The Role of Perspective Taking and Empathy in Children's Machiavellianism,Prosocial Behavior,and Motive for Helping

Fourth- and fifth-grade children (N = 117) were categorized into high- and low-empathy and affective-perspective-taking (APT) groups based on their scores on the Bryant (1982) empathy scale and a modified version of the Rothenberg (1970) and Silvern, Waterman, Sobesky, and Ryan (1979) APT measures. Children in the low-empathy/high-APT group had significantly higher Machiavellianism scores on Braginsky's (1970) measure than did children in the other empathy/APT groups. Highly empathic children were rated by their teachers as more helpful under certain circumstances and cited other-oriented reasons for their own helping behavior more frequently than did less empathic children.     

2岁幼儿移情反应的特点:与自发帮助、气质、亲子互动的关系

1引言 在儿童早期的社会发展中,社会情绪及其相应的社会行为发展最为关键。由社会动因驱使的人际互动行为,如爱抚、安全、舒适等需要的满足将导致社会情绪状态的重组和发展。在诸多的社会情绪中,移情能力的发展对于幼儿来说尤为重要。移情是对另一个人产生同感的情感反应（Hoffman,2003）,它是一种复杂的情绪沟通能力,是在条件反射基础上,在人际互动过程中,通过模仿、强化逐渐形成的。     

Automatic mimicry reactions as related to differences in emotional empathy

The hypotheses of this investigation were derived by conceiving of automatic mimicking as a component of emotional empathy. Differences between subjects high and low in emotional empathy were investigated. The parameters compared were facial mimicry reactions, as represented by electromyographic (EMG) activity when subjects were exposed to pictures of angry or happy faces, and the degree of correspondence between subjects' facial EMG reactions and their self-reported feelings. The comparisons were made at different stimulus exposure times in order to elicit reactions at different levels of information processing. The high-empathy subjects were found to have a higher degree of mimicking behavior than the low-empathy subjects, a difference that emerged at short exposure times (17-40 ms) that represented automatic reactions. The low-empathy subjects tended already at short exposure times (17-40 ms) to show inverse zygomaticus muscle reactions, namely "smiling" when exposed to an angry face. The high-empathy group was characterized by a significantly higher correspondence between facial expressions and self-reported feelings. No differences were found between the high- and low-empathy subjects in their verbally reported feelings when presented a happy or an angry face. Thus, the differences between the groups in emotional empathy appeared to be related to differences in automatic somatic reactions to facial stimuli rather than to differences in their conscious interpretation of the emotional situation.     

孤独症儿童的情绪共情能力及情绪表情注意方式

研究探讨了孤独症儿童的情绪共情能力及情绪表情注意方式的特点。各选取15名孤独症儿童以及作为对照组的智力障碍儿童和普通儿童各15名, 完成情绪共情实验, 同时使用生物反馈仪记录自主生理反应, 眼动仪记录眼动轨迹。结果发现孤独症儿童对情绪表情的自动模仿及感知能力显著低于智力障碍儿童与普通儿童; 对面孔的总注视时间、总注视点数均显著少于智力障碍儿童、普通儿童; 对眼部、嘴部的注视时间比及注视点数比均显著低于普通儿童; 对高兴和悲伤表情的注意较多而对恐惧则较少。这提示孤独症儿童的情绪共情能力不足、对情绪表情的注意方式异常。     

Self‐report measures,facial feedback,and personality differences (BEES) in cooperative vs. noncooperative situations: Contribution of the mimic system to the sense of empathy

The present study integrated three different measures of emotional empathic behavior in a social context: verbal self‐report measures (empathic response, emotional involvement, emotional significance, and valence), facial mimicry (activity of corrugator and zygomaticus muscles), and personal response to the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES). Participants were presented with different interpersonal scene types (cooperation, noncooperation, conflict, indifference). Firstly, self‐rating on empathy, emotional involvement, and valence varied as a function of interpersonal context. Secondly, corrugator activity increased in response to conflictual and noncooperative situations; zygomatic activity increased in response to cooperative situations. Third, high‐ and low‐BEES subjects showed different empathic behavior: High‐empathic subjects were more responsive to empathy‐related situations than low‐empathic subjects. The convergence and divergence of these multidimensional measures was discussed.     

