Social Desirability Related to Children's Age, Sex, and Willingness to Help

Abstract

The association of social desirability with children's age, sex, and willingness to help was explored among 335 randomly sampled pupils, ages 9 to 12 yr. (Grades 3 to 5). Willingness to help, designed by Kalliopuska in 1980, and the Crandall, Crandall, and Katkovsky Social Desirability Questionnaire were given; scores on social desirability and willingness to help decreased as a function of age among boys and girls. The change from moral realism to moral autonomy and the intellectual changes among the children seem to affect the change from normative helping to autonomous helping.