Vicarious Emotional Responsiveness and Prosocial Behavior: Their Interrelations in Young Children

Findings in research concerning the association between empathy/sympathy and altruism in children have been inconsistent, probably because (a) concerned reactions have not been distinguished from distressed (anxious) reactions, (b) various modes of prosocial action have not been differentiated, and (c) empathy has been assessed primarily by means of self-report indices. In the present study, preschoolers'sad/concerned and anxious facial/gestural reactions and self-report of emotion in response to others' distresses were obtained, and prosocial behavior (spontaneous and requested) was assessed in peer interaction. Sad/concerned facial/gestural reactions were positively associated with sharing in a situation in which sharing was likely to be altruistically motivated (i.e., spontaneous actions) and, for girls only, with assisting when escape from the other's request was difficult (i.e., requested prosocial behavior). Anxious expressions were positively related to requested assisting, but only for the score indicating frequency (not proportion) of compliance. In addition, children who tended to express anxiety when viewing others in distress elicited more requests for assistance. Self-report measures were unrelated to facial/gestural indices and prosocial behavior. The data are discussed in terms of Batson's theorizing (for which they provide only limited support) and the literature concerning the relation of affect to various modes of prosocial behavior.