Theories on empathy development have stressed the role of socialization in general and the role of parental support in particular. This 3-wave longitudinal study of middle adolescents (N = 678) aimed to contribute to the extant research on the socialization of empathy (a) by examining the relative contribution of perceived maternal and paternal need supportive parenting on over-time changes in adolescents' emotional and cognitive aspects of empathy (i.e., empathic concern and perspective taking, respectively) and (b) by considering the possibility of reciprocal relations between perceived parenting and adolescent empathy. Whereas paternal need support consistently predicted over-time changes in perspective taking in both sons and daughters, perceived maternal need support predicted changes in empathic concern among daughters only. In addition, although less consistently so, empathy dimensions also predicted over-time changes in perceived parenting. Results are discussed in terms of the nature of empathy and in the light of domain-specific effects of each parent.

Ethnic and racial intergroup attitudes are assumed to develop due to the influence of socialization contexts. However, there is still little longitudinal evidence supporting this claim. We also know little about the relative importance of socialization contexts, the possible interplay between them as well as about the conditions and mechanisms that might underlie socialization effects. This longitudinal study of adolescents (N = 517) examined the effects of parents and peers’ anti‐immigrant attitudes as well as intergroup friendships on relative changes in adolescents’ anti‐immigrant prejudice, controlling for the effects of socioeconomic background. It also examined whether the effects of parents or peers would depend on adolescents’ intergroup friendships. In addition, it explored whether the effects of parents, peers, and intergroup friendships would be mediated or moderated by adolescents’ empathy. Results showed significant effects of parents, peers, intergroup friendships, and socioeconomic background on changes in youth attitudes, highlighting the role of parental prejudice. They also showed adolescents with immigrant friends to be less affected by parents and peers’ prejudice than youth without immigrant friends. In addition, results showed the effects of parents, peers, and intergroup friendships to be mediated by adolescents’ empathic concern. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Although intergroup attitudes are assumed to develop due to the influence of parents, there is no longitudinal evidence supporting this claim. In addition, research on socialization of intergroup attitudes has omitted possible effects of adolescents on their parents. We also know little about the conditions under which intergroup attitudes are transmitted. This two-wave, 2 years apart, study of adolescents (N = 507) and their parents examined the relations between parents and adolescents' prejudice and tolerance from a longitudinal perspective. The study tested whether parental prejudice and tolerance would predict over-time changes in adolescents' attitudes and whether adolescents' prejudice and tolerance would elicit changes in parental attitudes. Additionally, it explored whether some of the effects would depend on perceived parental support. Results showed significant bidirectional influences between parents and adolescents' attitudes. In addition, adolescents who perceived their parents as supportive showed higher parent-adolescent correspondence in prejudice than youth with low parental support. These findings show that intergroup attitudes develop as a result of mutual influences between parents and adolescents. Hence, the unidirectional transmission model and previous research findings should be revisited. The results also suggest that parents' prejudice influence adolescents' attitudes to the extent that youth perceive their parents as supportive.

Although research has shown the effects of empathy manipulations on prejudice, little is known about the long-term relation between empathy and prejudice development, the direction of effects, and the relative effects of cognitive and affective aspects of empathy. Moreover, research has not examined within-person processes; hence, its practical implications are unclear. In addition, longitudinal research on development of prejudice and empathy in adolescence is still scarce. This 3-wave study of adolescents (N = 574) examined a longitudinal, within-person relation between empathy and anti-immigrant attitudes. The "standard" cross-lagged model showed bidirectional effects between empathic concern, perspective taking, and anti-immigrant attitudes. In contrast, the Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model showed that only perspective taking directly predicted within-person changes in anti-immigrant attitudes. Empathic concern predicted within-person changes in anti-immigrant attitudes indirectly, via its effects on perspective taking. No effects of anti-immigrant attitudes on within-person changes in empathy were found. The relations between empathic concern, perspective taking, and anti-immigrant attitudes were significant at the between-person level. In addition, the results showed changes in anti-immigrant attitudes and perspective taking and a change in empathic concern in mid- but not late adolescence. The results provide strong evidence for the effects of perspective taking on development of anti-immigrant attitudes in adolescence. They also suggest that the link between empathic concern and adolescents' anti-immigrant attitudes can be explained by indirect, within-person effects and by between-person differences. The findings suggest that programs aimed at reducing anti-immigrant attitudes in adolescence should work more closely with youth perspective taking and empathic concern. (PsycINFO Database Record

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