Empathic Skills and Cyberbullying: Relationship of Different Measures of Empathy to Cyberbullying in Comparison to Offline Bullying Among Young Adults

ABSTRACT

Empathy, as the ability to understand and feel the emotions of others, is related to less bullying behavior. However, the link of bullying behavior with self-reports of empathy seems to be stronger than with behavioral measures of empathy (e.g., empathic accuracy). Few studies have analyzed the relationship of affective and cognitive empathy to cyberbullying behavior, especially among young adults. In a quasiexperimental dyadic interaction paradigm with 72 young adults, empathic accuracy was operationalized as the match of other- and self-reported emotions for the target, and emotional congruence as the match of the target's and the perceiver's self-reported emotions. Affective and cognitive empathy, offline bullying behavior, and cyberbullying behavior were measured using self-reports. Empathic accuracy and cognitive empathy were found to be negatively linked. Emotional congruence, self-reported affective and cognitive empathy did not correlate with offline bullying behavior or cyberbullying behavior. Only empathic accuracy was significantly negatively linked to offline bullying behavior. In group tests, higher empathic accuracy (but not emotional congruence) was connected to less offline bullying behavior. In a multiple regression analysis only emotional congruence was a predictor of cyberbullying behavior. Thus, while empathic accuracy might diminish offline bullying behavior, emotional congruence might diminish cyberbullying behavior.     

Inferring the emotions of friends versus strangers: the role of culture and self-construal

Three studies examined cross-cultural differences in empathic accuracy (the ability to correctly infer another's emotional experience) within the context of different relationships. East-West cultural differences in self-construal were hypothesized to differentiate levels of empathic accuracy across relationship types. In contrast to the independent self prevalent among members of Western cultures, members of Eastern cultures generally view the self as interdependent with those with whom they have a relationship. Easterners, relative to Westerners, are more concerned with the thoughts or feelings of close others and less concerned with the thoughts or feelings of those with whom they have no relational link (i.e., strangers). Across three studies, the authors found that East Asians, compared with European Americans, made more accurate inferences regarding the emotions of close others (i.e., friends), but less accurate inferences regarding the emotions of strangers. Furthermore, individual differences in interdependent self-construal among East Asians predicted the degree of empathic accuracy.     

Child's behaviour in mother–child interaction predicts later emotional and behavioural problems

The aims were to examine the association of maternal or child interactive behaviour with emotional and behavioural problems of the child simultaneously and 3 years later, and to assess whether there is continuity in children's emotional and behavioural symptoms from 2 to 5 years. Sixty‐five 2‐year‐old children with their mothers were videotaped during a feeding situation. Their mothers completed the CBCL at 2 years and when the children were 5. Simultaneously, there were no strong correlations between child's emotional and behavioural problems and maternal or child interactive behaviour. Subsequently, mothers' higher sensitivity and more optimal structuring, as well as child's higher involvement of the mother, were associated with lower levels of child externalizing and total problem scores. Also, less responsive children showed more externalizing symptoms 3 years later. There was continuity of emotional and behavioural problems from 2 to 5 years. Problems in mother–child interaction may predict behavioural problems in the child subsequently. Besides maternal behaviour, it is important to consider the interactive behaviour of the child. Children who are less responsive and who show less involvement of the mother are more likely to subsequently present more externalizing symptoms, and these children should be recognized and treated early. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anticipated compatibility as a function of attitude or status similarity1

Two experiments explored the effects of self-other discrepancies in attitude or status on judgments of another's desirability as a companion It was found that increasing discrepancy in status or attitudes led to lower judgments of compatibility and liking In one experiment, similarity of attitudes of another was found to correlate with liking him, desire to befriend him, do favors for him, and possibly conform to him. The contribution of some personality measures to the relationship between similarity and anticipated compatibility was a major focus of the study The inhibitory effect of a target's status discrepancy was more pronounced for subjects who were more sensitive to rejection Also, between targets of equally discrepant status, there was a general preference to affiliate with the one whose status was higher than the one whose status was lower–an effect which was even more pronounced for subjects who were sensitive to rejection More anxious subjects judged themselves as generally less acceptable to others, particularly to others of higher status. When predicting attitudes on the basis of limited information, females showed a greater tendency than males to see others as similar to themselves Finally, persons holding different attitudes from one's own were judged as more harmful socially, a bias which was more pronounced in females than in males.     

Preschoolers' response to maternal sadness: Relationships with maternal depression and emotional availability

Previous research has documented that children of depressed mothers are at risk for a variety of emotional/behavioral problems and impairments in mother-child interaction. Depressed mothers have been characterized as withdrawn and unavailable. The present study examined behavior of preschool children of depressed and nondepressed mothers in response to their mothers' feigned sadness. The study assessed maternal depression and maternal emotional availability to determine how these related to preschoolers' expression of empathy. Sixty-two mothers and their 3 1/2-year-olds participated in the study. Mother-child interaction was coded from four tasks: free play, eating a snack, problem solving, and sadness simulation. Children of depressed mothers were not less empathic than children of nondepressed mothers. However, the mother's mood on day of testing related to child response. Maternal emotional availability interacted with the credibility/intensity of her simulation of sadness to predict child empathy.     

