Children's Perception of Parental Empathy as a Precursor of Children's Empathy in Middle and Late Childhood

This study examined: 1) the development of empathy in middle and late childhood, according to gender; 2) children's perception of parents' empathy according to gender; and 3) the links between children's perception of parents' empathy and children's empathy. Spanish translation of the Davis' Interpersonal Reactivity Index and a Measure of Children Perception of Parental Empathy were administered to 387 middle class children, aged 8-12 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the first place, we have found, as previous studies on the subject, significant differences between boys' and girls' empathy, girls being more empathic than boys. When comparing boys and girls in their perception of mother and father empathy, they agree in their perception of their mother's empathy, but girls perceive more empathy in their father than boys. There is clearly a connection with gender, which is probably due to cultural factors. As for the relationship between parents' and children's empathy, although previous studies showed little correlation in this regard, in the present study, when considering the perception children have of their parents' empathy, interesting meaningful connections are found.