2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Different perspectives regarding the preschool children's empathic understanding
| Project/Area Number |
16530482
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Experimental psychology
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| Research Institution | Kansai University of Welfare Sciences |
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Principal Investigator |
KAMESHIMA Shinya Kansai University of Welfare Sciences, Department of Social Welfare, Ph.D., Professor (90241108)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2006
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| Keywords | empathy / behavioral analysis / interpersonal behavior / longitudinal study |
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| Research Abstract |
The development of empathy-related behaviors has been found to have biological basis. Developmental psychologists have argued that empathy-related behaviors are not learned, but innate. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the kindergartners' empathy by contrasting ratings by their mothers and teachers, and self-reports from the mothers with respect to their own empathy. The secondary purpose of the study was to longitudinally examine the change in the kindergartners' empathy-related behaviors.
Two groups of kindergartners participated in the study. The primary longitudinal cohort group (C1) consisted of 49 kindergartners (27 boys and 22 girls). They participated in the experiment twice, at ages three and four. The second longitudinal cohort group (C2) consisted of 61 kindergartners (38 boys and 23 girls). They participated in the experiment twice at ages four and give.
The means of data collection included survey reports by the kindergartners' caretakers and teachers, and behavioral observations with eight-minutes 1/0 sampling. Interpersonal Reactivity Index was also administered to the mothers in order to measure their own empathy.
The results indicated that the mothers and the teachers held different perspectives regarding the kindergartners' empathy. Teachers appeared to rate favorably of the children's empathy when they showed positive touch towards their peer, but not when it was directed towards adults. The children's ability to interact with their peer, but not with adults, might be the facilitating factor to foster empathy in an early educational setting such as a kindergarten. Affective domain of the mothers' empathy was associated with the children's empathy, whether they were three-year-olds or four-year-olds. Cognitive domain of the mothers' empathy was correlated only with four-year-olds' empathy score. The children's empathy in affective domain may be determined by their mothers' empathy, or influenced by genetic factors.
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