title: BABY EMPATHY: INFANT DISTRESS AND PEER PROSOCIAL RESPONSES.
abstract: Empathy is an important competence in our social world, a motivator of prosocial behavior, and thought to develop throughout the second year of life. The current study examined infants' responses to naturalistic peer distress to explore markers of empathy and prosocial behavior in young babies. Seventeen 8-month-old infants participated in a repeated measures design using the "babies-in-groups" paradigm, with maternal presence as the independent variable. Significant differences were found between response types: Gaze was the standard response to infant distress, followed by socially directed behaviors and affect, with self-distress rarely occurring. Maternal presence was not found to impact the nature or frequency of babies' responses to peer distress. During distress episodes, babies looked preferentially at the distressed peer, then other mothers, and least to their own mother. Data revealed that infant responses to peer distress resulted in a successful cessation of that distress episode over one third of the time. Case studies are provided to illustrate the quantitative data. The results provided evidence of empathic concern and prosocial behavior in the first year of life, and provoke a challenge to developmental theories of empathy.
authors.affiliation: Charles Sturt University.
authors.forename: Mitzi-Jane E
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Liddle
authors.affiliation: Charles Sturt University.
authors.forename: Ben S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.affiliation: Charles Sturt University.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mcgrath
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012919:Social Behavior
keywords: Babys in Gruppen; Bébé; Empathie; Infante; Säugling; babies in groups; bebés en grupos; bébés en groupes; comportement prosocial; conducta prosocial; empathie; empathy; empatía; infant; prosocial behavior; prosoziales Verhalten; 乳児; 共感; 利社會行為; 同理心; 向社会的行動; 嬰兒在團體; 幼兒; 集団の中の赤ちゃん