Social and Emotional Learning Programs and Students’ Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis describes the effectiveness of school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs for K–12 students’ prosocial behavior. Prosocial behavior, defined as voluntary behavior intended to benefit others, is a critical social competency. To date, the field lacks a clear synthesis of the effectiveness of SEL programs in promoting students’ prosocial behavior due to broad or disparate operationalizations of prosocial behavior in prior meta-analyses. Clarity is needed regarding the effectiveness of SEL programs for students’ prosocial behavior in order to inform and guide development of SEL programs that aim to improve students’ prosocial behavior. The current meta-analysis includes 66 studies and 157 effect sizes involving 52,914 youth. A summary effect size (Hedges’ g = .24, RVE SE = .03, 95% CI = [.17, .30], p < .001) indicated that participation in SEL programs is associated with higher levels of prosocial behavior among K–12 students. Estimated heterogeneity of effects is large, with most effects ranging from −.06 to .53. We investigated 14 moderating variables such as approach, school level, urbanicity, and dosage. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.