Kienbaum, J., Zorzi, M. & Kunina-Habenicht, O.
The development of interindividual differences in sympathy: The role of
child temperament and adult-child relationships
Children differ markedly in the way they react when they witness the
mishap of another person: While some spontaneously feel sympathy and the
wish to alleviate the other’s suffering, others may experience aversive
feelings and would like to extricate themselves from the situation if
possible. Still others might just turn away. Where do these
interindividual differences in children’s sympathy come from? Both
genetic and environmental influences have been identified in the course
of sympathy development (Eisenberg, Spinrad & Knafo, 2015). In the
present study, we assumed that children’s sympathetic responses are best
predicted by jointly investigating socialization practices inside and
outside the family and child temperament. In a three-wave longitudinal
study of 85 Italian children (43 girls) from 5 to 7 years of age, the
role of child temperament (inhibition, aggressiveness) and adults’
responsiveness to distress to children’s sympathy was examined. Sympathy
was measured via standardized observations, self- and other-reports, and
temperament with other-reports by teachers. Adults’ responsiveness to
distress was inferred from interviews with the children. They were told
little stories accompanied by correspondent pictures of situations in
which they experienced emotions like sadness, anxiety or shame and they
were asked about the adults’ behavior in such situations. Longitudinal
analyses via latent regression using structural equation models revealed
that earlier sympathy explained most of the variance of later sympathy.
Additionally, higher inhibition at T1 predicted less sympathy at T2, and
higher aggression at T2 predicted less sympathy at T3. Higher sympathy
at T1 predicted more adult responsiveness at T2. Within time, at T1,
sympathy was higher for children who perceive parents and teachers as
warm and supportive. At T2, inhibition and sympathy were negatively
related. The discussion focuses on the question of how child
temperament, parental and non-parental socialization experiences work in
concert to explain interindividual differences in sympathy.
