Helping Kids! is an international research project studying developmental changes related to children’s prosocial behaviours and civic engagement in a post-accord generation and also around the world. We examine factors related to children’s ability to understand and identify with conflict-related groups, how they respond to the emotions of others, and their helping behaviours towards peers they have not met. This research is framed by the Developmental Peacebuilding Model. Since 2015, we have collaborated with colleagues in Colombia, Republic of Ireland, Israel, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Republic of North Macedonia, South Korea on a number of funded projects.
Factors such as empathy and positive attitudes may strengthen prosocial behaviours (O’Driscoll, Taylor, & Dautel, 2018). For instance, with an inclusive ingroup norm, children may act positively toward out-group members (Nesdale et al., 2005). However, exposure to conflict with the outgroup may decrease the helping behaviours that an individual shows to outgroup members (Taylor et al., 2014). In post-accord societies, more recent research has begun to investigate the outgroup prosocial and helping behaviours as antecedents of peacebuilding among children and youth (Taylor & McKeown, 2017; McKeown & Taylor, 2017).
For updates on our latest work on intergroup attitudes, contact, and salience of social cues, please follow us on Bluesky or visit the dissemination and outreach page.
The Helping Kids! lab is now recruiting! We welcome a global and diverse set of applicants for a new ERC Consolidator project GENERATION EU, based at University College Dublin, for a new Post-doc and fully-funded PhD scholarship.
Post-doc details:
- Click here
- Scroll down to Search by Reference Number: 019423
- Deadline: noon 1 May 2026
- Start date: September 2026
- One year with strong possibility of extension
PhD details:
Helping Kids! 