Understanding the Relationship between Parental Psychological Control and Prosocial Behavior in Children in China: The Role of Self-Efficacy and Gender

Objectives: Prosocial behavior is essential for individuals’ development, and the study aims to analyze the relationship between parental psychological control and prosocial behavior. Method: The current study investigated the relationships among Paternal Psychological Control (endogenous variable), General Self-Efficacy (mediator), and Prosocial Behaviors (exogenous endogenous variable) via a moderated mediation modeling approach (gender as the moderator). A total of 1822 Chinese students aged from 7- to 17-year-old (M(age) = 12.4 years old, SD(age) = 1.89, 48.6% girls) were included in the current study. Results: After controlling participants’ age, the only child status, family income, and parent’s education level, results revealed that higher levels of parental control were associated with lower levels of students’ self-efficacy, which, in turn, reduced students’ prosocial behavior intention. Moreover, the relationship between self-efficacy and prosocial behavior intention was moderated by students’ gender, where the positive effects of self-efficacy on prosocial behavior intentions were reduced in girls. Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of parental psychological control for supporting children’s self-efficacy to promote prosocial behaviors on different gender groups.