Concordance Between Mothers' and Children's Reports of Somatic and Emotional Symptoms in Patients with Recurrent Abdominal Pain or Emotional Disorders

Mother–child concordance regarding children's somatic and emotional symptoms was assessed in children with recurrent abdominal pain (n = 88), emotional disorders (n = 51), and well children (n = 56). Children between 6 and 18 years of age and their mothers completed questionnaires assessing the children's somatic symptoms, functional disability, and depression. Mothers of children with recurrent abdominal pain reported more child somatic and depressive symptoms than did their children, and mothers of children with emotional disorders reported more child depressive symptoms than did their children. Higher levels of maternal distress were associated with greater mother-child discordance in the direction of mothers reporting more child symptoms than did their children. No significant child age or sex differences were found in concordance patterns.     

移情反应的研究 ——基于个体倾向与情境的双重视角

摘 要：本研究基于个体倾向和情境的双重视角,将静态与动态相结合,探讨不同移情能力的个体在真实性不同情境中的移情反应。结果发现： （1）移情能力高、低分组得分存在显著性差异;（2）情境真实性高、低两种情境之间差异不显著;（3）在某些具体的移情反应上,移情能力与情境的交互作用显著;（4）性别差异不显著。属个体倾向范畴的移情能力对移情反应具有显著影响,情境对移情反应的影响与移情能力有关,移情能力高的个体对情境的变化更为敏感。     

高共情者加工情绪刺激的注意特征及其眼动证据

共情是指个体通过观察、想象或推断他人的情感而产生与之同形的情感体验。本研究采用点探测范式并结合眼动追踪技术,以词语和面孔表情为实验材料,综合探讨了高低共情被试对不同类型刺激材料的注意偏向及具体成分的时间进程特点。结果表明,虽然高低共情被试都对负性刺激（特别是对悲伤面孔）表现出早期注意定向（首次注视到达时间更快）,但只有高共情被试对悲伤面孔的晚期注意维持更长（总注视时间更长）。本研究表明,面孔表情是区分共情特质注意偏向更有效的实验材料;高共情被试对悲伤面孔表情存在注意偏向,这为理解人际间的心灵感知提供了重要的实证依据。     

Mothers’ Empathic Understanding of their Toddlers: Associations with Maternal Depression and Sensitivity

Mothers’ empathic understanding of their children’s motives, thoughts, and feelings is thought to guide parenting behaviors and shape the mother-child relationship. However, little is known about the relation between empathic understanding and parenting behaviors during developmental shifts that may be emotionally challenging for mothers, such as the transition from infancy to the toddler years, or how it may relate to maternal depressive symptoms. We assessed relations between maternal empathic understanding, depression, and sensitivity. We developed a coding system, the Empathic Understanding Assessment (EUA), to measure this construct in the mothers of 30-month old children. One hundred twenty eight mother-child pairs participated in a series of lab-based tasks designed to be challenging for the children. Mothers then watched these videotaped interactions and responded to questions regarding their children’s experiences. Interview content was coded using the EUA. Results indicated that mothers higher in empathic understanding and more intensely emotional were rated as more sensitive. Maternal depression was negatively related to empathic understanding. The importance of considering the role of maternal empathic understanding in parenting behavior is discussed, as are potential implications for child outcomes.     

Cannot avert the eyes: reduced attentional blink toward others’ emotional expressions in empathic people

Empathy is one of the core components of social interaction. Although current models of empathy emphasize the role of attention, few studies have directly examined the relationship between attentional processes and individual differences in empathy. This study hypothesized that empathic people would process emotional expressions more efficiently and automatically compared to less empathic people. Crucially, such a processing advantage should be present only for faces of others compared to one’s own face. To test this hypothesis, 100 healthy participants varying in their self-reported empathy levels underwent an attentional blink task that tested preferential attentional processing. Results showed a diminished attentional blink effect for sad faces of others in the high-empathy group. Additionally, performance differences in the task were related to both trait empathy and daily prosocial behavior. Overall, our results show that emotional stimuli preferentially capture the attention of empathic people, leading to automatic processing.     

