美国（每个社区的这些年龄分别为 20 岁和 12 岁） ）。母亲们的报告与不同的发展模式一致，并阐明了孩子们如何参与帮助在家工作：大多数 2-3 岁的孩子都是自愿帮助的，他们自己主动（尽管墨西哥裔儿童这样做更多）。在 6-7 岁时，墨西哥裔儿童通常会主动提供帮助，而中产阶级的欧美儿童很少这样做；他们通常在成人管理和控制下，在合同安排中提供帮助。考虑文化差异对于推进亲社会发展理论很重要；该论文提出了可以解释不同模式的社会化实践。