Decreased empathic sensitivity for distressed infants in neurotic adults: The mediating role of remembered parental rejection |
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Authors: | Brenda L Lundy Melissa McFadden Skeel |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Psychology, Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, Neff Hall 380C, 2101 E. Coliseum Blvd., Fort Wayne, IN 46805, USA |
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Abstract: | The primary purpose of the present research was to determine whether negative reactions to infant distress in neurotic adults
are mediated by representations of same sex parental rejection. Participants were 308 adult males and females who completed
questionnaires assessing their personality and their representations of their parents’ care-giving from childhood. Participants
also reported their own empathic reactions toward emotionally distressed and non-distressed infants. The present findings
revealed that neuroticism significantly predicted a greater recall of parental rejection which, in turn, predicted decreased
empathy ratings for distressed infants. In addition, recollections of father rejection mediated the relation between neuroticism
and empathy in men, while recollections of maternal rejection mediated the relation between these variables in women. |
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