Why are empathic children more liked by peers? The mediating roles of prosocial and aggressive behaviors

Abstract

The present study examined a two mediator model with both prosocial and aggressive behaviors as mediators in the association between child empathy and peer acceptance. A sample of 537 sixth to eighth graders reported items on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; as the index of empathy). Children's aggressive, prosocial behaviors, and peer acceptance were measured using peer-nominated questionnaires. Results showed that child empathy was positively associated with children's prosocial behavior and peer acceptance, but negatively associated with child aggression. Children's prosocial behavior was positively associated with peer acceptance, whereas their aggressive behavior was negatively associated with peer acceptance. To contribute to the extant literature, we found that children's prosocial and aggressive behaviors could completely mediate the linkage between child empathy and peer acceptance. Moreover, these two types of social behavior play equally important mediating roles. These results suggested that empathic children were more liked in peer group not only due to their more prosocial behavior, but simultaneously due to their lower aggression. In other words, both high prosociality and low aggression were important requisites for peer acceptance.