1
EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Empathy-Related Responding in Children – Summary and Lesson Plan
Topic and Objectives
Topic: Understanding empathy-related responding in children and differentiating between related
reactions.
Objectives: After this lecture, students will be able to…
1. Differentiate between empathy and related reactions in young children.
2. Answer when children emerge empathy for others and provide examples of how this is
observable in children’s actions.
3. Explain how this is valuable knowledge for future research and provide an example of a
possible future research opportunity to expand what we already know.
Summary of the Lecture Content
In Killen and Smetana’s (2014) chapter regarding empathy-related responding with
children, he begins off by defining what it entails. Empathy is the response that stems from the
comprehension of another individuals’ emotional state/condition and can be described as feeling
the emotions of the other individual. While the individual is experiencing empathy, they are
aware that the emotion they are feeling is not their feeling but of the other. Empathy is a result of
direct exposure to others’ emotions, but it can also be what the observer thinks the other
individual is feeling based off environmental cues or other assumptions they may have.
It is important to understand the difference with the opposing feeling of sympathy.
Sympathy is like empathy in that it is result of comprehending another’s emotional condition but
oppositely, the individual does not feel that same emotion, rather they feel a sense of concern for
them. Sympathy can be based on empathy but is built upon a cognitive perspective that uses
memories that are related to what the individual is experiencing.
2
EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Research has found that individuals who experience empathy and sympathy are more
likely than their peers to engage in prosocial ways. Prosocial moral reasoning is focused on the
relationship, so that is what motivates the individual to engage in moral behavior which stems
from caring for the individual. It has been found that once a toddler is able to recognize their self
and understand their own emotions, they are able to engage in prosocial behaviors; but this is not
consistent across all cultures due to some not valuing relationships with others. Preschoolers can
be observed testing this skill out when they view adults in distress as they try to label or
understand what they are feeling.
There are assumptions that females will experience empathy and sympathy more often in
comparison to males, but the research shows mixed results of children. The findings did find a
significant difference in genders when it came to self-reporting measures of empathy and
sympathy. Similarly, it has been found that when another individual is completely the responses
for a child, they more than likely will try to remain consistent with the gender stereotypes.
Another alternative factor is heredity. Researchers have also considered genetic and shared
environmental factors to influence sympathetic/empathetic engagement; But there was no effect
found. The research conducted did find that shared environmental effects resulted in a decrease
from toddlerhood into elementary school while genetic effects oppositely increased. This is
because shared environmental influences will have a foreseen consistency but less so through the
years although genetic effects will go up in that time.
With children’s development of empathetic responding, their social relationships have
impact on it. It has been found that a child will have similar responses to their parents;
interestingly they match by gender, so mother to daughter and father to son. It has also been
found that stronger parent-child dyadic relationships will also result in higher sympathy of the
3
EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
child but not always consistent with empathy. This is a result of attachment theory; a child’s
empathic responses can be predicted based on their mothers’ responsiveness during infancy.
Along with that, having strong relationships with their other family members and peers can also
positively impact the child’s development of empathy and sympathy. Because of this, the
disciplinary methods of a child’s parentals will impact their empathic and sympathy development
as well.
Lesson Plan – Empathy-Related Responding in Children
Small Group Activity
In their table groups (approximately four to six students), students will have time to work
together and brainstorm a definition of empathy and a definition of sympathy. They will be asked
to also generate an example that can result in a sympathetic response and also provide a
empathetic response. Each group will then present their examples and students will get to submit
their choice of which is the empathetic response and which is the sympathetic response by
texting in their answers which will then be announced by the professor and the group presenting
will define which is which.
Following the activity, Professor will provide the definition of empathy and sympathy
using the chapter from Killen and Smetana (2014).
Video
Professor will then play the video called Brene Brown on Empathy vs Sympathy
(Psihoterapeut, 2016).
Role-play Activity
Students will have the opportunity to practice responding empathetic responses to some
pretend examples and then the other student will respond with sympathetic responses to the same
4
EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
scenarios. Some example scenarios would be “My dog has been showing signs of illness lately,
he has been throwing up but not eating much food either.” or “I lent my car to my sibling, and
she crashed leaving a dent, but she is still in high school so cannot afford to fix it. I only have
liability coverage for the other vehicle so now I must pay out of pocket to fix it and I do not have
enough money for it right now.”.
Lecture
Introduce pro-social moral reasoning and how it is seen in conjunction with empathetic/
sympathetic individuals. Explain its role in social relationships and how it stems from
care for the other individual.
Provide discussion regarding the research that has been conducted regarding this topic
and the stereotypical assumptions.
oStereotypical assumptions: gender related and heredity.
Discuss the impact of familial relationships- parents and other immediate family
members.
oObserving the family’s responses and behaviors
oThe parental influence
oAttachment theory and the maternal responsiveness during infancy
oDisciplinary responses and actions
Closing Discussion
For current parents: how have you taught your children empathy? For future/non-parents:
pretending that you do intend to have children one day, how would you use your
knowledge to teach your children skills of empathy?
Should these skills be taught in the curriculum of preschools? Elementary school?
5
EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
How is this knowledge beneficial for future research?
What are some possible ways to expand the current research on this topic?
6
EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Reference
Killen, M., & Smetana, J. G. (2014). Handbook of moral development (2nd ed.). New York:
Psychology Press.
Psihoterapeut, D. S. (2016). Brene Brown on Empathy vs Sympathy [Video]. Youtube.
https://youtu.be/KZBTYViDPlQ?si=fPELKoicViPCuFK4
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
