The Relationship Between Parenting Styles and Children’s Prosocial Behavior: The Mediating Role of Children’s Emotional Intelligence

Prosocial behavior is an important manifestation of socialization in young children. As the primary setting for socialization of young children, the family bears the significant responsibility of fostering prosocial behavior in young children. Drawing on family systems theory and Goleman's emotional intelligence theory, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parenting styles and children's prosocial behavior and the mediating role of children's emotional intelligence in it. In this study, an online questionnaire was distributed to 869 young children's parents using the Parenting Style Questionnaire, Children's Prosocial Behavior Questionnaire, and Children's Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. The results indicated that democratic parenting style positively influenced children's prosocial behavior, while indulgent parenting style, permissive parenting style and inconsistent parenting style negatively impacted it. Authoritarian parenting style had no significant effect on children's prosocial behavior. Children's emotional intelligence mediated the relationship between parenting styles and prosocial behavior. This study explored factors influencing children's prosocial behavior from both external family systems and internal individual perspectives and revealed their underlying mechanisms, providing theoretical support for research and educational practice on children's prosocial behavior.