This paper describes the development of Allo-Centered (altruistic other-centered) Psychotherapy, an other-centered form of counseling which aims to redirect the client's orientation from self to others. It is noted that this approach is also suitable for clients from group-oriented cultures such as Asians, Pacific Islanders, or Latin Americans.…

This paper presents a study of empathy in 6- to 9-year-olds. Although empathy is primarily defined as the response of one individual to the emotional state of another, definitions and assessment can be further differentiated depending on the empathizer's response and on the source of the empathizer's knowledge of the other person. Is the…

When assessing the influence of empathy on prosocial motivation, analyzing empathy alone would lead to a misunderstanding. We must also assess other elements of the situation, such as the altruist's coping skills and situational constraints. In a similar manner empathy itself should be conceptualized as a process with many elements. One way to…

This paper proposes that the automatic use of therapeutic approaches devised for Americans and Europeans with clients belonging to different cultures may be counter-productive. Cultural differences between Caucasian-Americans and Japanese-Americans are examined and general elements to be considered in counseling Japanese-Americans are explained.…

The relationship between empathic role-taking abilities and empathic behaviors observed in both naturalistic and experimental settings was examined in 14 children between the ages of 53 and 65 months. Children were observed at the McGill Daycare Centre twice a week for 8 weeks, totalling approximately 30 hours. Event sampling was used to record…

The development of perceptual, cognitive, and affective perspective taking and empathy was investigated in 96 kindergarten through third-grade children. Cognitive perspective taking was found to increase between second and third grades. Affective perspective taking, in situations controlling for the likelihood of the subjects' projecting their own…