The Impact of Puppetry on Pro-Social and Anti-Social Behaviours: A Systematic Review
Abstract
This study examines the potential benefits and barriers to the utilization of puppets within behaviour intervention of children during their pre-operational stage of development. It presents a systematic qualitative review of studies that either aim to reduce antisocial behaviour or develop pro social behaviour. Works included educational and clinical settings and development of pro social behaviours such as inclusion and sharing, and reduction of anti-social behaviour such as refusal to comply and aggressive behaviours. The literature was searched using scholarly databases, with additional articles sourced from snowball method of similar reviews. Papers were included based on specific selection criteria and multiple validity and reliability measures. The wider field of research regarding puppetry within behaviour highlighted the overlap of socio-cognitive factors with the psychological principles and concepts of modeling, shared cognition, mediation and social influence being present among studies. From the review, utilizations of puppetry differed and overlapped among studies with modeling, mediation, performance and pedagogy all being utilized to develop and/or reduce behaviours. With majority of studies predominantly exploring the development of pro social behaviour, no significant differences between processes in reduction or development of behaviour were determined. Key themes among all studies were (1) internalization and interaction, (2) direct communication, (3) indirect communication, (4) play and indirect therapy, and (5) rehearsal and imitation. Benefits highlighted were the strengthened communication and dual development of three-party relationships in the sense that facilitators and researchers gained greater insight of participants’ perspective via indirect and direct communication, and vice versa. Though all studies reported positive behavioural change, there are barriers regarding the assessment of behavioural change and determination of purpose and intent.
Related
- Impact of social determinants of health on perioperative and interstage outcomes in congenital heart surgery a systematic review
- The impact of social protection interventions on treatment and socioeconomic outcomes of tuberculosis-affected people and households in low income, high burden settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis
- Parental Feeding Practices, Child Eating Behaviours, and Their Association with Metabolic Control in Children with Type 1 Diabetes: A Systematic Review
- Socioeconomic Inequalities in Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviours Among Adolescents: A Systematic Review.
- Concordance between gambling disorder, alcohol use disorder, and other behavioural addictions provides evidence for a comprehensive approach to addictive behaviours: A multiple systematic review analysis
BibTeX
@misc{gear2026impact,
title = {{The Impact of Puppetry on Pro-Social and Anti-Social Behaviours: A Systematic Review}},
author = {Kenneth Gear and Samuel Bennett},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/xzetk_v1},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/xzetk_v1/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The Impact of Puppetry on Pro-Social and Anti-Social Behaviours: A Systematic Review
AU - Kenneth Gear
AU - Samuel Bennett
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/20
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/xzetk_v1
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/xzetk_v1/
AB - This study examines the potential benefits and barriers to the utilization of puppets within behaviour intervention of children during their pre-operational stage of development. It presents a systematic qualitative review of studies that either aim to reduce antisocial behaviour or develop pro social behaviour. Works included educational and clinical settings and development of pro social behaviours such as inclusion and sharing, and reduction of anti-social behaviour such as refusal to comply and aggressive behaviours. The literature was searched using scholarly databases, with additional articles sourced from snowball method of similar reviews. Papers were included based on specific selection criteria and multiple validity and reliability measures. The wider field of research regarding puppetry within behaviour highlighted the overlap of socio-cognitive factors with the psychological principles and concepts of modeling, shared cognition, mediation and social influence being present among studies. From the review, utilizations of puppetry differed and overlapped among studies with modeling, mediation, performance and pedagogy all being utilized to develop and/or reduce behaviours. With majority of studies predominantly exploring the development of pro social behaviour, no significant differences between processes in reduction or development of behaviour were determined. Key themes among all studies were (1) internalization and interaction, (2) direct communication, (3) indirect communication, (4) play and indirect therapy, and (5) rehearsal and imitation. Benefits highlighted were the strengthened communication and dual development of three-party relationships in the sense that facilitators and researchers gained greater insight of participants’ perspective via indirect and direct communication, and vice versa. Though all studies reported positive behavioural change, there are barriers regarding the assessment of behavioural change and determination of purpose and intent.
ER -