Abstract
The effects of empathy and observation of model behavior on helping behavior in preschool age children were examined. 158 mothers of five-year-olds were asked to rate 20 items on their children's empathy. A factor analysis of these items found the following three factors: indifference, sensitivity and consideration. Based on these factor scores of “sensitivity” or “consideration”, children were selected and divided randomly into two model conditions: a helpful model (HM) and a neutral model (NM). The following were the main results. There were no significant differences between high (Hs) and low sensitivity (Ls) groups and no significant modeling effect on helping behavior. On the contrary, the high consideration (Hc) group showed more helping behavior than the lower (Lc) one in the NM condition, but there was no significant difference between the two groups in the HM condition. Only the Lc group in the HM condition helped more frequently than the one in the NM condition. Therefore the modeling effect was found only in the low group of “consideration” factor.
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