This study indicated that the child's decision to respond generously to the needs of others may be a function of his evaluation of the relative fairness and deservedness of the other's plight. Whether competition renders the child less responsive is a subject for further research. (JMB)

High school students who had been pretested on the Mehrabian and Epstein (1972) measure of empathy were shown a brief videotaped presentation designed to elicit empathic arousal for a particular group of children (mentally retarded or crippled). Each individual was subsequently given an opportunity to act charitably for a recipient group which was…

The differential effects of self- and other-directed negative affect on subsequent generosity are explored in two studies, both using a modified version of the direct mood inducement procedure (Moore, 1973). Subjects (N=85) in the first experiment were children aged 7-12. Subjects (N=48) in the second experiment were college undergraduates.…

This paper investigates the effects of age and sex on the spontaneous helping behavior of preschool children. Forty-six middle-class children, 22 boys and 24 girls, attending school in a small city in northeastern Kansas took part in the study. Children were divided by median split into younger and older groups. Taped interactions of children with…

The ability to empathize, or experience the emotions of another individual, has frequently been suggested as an important factor in the child's moral development and expression of prosocial behaviors. The present investigation sought to explore the relationship between the young child's empathy (as assessed by the Feshbach and Roe measure) and the…