The relation of academic achievement, family and classroom social environment, and peer interactions to prosocial and antisocial behavior of chinese children

Abstract

The present study investigated the relation of academic achievement, family and classroom social environment, and peer interactions to prosocial and antisocial behavior of Chinese children in elementary schools. Five hypotheses were empirically tested: (1) Academic achievement is associated positively with prosocial behavior, and negatively with delinquent behavior; (2) family social environment is associated positively with prosocial behavior, and negatively with delinquent behavior; (3) classroom social environment is associated positively with prosocial behavior, and negatively with delinquent behavior; (4) prosocial behavior of children is associated positively with positive peer influence, and delinquent behavior is associated positively with negative peer influence; and (5) prosocial behavior of children is associated positively with peer's prosocial behavior, and delinquent behavior is associated positively with peer's delinquent behavior. All the hypotheses, except Hypothesis 3, were clearly supported by the data. Hypothesis 3 was only partially supported by the data.