Empathy, Emotional Expressiveness, and Prosocial Behavior

Roberts, William L.; Strayer, Janet

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01745.x

Cited by 167 publications

(192 citation statements)

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“…In contrast, an examination of significance tests and effect sizes does not produce consistent evidence suggesting that girls are more likely than boys to report experiencing the same emotion portrayed by hypothetical protagonists (e.g., feeling angry when the protagonist is angry; Dekovic & Gerris, 1994;Feshbach & Feshbach, 1969;Feshbach & Roe, 1968;Hughes, Tingle, & Sawin, 1981; Isannotti, 1986;Roberts & Strayer, 1996). Also, a sex difference in empathy among children and early adolescents was not found in one study employing teacher and friend reports (Roberts & Strayer, 1996). Importantly, though, the accuracy of other-reported empathy is not clear given that empathy is experienced internally.…”

mentioning

confidence: 94%

A review of sex differences in peer relationship processes: Potential trade-offs for the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys.

Rose

Rudolph

2006

Psychological Bulletin

2,036

157

1,831

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Theory and research on sex differences in adjustment focus largely on parental, societal, and biological influences. However, it also is important to consider how peers contribute to girls' and boys' development. This paper provides a critical review of sex differences in: several peerrelationship processes, including behavioral and social-cognitive styles, stress and coping, and relationship provisions. Based on this review, a speculative peer-socialization model is presented that considers the implications of these sex differences for girls' and boys' emotional and behavioral development. Central to this model is the idea that sex-linked relationship processes have costs and benefits for girls' and boys' adjustment. Finally, we present recent research testing certain model components and propose approaches for testing understudied aspects of the model. Keywordspeer relationships; sex differences; emotional adjustment; behavioral adjustment From a very early age, significant differences are found in the peer relationships of girls and boys. What are the potential implications of this consistent pattern of sex differences for youth? The purpose of the present paper is to review, synthesize, and critique existing research concerning the presence of sex differences in several key aspects of youths' relationships, particularly in the peer group context. Based on this critical review, we then introduce a speculative model concerning the influence of sex differences in these peer relationship processes on the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys. Finally, this review and speculative model are used as a springboard for identifying critical future directions for research on sex differences in relationships processes and associated developmental outcomes.We focus on sex differences in three major domains of relationship processes: relationship style-including both behavioral and social-cognitive components, stress and coping processes, and emotional provisions in relationships. Several factors determined our selection of these relationship processes for inclusion in our review. The overarching goal of this review is to generate ideas about the influence of sex differences in relationship processes on well-being in girls and boys. Thus, we focused in general on relationship Correspondence regarding this article should be addressed to Amanda J. Rose, 210 McAlester Hall, Department of Psychology, University of Columbia, Missouri 65211, RoseA@missouri.edu NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript processes that we hypothesized would have potential implications for understanding sex differences in emotional and behavioral development. With this goal in mind, we used three criteria to select specific dimensions for review. First, we focus on relationship processes that are emphasized in existing theoretical models of sex differences in relationships (e.g., Burhmester, 1996;Cross & Madson, 1997;Helgeson, 1994;Maccoby, 1990; NolenHoeksema & Girgus, 1994). Second, we ...

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mentioning

confidence: 94%

A review of sex differences in peer relationship processes: Potential trade-offs for the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys.

Rose

Rudolph

2006

Psychological Bulletin

2,036

157

1,831

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“…Zhou et al (2002) found that mothers' positive facial expressivity related positively to their child's situational facial and self-reported empathy with positive and/or negative emotions. However, in another study, mothers' facial expressiveness (positive vs. negative expressiveness) while telling a story was unrelated to indices of their children's sympathy or personal distress , and reported maternal positive expressivity has sometimes been unrelated to sympathy .If exposure to high levels of positive emotion helps children experience and express emotion, then they may feel more comfortable feeling others' emotions than children not exposed to positive emotion (Roberts & Strayer, 1996). Parents who express high levels of positive emotion and discuss these emotions may also foster children's understanding and experience of emotion (Eisenberg, Cumberland, & Spinrad, 1998), especially in early childhood (Halberstadt et al, 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 94%

Prediction of Children's Empathy-Related Responding From Their Effortful Control and Parents' Expressivity.

