Year: 1996
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: A limited amount of previous research has shown that children's experiences of selfconscious emotions, such as guilt and shame show differential relationshzps to their abilities to empathically respond to other people's emotional states and to their aggressive behavior.In the present study, it was predicted that guilt would have a curvilinear relation@ with empathy and aggression, with children scoring m the moderate range on a measure of guilt showing the highest empathy scores and the lowest aggression scores.Shame was expected to show an inverse, linear relationship to empathy and a positive, linear relationship to aggression.One-hundred and fifteen children between eight and twelve years of age participated m the present study.Children completed the Test of Self-Conscious Meet -Children's version, and the Empathy Continuum measure.Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist -Parents version, and a demographic questionnaire.Present results were found to be conditional upon children's age and sex, rather than generalizable across children.Guilt showed a negative relationship to empathy in the younger boys, whereas all other age groups showed a positive relationslup between guilt and empathy.Shame showed a negative relation@ with empathy m the younger girls, a positive relationship with empathy in the younger boys and older girls, and no relationship to empathy in the older boys.Guilt and shame showed negative relationships with aggression in younger boys and older girls, positive relationships with aggression in older boys, and no relationshqs with aggression m younger girls.Results are discussed m terms of theoretical and methodological implications for developmental research in this area.Limitations of the present study are discussed, as are suggestions for future research.
Source: Summit (Simon Fraser University)
Author: Sara Fraser
Language: English
Topic: Emotions and Moral Behavior
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1600034172