Children’s Intent Attributions and Feelings of Distress: Associations with Maternal and Paternal Parenting Practices

Many studies point to the importance of social information processing mechanisms in understanding distinct child behaviors such as aggression. However, few studies have assessed whether parenting might be related to such mechanisms. This study considers how aversive forms of parenting (i.e., corporal punishment, psychological control) as well as parental warmth and responsiveness might be concurrently associated with children’s hostile intent attributions and emotional distress in response to ambiguous provocation scenarios (both instrumental and relational). A sample of 219 children (101 boys, 118 girls) and their parents participated. Bivariate associations showed that parenting dimensions and child variables were significantly associated in mostly expected ways, but only in father–child relationships (especially father–son relationships). Analyses generally showed dimensions of aversive parenting by fathers to be associated with a greater tendency toward hostile attributional bias in children. Moreover, paternal warmth and responsiveness, as well as corporal punishment, were associated with less emotional distress in boys. In contrast, paternal psychological control predicted greater emotional distress in boys. The findings suggest that the tone of the father–son relationship, in particular, may help set the tone for how boys interpret their social world. Psychological control figures prominently in this regard.     

Parental Emotional Response to Children’s Traumas

To better understand how parents react to their child’s trauma exposure and evaluate whether different reactions are related to different types of traumas, 120 parents (79.2% mothers, 18.3% fathers, 2.5% other caregivers) were asked about their emotional reactions related to their child’s self-reported worst trauma. Emotional reactions were assessed with the Parental Emotional Reactions Questionnaire (PERQ). Parents reported high levels of distress and guilt. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between type of trauma and parents’ overall emotional reactions. Parental distress was equally endorsed among the different trauma groups. Parents of children who experienced intrafamilial violence and extrafamilial sexual abuse reported the highest levels of guilt, and child exposure to intrafamilial violence was associated with higher levels of parental shame.     

The role of job control as a moderator of emotional dissonance and emotional intelligence-outcome relationships

Job control may be defined as the latitude to make decisions and the freedom to select the most appropriate skills to complete the task. Emotional dissonance may be defined as the conflict between expressed and experienced emotions. In this study, job control and self-efficacy were theorized to jointly affect emotional dissonance. Individuals with high self-efficacy were found to be more satisfied under conditions of little job control, whereas those with low self-efficacy favored high job control. The impact of job control on emotional intelligence was also studied. Emotional intelligence may be defined as the set of skills that contribute to accurate self-appraisal of emotion as well as the detection of emotional cues in others and the use of feelings to motivate and achieve in one's life. Emotional intelligence and job control explained significant amounts of the variance in both job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The effects of dispositional empathy on emotional reactions and helping: A multidimensional approach

Recent research indicates that an affective state termed empathic emotion, and characterized by feelings of sympathy and compassion for another, is associated with altruistic responding. That is, persons experiencing high levels of empathic emotion offer help to another even when escape from the situation is easy. Persons experiencing high levels of another emotional state—personal distress—help much less when escape from the situation is easy. A study was conducted to test two related hypotheses. The first was that individual differences in empathy can influence empathic emotion and personal distress, above and beyond the influence of situational factors. The second hypothesis was that this effect of individual differences is due to variation in emotional and not cognitive empathy. The results provide support for both hypotheses. Regarding hypothesis 1, a significantly greater proportion of the variance in emotional reactions was accounted for when individual difference factors were included as predictors. Hypothesis 2 was also supported: It was found that a dispositional measure of emotional empathy was clearly related, and a dispositional measure of cognitive empathy was clearly unrelated, to these emotional reactions. The results provide support for a multidimensional view of empathy.     

Prosocial attitudes and empathic behavior in emotional positive versus negative situations: brain response (ERPs) and source localization (LORETA) analysis

The present research firstly investigated the neural correlates (ERPs, event-related potentials) of attitudes to engage in prosocial-helping behaviors, and secondly, it analyzed the relation between these brain-based potentials and personal profile (high vs. low empathic profile). It was considered the subjects’ behavior in response to specific emotional situations (positive vs. negative) in case it was required a possible prosocial intervention. Thirty-one subjects were invited to empathize with the emotional contexts (videotapes that reproduced two person’s exchanges) and to decide whether to intervene or not to support these persons. BEES questionnaire for empathic behavior was submitted to the subjects after the experimental session. ERP acquisition and LORETA source analysis revealed a negative ongoing deflection (N200 effect) more prefrontally distributed (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) in response to prosocial intervention options mainly for negative and positive contexts. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was found between high-empathic profiles, intervention behaviors (higher frequency of interventions) and N200 amplitude (higher peak). These results highlight the role of emotions in prosocial behavior, since the N200 effect was considered a marker of the emotional significance of the interpersonal situation. Secondly, the empathic trait may explain the prosocial decisional processes: Higher empathic trait contributes to induce subject’s intervention behavior which in turn appears to be directly related to the cortical responsiveness within the prefrontal areas.