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YOUNG CHILDREN'S THEORIES OF MIND ABOUT EMPATHIC AND SELFISH MOTIVES

2003; Scientific Journal Publishers Limited; Volume: 31; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2224/sbp.2003.31.3.237

1179-6391

Harvey J. Ginsburg, Shirley Matile Ogletree, Tammy D. Silakowski, Roger D. Bartels, Shannon L. Burk, Gary Turner,

Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Young children's prosocial behaviors may be motivated by empathy. Forty-one 36–66 month-old children were actively involved with a pipe cleaner figurine play scenario. One figurine appeared distressed at an alarm sound. The other figurines simultaneously terminated the alarm, expressing either empathic or selfish motives. Twenty-four participants (58.5%) correctly pointed at the empathic and selfish figurines, and correctly restated their motives. Of these, 50% (12) consistently predicted empathic or selfish figurines' motives and actions in 3 other situations. Linear regression analyses indicated children’s theories of mind about others' selfish and empathic motives predicted preferences for snack sharing with the empathic figurine ( R 2 = .690, p < .001) and empathically helping a friend in distress ( R 2 = .702, p < .001).