We investigated if group music training in childhood is associated with prosocial skills. Children in 3rd or 4th grade who attended 10 months of music lessons taught in groups were compared to a control group of children matched for socio-economic status. All children were administered tests of prosocial skills near the beginning and end of the 10-month period. Compared to the control group, children in the music group had larger increases in sympathy and prosocial behavior, but this effect was limited to children who had poor prosocial skills before the lessons began. The effect was evident even when the lessons were compulsory, which minimized the role of self-selection. The results suggest that group music training facilitates the development of prosocial skills.

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This study examined the development of sympathy, moral emotion attributions (MEA), moral reasoning, and social justice values in a representative sample of Swiss children (N = 1273) at 6 years of age (Time 1), 9 years of age (Time 2), and 12 years of age (Time 3). Cross‐lagged panel analyses revealed that sympathy predicted subsequent increases in MEA and moral reasoning, but not vice versa. In addition, sympathy and moral reasoning at 6 and 9 years of age were associated with social justice values at 12 years of age. The results point to increased integration of affect and cognition in children's morality from middle childhood to early adolescence, as well as to the role of moral development in the emergence of social justice values.

Economically disadvantaged children often lack the resources to purchase popular goods and participate in their preferred social groups' activities, making it difficult to fit in. Meanwhile, children from middle socioeconomic status (SES) families may have additional influence over whether low SES children are included in such groups. We examined how a middle SES sample of 333 4-and 8-year-olds felt and reasoned about excluding a child who is economically disadvantaged (i.e., a needy child) versus a child who attends another school (i.e., a less needy child). We also examined whether children's dispositional sympathy was associated with their negatively valenced moral emotions (NVMEs) after hypothetically excluding. Older children reported feeling more NVMEs for both targets of exclusion. Furthermore, unlike 4-year-olds, 8-year-olds differentiated between the targets of exclusion by reporting more NVMEs after excluding a child who is economically disadvantaged. Lastly, children's sympathy was positively associated with their NVMEs after excluding a child who is economically disadvantaged but not a child who attends another school. We conclude that with increasing sympathy and age, children likely become more sensitive to the needs of their disadvantaged peers-an effect with meaningful implications for improving peer relationships across socioeconomic spheres.

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