Children in Crisis: Exposure to Violence and Development of Prosociality in the Congo

It has been well documented that exposure to violence across a number of contexts has a number of adverse impacts on mental health. Children who are exposed to violence are more likely to be aggressive and violent themselves, which would suggest that their development of normal moral reasoning and prosocial attitudes are impacted. There is a dearth of research investigating moral and prosocial development in those who are exposed to violence, and even less conducted in non-western countries. In this study, we examine the development of empathetic concern, equity and equality preferences, and sharing preferences in children in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Democratic Republic of Congo was named the second most dangerous crisis for children in 2021, and has been plagued by pervasive, politically motivated violence. Questionnaires were used to assess violence exposure, and all prosocial tasks have been extensively validated in cross-cultural research. Exposure to violence was shown to be significantly positively correlated with sharing behaviors, and significantly negatively correlated with emotional reward following sharing, empathetic concern, and equity in a wealth based context.