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Nonrandom Acts of Kindness: Parasympathetic and Subjective Empathic Responses to Sadness Predict Children's Prosociality
Author(s) -
Miller Jonas G.,
Nuselovici Jacob N.,
Hastings Paul D.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12629
Subject(s) - prosocial behavior , empathy , psychology , sadness , vagal tone , developmental psychology , empathic concern , kindness , feeling , anger , perspective taking , social psychology , autonomic nervous system , medicine , heart rate , philosophy , theology , blood pressure
How does empathic physiology unfold as a dynamic process, and which aspect of empathy predicts children's kindness? In response to empathy induction videos, 4‐ to 6‐year‐old children ( N = 180) showed an average pattern of dynamic respiratory sinus arrhythmia ( RSA ) change characterized by early RSA suppression, followed by RSA recovery, and modest subsequent suppression during positive resolution of the empathic event. Children's capacity for this pattern of flexible RSA change was associated with their subjective empathic feelings, which were concurrently associated with more sympathetic and prosocial responses to others. Conversely, only children's dynamic RSA change longitudinally predicted prosocial behavior 2 years later. These findings have implications for understanding the dynamic and multifaceted nature of empathy, and its relation with prosocial development.