Characteristics of social interest behavior in childhood and adolescence – empirical verification and further development of József Nagy's model

Abstract

This study is a time travel. In the first part of the study, I will present how researchers interpret the functioning of cooperation, help, competition and leadership and their relationships, emphasizing József Nagy’s model, in which he called these together social interest behaviours. After that, I will show the results of our investigations with 8-18-year-olds, which were based on the József Nagy’s theoretical model. With the Social Interest Behaviours Questionnaire and its modified versions, we have explored important characteristics and relationships with other characteristics (e.g., social problem solving) over the past 15 years. For example, the dominance of individual interest increases during cooperation, which can sometimes result in serious social problems and conflicts between peers; competition that prioritizes learning and self-development is becoming more and more important; adolescents are more and more willing to help their peers, which has a positive effect on the process of social problem-solving; and they think less and less that the role of the leader and the led cannot be changed. The revealed characteristics and relationships greatly helped the development of school programs for adolescents, we were able to specify more precise development aims, and the selection of methods was also more targeted.