Cooperation is an important manifestation of prosociality (i.e.,voluntary thoughts and actions intended to benefit somebody else). Exploring the cooperation development of teenagers can further reveal the development law of their prosociality. Adopting teenagers of different ages as research objects, this study explores the influence of asense of power on the development of different levels of cooperation (sense of cooperative,cooperative cognition, and cooperative behavior). Research was conducted among teenagers in a middle school,a high school,and a university in Huizhou,Guangdong,China. The study was performed in three phases. Phase 1 is the questionnaire method, researcher used scale of sense of power,scale of empathy and scale of sense of cooperation to measure the general levels of power,empathy,and sense of cooperation among 1055 teenagers and found that there was a significant decline in the sense of cooperation among teenagers as they aged; power positively predicts sense of cooperation; age moderates the effect of power on the sense of cooperation; power predicts sense of cooperation through the mediation of empathy. Phase 2 is the questionnaire method, researcher used scale of sense of power, embedded figure test and scale of cooperative cognition to measure the general sense of power,cognitive style (field independence-field dependence), and cooperative cognitive level of 1084 teenagers and found that the overall development trend of cooperative cognition was growth; power positively predicts cooperative cognition; age moderates the effect of power on cooperative cognition; power positively predicts cooperative cognition through the mediation of cognition style. Phase 3 is mixed method (including survey and experiment), researcher used scale of sense of power, scale of perspectivetaking and public goods task to measure the general sense of power, perspective-taking, and cooperative behavior level of 883 teenagers and found that the overall development trend of cooperative behavior was growth; power positively predicts cooperative behavior; power predicts cooperative behavior through the mediation of perspective-taking. Finally,based on the study ofthree phases, researcher found that: (1) The development trend of different levels of teenagers’ cooperation is not the same,with the increase of age,the sense of cooperation gradually declines,and the cooperative cognition and cooperative behavior are on the rise,that is,the development trend of cooperative emotion, cooperative cognition, and cooperative behavior has been differentiated; (2) Sense of power promotes all three levels of cooperation; (3) Age has the moderating effect on the influence of personal power on the sense of cooperation and cooperative cognition, while it doesn’t moderate the influence of personal power on cooperative behavior; (4) Personal power has a certain role in promoting empathy, cognitive style, and perspective-taking in general, but it also shows that the effects on cognitive style,empathy, and perspective-taking have different directions. This study could greatly enrich the development theory of cooperation, providing a scientific basis for subsequent research, and it can provide practical guidance and suggestions for the cooperative training of teenagers, which is helpful to their socialization process.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 001
1.1 Introduction 001
1.2 Background of the Study 002
1.3 Problem Statement 005
1.4 Research Objectives and Research Questions 011
1.5 Hypotheses 011
1.6 Research Gap 012
1.7 Conceptual Definitions 014
1.8 Operational Definitions 018
1.9 Conceptual Framework 020
1.10 Significance of the Study 023
1.11 Limitations of the Study 025
1.12 Summary 025
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 027
2.1 Introduction 027
2.2 Power 027
2.3 Power and Teenagers 036
2.4 Cooperation 037
2.5 Power and Cooperation 051
2.6 Theoretical Framework 064
2.7 Summary 065
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 067
3.1 Introduction 067
3.2 Research Design 067
3.3 Phase 1: Questionnaire Method to Answer RQla, RQlb,RQlc,and RQld 069
3.4 Phase 2: Questionnaire Method to Answer RQ2a,RQ2b, RQ2c,and RQ2d 079
3.5 Phase 3: Mixed Method to Answer RQ3a, RQ3b, RQ3c, and RQ3d 086
3.6 Summary 091
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND FINDINGS 092
4.1 Introduction 092
4.2 Influence of Power on the Sense of Cooperation among Teenagers of Different Ages 093
4.3 Influence of Power on Cooperative Cognition among Teenagers of Different Ages 102
4.4 Influence of Power on the Cooperative Behavior among Teenagers of Different Ages 112
4.5 Comparison of the Results from the Three Studies 118
4.6 Summary 121
CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION ANG IMPLICATIONS 123
5.1 Introduction 123
5.2 The Difference of Influence of Power on the Sense of Cooperation among Teenagers of Different Ages 124
5.3 The Difference of Influence of Power on Cooperative Cognition among Teenagers of Different Ages 131
5.4 The Difference of Influence of Power on Cooperative Behavior among Teenagers of Different Ages 138
5.5 General Discussion 143
5.6 Recommendations and Suggestions 150
5.7 Conclusions 157
APPENDICES 159
REFERENCES 184
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iTHE INFLUENCE OF POWER ON INDIVIDUAL COOPERATION DEVELOPMENT AMONG TEENAGE STUDENTS