This study examined whether typically developing (TD) twins of non-TD children demonstrate enhanced empathy and prosociality. Of 778 Hebrew-speaking Israeli families who participated in a twin study, 63 were identified to have a non-TD child with a TD twin, and 404 as having both twins TD. TD twins of non-TD children (27% males) were compared to…

Being able to defend victims of school bullying is central in any intervention; thus, it seems paramount to investigate which factors may contribute to defending behavior. The present report aims to investigate whether empathic self-efficacy is associated with helping behavior and whether interpersonal factors (i.e., social preference and…

Siblings of children with ASD have, as a group, more autistic traits than typically developing individuals. A high prevalence of autistic traits may (or may not) include lower scores on measures of empathy and prosocial behavior compared with typically developing individuals. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of studies…

The self-oriented and other-oriented empathy dimensions may have different relationships with playfulness. However, a scarcity of research exists on the association between empathy and playfulness. The present research contained two studies. Parents of 386 preschoolers (M[subscript age] = 4.89, SD[subscript age] = 0.79) attended Study 1, and…

The role of compassion has attracted increasing interest in the higher educational context due to its recognised benefits. As values influence the cognitive, emotional and behavioural domains, certain values are expected to be closely related to the capacity to experience compassion. This paper empirically examines the relationship between…

Objective: Empathic concern (EC) for others may be related to COVID-19 pandemic responses. Participants and methods: The purpose of this survey study was to examine differences in pandemic responses in 1,778 college students rated as low (LE) versus high (HE) on the EC subscale of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Results: HE participants…

Research Findings: Empathy plays an important role in children's early social-emotional development. However, there are not many instruments available for measuring the different aspects/levels of empathy in preschool children. Moreover, few studies examined the validity of the existing measures for empathy in Chinese children. The present study…

This 3-wave longitudinal study investigated the developmental trajectories of instrumental helping, sharing and empathic helping across toddlerhood, and how socialisation processes (i.e., parents' and teachers' practices) contribute to these developments. Participants were 50 18-months-olds and 62 24-months-olds, their parents, and daycare…

Kindness has been generally defined as being compassionate, empathetic, friendly, forgiving, generous, considerate, or as showing genuine concern for and a desire to help others. This definition has utility when speaking informally but lacks technical precision when used in a scientific capacity. Given that kindness encompasses several different…

Recent evidence suggests that only about 1 in 5 U.S. adults has a friend on the political "other side" (Dunn, 2020). Although these interpartisan friendships are uncommon, they play a critical role in catalyzing empathy, reducing prejudice, furthering justice, and even restoring democracy, as suggested by the theory of civic friendship…

Cultural, racial, social, religious, ethnic heterogeneity of educational groups is a problem of modern education in the context of integration and globalization. This often becomes a reason for misunderstandings, sometimes aggression in the interaction of representatives of opposing worldviews, preferences or traditions. Tolerance in the…

Relations among White (non-Latinx) children's empathy-related responding, prosocial behaviors, and racial attitudes toward White and Black peers were examined. In 2017, 190 (54% boys) White 5- to 9-year-old children (M = 7.09 years, SD = 0.94) watched a series of videos that depicted social rejection of either a White or Black child.…

Both parasympathetic nervous system regulation and receipt of social support from close relationships contribute to prosocial development, although few studies have examined their combined influences in adolescence and particularly within racially and ethnically minoritized populations. In this longitudinal study of 229 U.S. Mexican-origin…

Background/Context: Political divisiveness, racial reckoning, climate change, and mental health challenges represent just a few contemporary issues facing today's youth. Addressing these challenges now and in the future requires deep interpersonal understanding and collective action--neither of which can be achieved without empathy or prosocial…

Living with a pet is related to a host of socioemotional health benefits for children, yet few studies have examined the mechanisms that drive the relations between pet ownership and positive socioemotional outcomes. The current study examined one of the ways that pets may change the environment through which children learn and whether childhood…