A MULTIPLICATIVE MODEL OF THE DISPOSITIONAL ANTECEDENTS OF A PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR - PREDICTING MORE OF THE PEOPLE MORE OF THE TIME

Researchers have demonstrated that individual differences in prosocial behavior may be a function of dispositional or person variables. Howe ver, the observed empirical relations have been relatively modest, per haps because researchers have most often examined simple additive or s ingle predictor models. The present investigation examined a multiplic ative model of the relation of dispositional variables to a prosocial behavior. Eighty-six children between 6 and 9 years old completed a mo netary donation task and measures of the general tendency to understan d and reason about the affective state of others, to be sympathetic, a nd to understand the units and value of money. As expected, children w ho scored high in affective reasoning, sympathy, and money knowledge d onated considerably more than children who scored low in any of these dispositional variables.