Journal
INFANT BEHAVIOR & DEVELOPMENT
Volume 34, Issue 3, Pages 447-458Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2011.04.007
Keywords
Empathy; Empathy development; Empathic concern; Concern for others; Prosocial behavior
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The study examined the responses of typically developing infants to the distress of another, prior to and following the transition to the second year. Infants' responses to maternal simulations of distress and to a peer distress videotape were observed from 8 to 16 months, using an accelerated longitudinal design (overall n = 37). Modest levels of affective and cognitive empathy for another in distress were already evident before the second year, and increased gradually (and not always significantly) across the transition to the second year. Prosocial behavior was rare in the first year and increased substantially during the second year. Self-distress reactions were rare overall. Individual differences in cognitive and affective empathy assessed in the first year, particularly at 10-months, predicted the levels of prosocial behavior observed in the second year. No gender differences were found. Theoretical implications and future research directions are discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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