幼児・児童における共感性の発達

概要

論文の詳細を見る
The purpose of the present study was to examine the developmental characteristics of empathy in young children, using two assessment techniques. 80 infants (mean age of 3 yr. 9 mo.) and 80 children (mean age of 6 yr. 7 mo.) were devided into two groups: a verbal group and a nonverbal group. Ss in nonverbal group were first shown drawings of six faces depicting the emotional responses of "happy", "sad", "afraid", "angry", "normal", and "sleeping", and were asked to identify them. If S had any difficulty recognizing the drawings, the examiner identified the emotion for him. He was then told short stories in which another youngster might easily be received as feeling happy, sad, afraid, or angry. Each story was accompanied by a picture of a child with a blank face engaged in the described activity. Following the presentation of each story, the examiner asked S to select the face that best showed how the central figure in the story felt. Ss in verbal group were first told the same stories and were shown the same pictures. After the presentation of each story, the examiner asked the subject to state how he felt about the emotional reaction of the central figure. The subjects received a score of 1 for each specific matching. And the total empathy score, over four affects, could range from 0 to 8, since there were two sequences for each affect. The main results obtained were as follows: (1) The mean empathy score for nonverbal group was significantly greater (P<.001) than the score for verbal group, and 44% of the 3-year old children in the nonverbal group gave the correct responses to the stories. It seemed reasonable to conclude, therefore, that young children as 3 years of age are not totally egocentric but have some capacity for responding empathically to another person's perspective and point of view. (2) The number of empathic responses given by older subjects (ages 6) was significantly higher than the number of that of younger subjects (ages 3). (3) Although no sex differeses were observed in the nonverbal group, the empathy scores of boys were significantly greater than those of girls in the verbal group. (4) While empathic responses to feelings of happy reactions in other people appear to be well established as early as 3 years of age, recognition of sadness or anger reactions in other people seemed to be very difficult for the young children.
1974-11-15

著者

今井靖親
奈良教育大学

幼児・児童における共感性の発達

スポンサーリンク

概要

著者

関連論文

スポンサーリンク