How Gender Typicality Moderates the Relation between Preadolescents' Empathy and Acceptance by Peers
Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: : Previous research has shown that highly empathic children are generally more emotionally positive, sociable, and altruistic compared to their less empathic peers (Miller & Jansen op de Haar, 1997). These traits and behaviors linked with empathy have been associated with positive outcomes such as popularity in the peer group (Decovic & Gerris, 1994). However, a negative relation between these constructs has been found when studied in the context of preadolescence for boys (Oberle, Schonert-Reichl, & Thomson, 2010), suggesting a potential moderating effect of gender typicality since empathy is classified as a communal and therefore stereotypically feminine trait. The current study examines the relation between the constructs of gender, empathy, gender typicality, and peer acceptance in a preadolescent sample, and mixed findings suggest differential effects of empathy on peer acceptance for preadolescent boys and girls. Future research should continue examining these differential effects for boys and girls throughout childhood and adolescence.
Author: Shawna Michelle Petersen
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Gender equality
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2522408986