Research on civic development is often conducted separate from research on the emotional and sociocognitive development of children and youth. This study explored the intersection between these two areas of research. A goal of the study was to gain a better understanding of how civic engagement – or active citizenship -- develops from late childhood through adolescence and beyond.
A geographically and racially diverse sample of 2467 children and youth (age 8- 20) completed questionnaires assessing (1) their levels of civic engagement, (2) two emotional competencies, and (3) two sociocognitive competencies. Six types of civic engagement were assessed: volunteering, informal helping, political behaviors and beliefs, environmental behaviors, social responsibility values, and civic skills. The two emotional competencies were empathy and emotion regulation -- both drawing on the capacity to reason about the welfare of others. The two sociocognitive competencies were prosocial moral reasoning and future orientation – both addressing the capacity to reason about one's future self.
Results of the survey showed that empathy and future orientation were significantly associated with nearly all forms of civic engagement. For empathy, this association included environmental behaviors; for future orientation, it did not. Surprisingly, future orientation was negatively associated with environmental behaviors, especially for the older youth. Emotion regulation predicted informal helping, civic skills, and environmental behavior. Prosocial moral reasoning predicted social responsibility values, informal helping, and civic skills. For older youth, prosocial moral reasoning was also associated with higher environmental behavior. Prosocial reasoning was defined “as the degree to which youth prioritize moral considerations (welfare of another person) over conventional rules.” According to the researchers, older adolescents with high prosocial moral reasoning may have a greater understanding of the potential impact of environmental behavior on the lives and wellbeing of others and may thus be prompted to engage in more frequent environmental actions. Results showed some age differences in the associations between emotional and sociocognitive competencies and different forms of civic engagement. For younger youth, empathy and emotion regulation were stronger predictors of civic engagement than for older youth. The stronger predictors for older youth were prosocial moral reasoning and future-orientation.
This study adds to the literature on civic development by demonstrating how civic engagement, including environmental behaviors, intersects with critical developmental competencies. The findings indicate that certain emotional and sociocognitive competencies may enable children and youth to be effective civic actors. Active civic engagement not only benefits society; it's an essential aspect of healthy development and thriving, as well
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