Empathy rules, maps and paths: A qualitative exploration of the factors that facilitate or inhibit empathy and prosocial responding among youth

The aim of this study is to explore young people's perspectives on the factors that facilitate or inhibit empathy and prosocial responding among youth. Qualitative focus groups (n = 29) were undertaken with Irish young people aged 13-17 years relating to their views on the factors that facilitate or inhibit the expression of empathy. Parents, friends, and social media were found to be key influences, whereas barriers identified included societal norms, gender norms, lack of skill, or knowledge and target characteristics. This research provides important insights into adolescents' perceptions of the social correlates of empathy. Concepts from the sociology of empathy, such as empathy maps and paths, are helpful in drawing out the implications for future research and practice.

Why Do Humble Individuals Act More Altruistically toward Foreigners: A Moderated Mediation Model

According to the humility-helping hypothesis, the question of whether humility affects altruistic behavior has received extensive attention. However, researchers have not established many links between humility and international altruism. The study explored humility as a stable personality trait and assessed whether it encouraged international altruism. It also examined the underlying mechanism between the foregoing relationship. We recruited 940 college students aged 18-23 to participate in an anonymous online survey and obtained 929 data points. The results showed that humility has a direct impact on international altruism. They largely supported the theoretical framework of the humility-helping hypothesis on the inter-group level. We also addressed the mediating effect that identification with all humanity had in the relationship between humility and international altruism. The findings showed that two forms of empathy (empathy and group empathy) have a moderating effect, indicating that different forms of empathy should be more emphasized in different social situations. Taken together, the results show that developing people's humility and helping them to identify with all humanity are key to promoting inter-group altruism, especially for those who can empathize with other people or groups.

Parental Expectation and Mobile Phone Addiction in Adolescents from Chinese Low-Income Families: The Mediating Effects of Self-Esteem and Social Anxiety

The parental expectation in adolescents' education is an essential factor of adolescents' social and emotional development. However, little is known about how it is related to adolescents' mobile phone addiction, especially for adolescents from low-income families. To address this issue, this study investigated the relationship between parental expectation and mobile phone addiction, and its underlying mechanisms in adolescents from low-income families. We hypothesized that parental expectation would negatively predict mobile phone addiction, and self-esteem and social anxiety would play multiple mediation roles in this relationship. Results from a sample of 1,953 Chinese adolescents in low-income families revealed that (a) parental expectation was negatively associated with adolescents' mobile phone addiction, (b) both social anxiety and self-esteem played partial and parallel mediating roles between parental expectation and mobile phone addiction, and (c) social anxiety and self-esteem mediated the association between parental expectation and mobile phone addiction sequentially. This study would advance our understanding of how proper parenting styles and social networks helped to prevent children's mobile phone addiction. The limitations and implications of this study are discussed.

Psychosocial Effects of COVID-19 in the Ecuadorian and Spanish Populations: A Cross-Cultural Study

The world's population is currently overcoming one of the worst pandemics, and the psychological and social effects of this are becoming more apparent. We will present an analysis of the psychosocial effects of COVID-19: first, a cross-sectional study in an Ecuadorian sample (n = 301) and second, a comparative study between two samples from the Ecuadorian and Spanish populations (n = 83 each one). Participants completed an online survey to (1) describe how they felt (depression, anxiety, and stress) before and after confinement; (2) analyze which emotional and behavioral variables predict depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress perceived after the confinement; (3) carry out a comparative study in a sample of Ecuadorian and Spanish surveys. Results indicate, first, that Ecuadorians experience significantly more depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress after confinement. Second, variables which predict depressive symptoms and anxiety are greater public prosocial tendency, less stress as a challenge, and greater stress as a threat, as well as an empathetic tendency that implies greater emotional regulation. Experienced stress after confinement was predicted by a greater public prosocial tendency, as well as an empathetic tendency. Finally, scores for depression, anxiety, and stress are higher after confinement in both countries. However, results reveal the similarity of the psychosocial effects that are being experienced, regardless of the country, and the differences in the variables that can help explain these effects. This can contribute to the constitution of intervention plans which aim to soften and alleviate the effects produced by a situation such as that experienced with COVID-19.

Differences in prosocial and agonistic behaviours expressed by Colombian and Spanish children and youth during a game session

We investigated behavioural patterns of school subjects from Colombia and Tenerife (Spain) of 10–12, 13–14 and 15–17 years old (150 per age group), during a crossed puzzle game. We video-recorded all sessions, elaborated an ethogram and classified behavioural patterns within functional categories (Empathy, Help Organizing, Agonistic, Cooperation, Selfishness and Tension-Distension); their frequencies were analyzed by Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM). Results showed significant differences between countries in Help Organizing, Cooperation, Agonistic and Tension-Distension; the same categories except Cooperation differed between age ranges, but no category significantly differed between sexes. GLMM of factor scores from a principal component analysis applied to behavioural categories showed subjects from Colombian schools had significantly lower PC1 factor scores (Empathy, Selfishness and Tension-Distension) than those from Tenerife; the contrary occurred for PC2 (Help Organizing and Cooperation) and no significant difference was found for PC3 (Agonistic and Selfishness). We discuss several potential causes of the differences found.

