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Keywords
Adult ADHD
Self-Report
Parent-Report
Accuracy
ABSTRACT
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The primary aim of the present study was to determine whether there
was a relationship between empathy and altruism in nine to twelve-yearold school children. In addition the present study had three related
objectives: to determine whether this association was stronger for
affective or cognitive empathy; to determine if there was gender
differences in relation to empathy and altruism in children and to
determine if levels of empathy and altruism in children increased with
age. A sample of 300 children completed measures of affective empathy,
cognitive empathy, and altruism. The Bryant Index (Bryant, 1982) is a
self-report measure which was used to measure levels of affective
empathy. The, Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test Child Version (BaronCohen, Wheelwright, Spong, Scahill & Lawson, 2001) is a test which
assesses a childs ability to read someones mental state through
observing the eye area of the face. The Swank Behavior Inventory (Swank,
2008) is a self-report measure of altruism in children. Data were analysed
using Pearson Product Moment Correlations, independent t-tests and
multiple linear regression. Significant positive correlations were reported
in relation to affective empathy and altruism. There was no gender effect
in relation to levels of cognitive empathy and altruism. However there was
a significant gender effect in relation to affective empathy, with females
scoring higher on the measure of affective empathy than males. Significant
positive correlations were also reported in relation to affective empathy
and age as well as cognitive empathy and age. An exploratory regression
model was significant with age and affective empathy emerging as
significant predictors of altruism in this model. Results are discussed in
the context of the empathy-altruism hypothesis and child development.
Recommendations for future research include the use of a multi-method
approach combining self-report measures with physiological measures.
University College Cork. All rights reserved
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1. Introduction
Encouraging the development of
empathy in children has been the aim of
various
educators
and
educational
programmes (Bryant, 1982; Stetson, Hurley &
Miller, 2003; Schonert-Reichl, Smith,
Zaidman-Zait & Hartzman, 2012; Thompson
& Gullone, 2003). In a similar way
understanding the developmental roots of
human altruism has been the aim of numerous
researchers (Ahammer & Murray, 1979;
Warneken & Tomasello, 2009). Nevertheless
charting the developmental trajectory of
altruistic behaviour in children has proven to
be a contentious and challenging area of
research (Cialdini & Kenrick, 1976; Kenrick,
Baumann & Cialdini, 1979). The empathyaltruism hypothesis (Batson, 1991) is one
possible predictor of altruistic behaviour.
Empathy can be divided into various
components. Affective empathy focuses on the
emotional response of the observer to the
affective state of another individual (BaronCohen & Wheelwright, 2004). The cognitive
component of empathy has been described as
theory of mind (Astington, Harris & Olson,
1988 as cited in Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright,
2004) or mind-reading (Baron-Cohen,
1995). On comparing the affective and
cognitive components of empathy it can be
concluded that empathy contains these two
components (Davis, 1994) both as distinct
entities and merging categories (Baron-Cohen
& Wheelwright, 2004). Lamm, Batson &
Decety (2007) divide empathy into three
components: affective response, cognitive
capacity, and monitoring mechanisms. The
purpose of these monitoring mechanisms is to
discern if the focus is on the self or on the
other.
Batson (1991) asks the question: Is our
ultimate goal, when assisting another human
being, to benefit them only? Batsons (1991)
empathy-altruism hypothesis proposes that the
motivation, to help others, emerges from an
empathic concern for others and thus is
principally other orientated. This form of
altruism, true altruism which is other
2.1 Participants
The sample consisted of 300 male and
female 9 - 12 year old children from three
primary schools in the Dublin area (M = 10.82
years, SD = .918). The sample was 69%
female (M = 10.88 years, SD = .778) and 31%
male (M = 10.79 years, SD = .975).
2.2 Measures
Child version of Reading the Mind in
the Eyes test (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright,
Spong, et al., 2001) hereinafter referred to as
the Eyes Test.
The
Eyes
Test
(Baron-Cohen,
Wheelwright, Spong, et al., 2001) is used to
assess childrens ability to read the mental
state of others by looking at the eye area of the
face. The authors based this test on a previous
test of the same name designed for adults
(Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Hill, Raste, &
Plumb., 2001). Children choose one word out
of a possible four words to describe the mental
state of the actor in a photograph: participants
receive a score of 1 for circling the word
which corresponds with the mental state of the
actor in the photograph. Children then get a
score of 0 for circling any other word. All the
scores of 1 are summed to get a total score.
