Moral cognitive correlates of empathy in juvenile delinquents

Numerous theories of anti-social behaviour have featured lack of empathy as an essential characteristic of the anti-social personality.

To investigate the relationships between empathy and three theoretically related moral cognitive constructs: moral judgement maturity, moral identity and self-serving cognitive distortion.

Seventy-eight adjudicated juvenile delinquents aged 13 to 21 years who had been directed by the court to attend a 10-week empathy training programme completed self-report measures as part of routine evaluation. Their anonymized scores were retrieved from programme records.

Applying zero-order correlation, followed by regression analysis, we established that moral judgement maturity was associated with greater empathy, whereas extensive endorsement of self-serving cognitive distortions was associated with lower empathy. An observed association between moral identity and empathy was mediated or 'neutralised' by self-serving cognitive distortion.

Our results suggest that interventions designed to promote empathy and curtail anti-social behaviour should embrace strategies that facilitate moral judgement maturity and correct or counteract self-serving cognitive distortions.