Valiente¹,

Eisenberg²,

Fabes³

et al. 2004

Developmental Psychology

144

122

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In this study, the linear and interactive relations of children's effortful control and parents' emotional expressivity to children's empathy-related responses were examined. Participants were 214 children, 4.5 to 8 years old. Children's effortful control was negatively related to their personal distress and was positively related to their sympathy. Parents' positive expressivity was marginally negatively related to children's personal distress and was marginally positively related to children's dispositional sympathy. Parents' negative expressivity was positively related to children's personal distress, but primarily at high levels of children's effortful control. Moreover, parents' negative expressivity was negatively related to children's situational sympathy at low levels of effortful control but was positively related to children's dispositional sympathy at high levels of effortful control. There were also quadratic relations between the measures of parents' expressivity and children's empathy-related responses.Empathy is believed to play an important role in fostering prosocial behavior and social competence Hoffman, 2000;Staub, 1979). Although a number of definitions of empathy exist, a representative definition is "an affective response that stems from the apprehension or comprehension of another's emotional state or condition, and that is identical or very similar to what the other person is feeling or would be expected to feel" (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998, p. 702). For example, if a person witnesses a child feeling sad and consequently feels sad, that person is experiencing empathy. In addition, empathy is viewed as frequently associated with two related responses Eisenberg, Shea, Carlo, & Knight, 1991): sympathy and personal distress. Sympathy has been defined as an emotional response stemming from the apprehension of another's emotional state or condition, that is not the same as the other's state or condition but consists of feelings of sorrow or concern for the other . Sympathy is believed to frequently stem from empathy, although it may often be engendered by cognitive processes such as perspective taking. In contrast, personal distress is defined as a self-focused, aversive affective reaction to the apprehension of another's emotion (e.g., discomfort, anxiety; Batson, 1991)-a response that frequently may reflect empathic overarousal .Distinguishing between personal distress and sympathy is important because they are expected to relate differently to prosocial and social behaviors and may have different precursors. In fact, sympathy has been positively related to prosocial behavior whereas personal distress has been unrelated or negatively related (Batson, 1991;Eisenberg & Fabes, 1990. Moreover, sympathy has been linked to higher level moral reasoning whereas personal distress has been NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript negatively related or unrelated (e.g., Carlo, Eisenberg, & Knight, 1992;Eisenberg, Carlo, Murphy, & Van Court, 1995).Because of the ass...

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“…Empathy refers to the reactions of one individual to the observed experiences of another (Davis, 1983) and implies collective concern and pro-social behavior (Aaker & Williams, 1998;Eisenberg & Fabes, 1990;Roberts & Strayer, 1996). As such, empathy is strongly focused on the collective.…”

Section: Emotions and Attitudesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What one feels and what one knows: the influence of emotions on attitudes and intentions towards knowledge sharing

Hooff¹,

Schouten²,

Simonovski

2012

Journal of Knowledge Management

122

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This paper provides theoretical and empirical insight in the relationship between emotions and knowledge sharing. Pride (an ego-focused emotion) and empathy (an other-focused emotion) are related to eagerness and willingness to share knowledge. Our hypotheses were tested by means of a survey in which respondents were asked to evaluate one of four different scenarios. Pride and empathy were found to affect eagerness and willingness to share knowledge. Furthermore, these emotions also influenced knowledge sharing intentions, partly mediated by eagerness and willingness. Both eagerness and willingness mediate the relationship between pride and knowledge sharing intention, whereas only willingness turned out to mediate the relationship between empathy and knowledge sharing. These findings have a number of implications for theory on both knowledge sharing and emotions.

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Empathy, Emotional Expressiveness, and Prosocial Behavior

Cited by 167 publications

References 51 publications

A review of sex differences in peer relationship processes: Potential trade-offs for the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys.

A review of sex differences in peer relationship processes: Potential trade-offs for the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys.

Prediction of Children's Empathy-Related Responding From Their Effortful Control and Parents' Expressivity.

What one feels and what one knows: the influence of emotions on attitudes and intentions towards knowledge sharing

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