Index of Empathy for Children and
Adolescents (Bryant, 1982) hereinafter
referred to as the Bryant Index
The Bryant Index (Bryant, 1982) was
intended as a measure of affective empathy
with the central aim of developing a greater
understanding of the affective arousal
component of empathy. Cronbachs alpha of
0.68 for 9 - 10 year olds and 0.79 for 12 - 13
year olds were obtained when this index was
originally developed, therefore this index has
good internal reliability. Participants must tick
a box indicating yes or no in response to 22
statements in relation to empathy. For
example item 1 states: It makes me sad to see
a girl who cant find anyone to play with, to
which the respondents must put a tick in a box
labelled yes or no to indicate their
response. Children complete this index
individually by reading each item and writing
their response in the appropriate box. The
empathic response is coded as 1 and the nonempathic response is coded as 0. All the items
2. Method
This study was a cross-sectional
correlational study that investigated the
relationship between empathy and altruism in
9 - 12 year old schoolchildren. The dependent
variables being measured were affective
empathy, cognitive empathy and altruism.
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3. Results
The data analysed for this study were
scores for each participant on three different
measures. The measures were the Eyes Test
(Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Spong, et al.,
2001), a measure of cognitive empathy; the
Bryant Index (Bryant, 1982), a measure of
affective empathy; and the SBI-MS (Swank,
2008), a measure of altruism. Data were
analysed using Pearson Product Moment
correlations, t-tests and multiple linear
regression. The Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences (SPSS) (IBM Inc., 2011) was
used to analyse these data.
Table 1 below details the mean scores
for cognitive empathy, affective empathy and
altruism. The highest possible score for
cognitive empathy was 28, therefore the mean
score indicates there were no ceiling effects.
The highest possible score for affective
empathy was 22, therefore the mean score
once more indicates that there were no ceiling
effects. The highest possible score for altruism
was 90. The mean score in this instance
indicates the possibility of ceiling effects in
relation
to
this
variable.
2.3Procedure
A number of primary schools in the
Dublin area were contacted between
September and December 2012. Three of these
schools agreed to take part in this study. The
school principals were sent a letter detailing
the purpose of the study and a copy of the test
booklet which contained the three measures.
Letters explaining the purpose of the study
and
consent
forms
were
sent
to
parents/guardians in January and February
2013.
Children, whose parents/guardians
gave their consent, were given an information
sheet and an assent form on the day the tasks
were administered. The researcher read the
information sheet for the children and
obtained their written assent to take part in the
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Table 1 Mean scores for cognitive empathy, affective empathy and altruism;
Dependent
variable
Cognitive
empathy
Affective
empathy
Altruism
Scale
Gender
SD
male
92
19.85
2.64
female
203
19.61
2.65
total
295
19.68
2.65
male
92
14.41
2.74
female
205
16.65
2.71
total
297
15.96
2.90
male
90
80.73
8.51
female
203
81.49
7.09
total
293
81.26
7.55
Table 2 Correlations coefficients between cognitive empathy, affective empathy, altruism and age
Cognitive
Affective empathy
Altruism
Age
.166**
.56
.127*
.160**
.132*
empathy
1.Cognitive
empathy
2. Affective
empathy
-.111
3. Altruism
**p<.01 * p<.05
20
-.154
t
-2.606
p
.01
Affective empathy
.172
2.914
.004
Cognitive empathy
.056
.944
.346
4. Discussion
As can be seen in Table 3 above, age
and affective empathy emerged as significant
predictors of altruism in this model, while
cognitive empathy was not a significant
predictor. Affective empathy was positively
related to altruism after controlling for
cognitive empathy and age. Based on these
results it can be concluded that as childrens
levels of affective empathy increase so do
their levels of altruism. Age is negatively
related to altruism after controlling for
affective and cognitive empathy. Based on
these results it can be concluded that as
children grow older their levels of altruism
decrease.
4.2 Limitations
Unlike previous studies this sample
was not balanced for gender. Given the
evidence of a gender effect in relation to
affective empathy (Bryant,1982) the larger
amount of female participants may have
confounded the results of this study. However
this would only have applied to affective
empathy where a significant difference
between males and females was reported.
In addition the measure of altruism used in
this study, the SBI-MS (Swank, 2008) is an
unpublished measure still undergoing
validation. A large number of high scores on
this measure in the present study indicate
possible ceiling effects. In addition although
this measure proposes to be a measure of
altruism, some items cover topics such as
emptying a rubbish bin. This item appears to
be measuring a general pro-social disposition
rather than human altruism. This fact brings
the face validity of this measure into question.
4.5 Conclusion
While this study found some evidence
to support the empathy-altruism hypothesis in
children, difficulties regarding face validity
and ceiling effects in relation to one of the
measures used may have confounded these
results. The increasing complexity of human
interactions throughout development and how
they influence altruistic behaviours appears to
disrupt a clear understanding of the
mechanism behind the empathy-altruism
hypothesis in the context of child
development. Nevertheless, recent findings in
neuroscience regarding the neural mechanisms
underlying the relationship between empathy
and altruism point to exciting new
developments in this field of research.
References
Ahammer, I. M., & Murray, J. P. (1979).
Kindness in the kindergarten: The
relative influence of role-playing and
pro-social television in facilitating
altruism. International Journal of
Behavioral Development, 2(2), 133157.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The
exercise of control. New York:
Freeman.
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