Cross-Age Tutoring
Published on Nov 05, 2016
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Outcomes Associated with Empathy
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Outcomes Associated with Empathy
- Empathic concern, the affective response of feeling concern for another and wanting to alleviate distress, is related to altruistic responding in adults (Batson,Fultz, & Schroenrade, 1987; Coke, Batson, & McDavis, 1978).
Outcomes Associated with Empathy
- Empathy has been related to social functioning (Zhou et al., 2002) and prosocial behaviour (Eisenberg & Miller, 1987; Strayer & Roberts, 2004) in children, and this relationship becomes more evident during early adolescence (Espelage, Mebane, & Adams, 2004).
Outcomes Associated with Empathy
- Because bullying can result in such a high degree of emotional distress in victims (Boivin, Hymel, & Bukowski, 1995), it is possible that a peer experiencing empathy towards a child in distress may be motivated to do something to stop the bullying.
Outcomes Associated with Empathy
- Empathy has been shown to be inversely related to antisocial behaviour (see Miller & Eisenberg, 1988).
Some interesting gender differences have emerged in the study of empathy. Although
girls have consistently been found to demonstrate more empathy than boys (Olweus &
Endresen, 1998; Roberts & Strayer, 1996; Warden & Mckinnon, 2003), both genders
reported more empathic concern for a girl in distress than for a boy in distress (Olweus &
Endresen, 1998). Interestingly, Olweus and Endresen (1998) found boys' empathy towards
girls to increase with age, whereas empathy towards boys decreased with age for both
genders.
girls have consistently been found to demonstrate more empathy than boys (Olweus &
Endresen, 1998; Roberts & Strayer, 1996; Warden & Mckinnon, 2003), both genders
reported more empathic concern for a girl in distress than for a boy in distress (Olweus &
Endresen, 1998). Interestingly, Olweus and Endresen (1998) found boys' empathy towards
girls to increase with age, whereas empathy towards boys decreased with age for both
genders.
Outcomes Associated with Empathy
- Empathy was found to predict children's roles as defenders or outsiders. More specifically, children who reported experiencing more empathic concern in relation to victimization were more likely to intervene to stop it from occurring. Although causation cannot be inferred based on this study, the fact that affective experiences (e.g., feeling sad for another child being picked on) are associated with the tendency to intervene lends support to the notion that instilling empathy in children may be important in overcoming the passive bystander phenomenon.
The finding that individuals who defended victims of bullying reported greater empathy
suggests interventions with children should focus both on increasing empathy and teaching
skills for intervening assertively to stop bullying. There is evidence to suggest that teaching
empathy to children results in increased prosocial behaviors, such as cooperation, helping,
and generosity when compared to a problem-solving control condition (Feshbach, 1983).
Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS), a comprehensive prevention program
that places an emphasis on teaching children to identify emotions, has also been shown to
reduce aggression, improve peer relationships, and result in better classroom atmospheres
(Conduct Problems PreventionWorkgroup, 1999). Interventions to increase empathic skills
include problem-solving games, story telling, simple written exercises, group discussion,
and role-playing that can be readily incorporated into the regular classroom. A skilled
teacher, in consultation with a school psychologist, could take naturally occurring classroom
events, such as bullying, the arrival of a new child, or teasing of a student with
disabilities to introduce relevant empathy training exercises (Feshbach, 1983) ** taken from: (Nickerson, Mele, & Princiotta, 2008)
suggests interventions with children should focus both on increasing empathy and teaching
skills for intervening assertively to stop bullying. There is evidence to suggest that teaching
empathy to children results in increased prosocial behaviors, such as cooperation, helping,
and generosity when compared to a problem-solving control condition (Feshbach, 1983).
Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS), a comprehensive prevention program
that places an emphasis on teaching children to identify emotions, has also been shown to
reduce aggression, improve peer relationships, and result in better classroom atmospheres
(Conduct Problems PreventionWorkgroup, 1999). Interventions to increase empathic skills
include problem-solving games, story telling, simple written exercises, group discussion,
and role-playing that can be readily incorporated into the regular classroom. A skilled
teacher, in consultation with a school psychologist, could take naturally occurring classroom
events, such as bullying, the arrival of a new child, or teasing of a student with
disabilities to introduce relevant empathy training exercises (Feshbach, 1983) ** taken from: (Nickerson, Mele, & Princiotta, 2008)
Emotion Journals
- I feel most happy when___
- I feel embarrassed when___ I think negative thoughts when ___. I am ___ when ___. I feel ___ when____.
- I think negative thoughts when ___. I am ___ when ___. I feel ___ when____.
Miriam Miller, MA
Univesirty of British ColumbiaYale C
