Design and Evaluation of a Programme to Promote Prosocial‐Altruistic Behaviour in the School

Abstract
This article describes a programme of educational intervention aimed at the development of prosocial‐altruistic behaviour, and presents a study which evaluated its efficacy. The sample comprised 110 subjects, aged between 10 and 12 years, from four class‐groups. The intervention, which consisted of a series of activities intended to encourage empathy, perspective‐taking, having the concept of a person, and co‐operation, was carried out by the teacher‐tutor of each group in 15 weekly sessions. The pre‐test/post‐test comparisons showed a significant increase in prosocial‐‐altruistic behaviour (measured by a sociogram on “Consoling and Defending” behaviour and a questionnaire on Prosocial behaviour), as well as an improvement in the capacity for perspective‐taking and in the climate in the classroom.