Children’s Imaginaries of Robots for Playing With

Children with severe motor impairment due to cerebral palsy have difficulties engaging in play, although they want to play games that typically developing children play. The barriers imposed by motor impairments against engaging in play can be addressed through the use of robots. We aim to identify how children, who have extensive experience of play, imagine what a robot is and what features would make a robot good to play with. Using a qualitative description design, 19 children from urban and rural settings participated in focus groups to draw and talk about the robots they would like to exist. The data were coded and analyzed using a summative approach to content analysis. The findings revealed that the children imagined that a good robot to play with is one that has an anthropomorphic appearance, is tough and strong, has controls, and that is able to move, grab, speak, and play popular children’s games. In particular, the girls imagined that robots should be able to express positive emotions towards children. Age, gender, culture, and the physical environment in which the children lived influenced what they expected to find in a robot for playing with and how they imagined child–robot interactions.

The development of social comparisons and sharing behavior across 12 countries

Humans are social beings, and acts of prosocial behavior may be influenced by social comparisons. To study the development of prosociality and the impact of social comparisons on sharing, we conducted experiments with nearly 2500 children aged 3-12 years across 12 countries across five continents. Children participated in a dictator game where they had the opportunity to share up to 10 of their stickers with another anonymous child. Then, children were randomized to one of two treatments. In the "shared a little" treatment children were told that another child from their school had shared 1 sticker, whereas in the "shared a lot" treatment children were told that another child from their school had shared 6 stickers in the same game. There was a strong increase in baseline sharing with age in all countries and in both treatments. The "shared a lot" treatment had a positive treatment effect in increasing sharing overall, which varied across countries. However, cross-cultural comparisons did not yield expected significant differences between collectivist and individualist countries. Our results provide interesting evidence for the development of sharing behavior by age across the world and show that social information about the sharing of peers is important for children's decision making.

What Makes a Partner Ideal, and for Whom? Compatibility Tests, Filter Tests, and the Mating Stability Matrix

We introduce a typological characterization of possible human heterosexual couples in terms of the concordance-opposition of the orientations of their active and receptive areas as defined by the tie-up theory. We show that human mating incentives, as characterized by widely adopted approaches, such as Becker’s marriage market approach, only capture very specific instances of actual couples thus characterized. Our approach allows us to instead explore how super-cooperation among partners vs. convenience vs. constriction may be regarded as alternatives modes of couple formation and cohesion, leading to very different types of couples with different implications in terms of stability and resilience. Our results may have interesting implications for future experimental research and for individual and family counseling.

Las creencias parentales en el proceso de crianza y sus relaciones con el comportamiento adolescente

Resumen Las creencias parentales están integradas estructuralmente en la relación entre padres e hijos y pueden ser consideradas como contribuciones para comprender el desarrollo adolescente. El presente trabajo busca analizar los vínculos entre las creencias parentales y el comportamiento adolescente, para ello se desarrolló una revisión bibliográfica en seis bases de datos, que incluyó 53 estudios en donde se dimensiona la influencia de las creencias parentales en la crianza con adolescentes. En el análisis de datos, se destacaron como “creencias parentales” los siguientes conceptos: las creencias generales sobre los atributos y las experiencias humanas, las expectativas parentales, las percepciones sobre las capacidades de los hijos, los valores y metas parentales, la autoeficacia parental y las creencias sobre el control de las situaciones. Se concluye que las creencias parentales son afectadas por los atributos y las experiencias de los padres, lo que influye en un efecto de cascada sobre el comportamiento adolescente.

Negative emotions and behaviour: The role of regulatory emotional self-efficacy

The objective of this study is to test a longitudinal model that analyses the direct effect of negative emotions (anger, depression and anxiety, wave 1) on prosocial and aggressive behaviour (wave 2) in adolescents. And the indirect effect of negative emotions (wave 1) on prosocial and aggressive behaviour (wave 2) through regulatory emotional self-efficacy. Data was obtained from 417 adolescents in a two-wave longitudinal study (225 girls, M age = 14.70 years) from schools located in Valencia, Spain. SEM was employed to explore longitudinal models. The results showed that anger had a direct relationship with prosocial behaviour and aggression, measured two years later. However, the depression and anxiety states did not predict prosociality and aggressiveness. The mediation role of regulatory emotional self-efficacy between negative emotion and behaviours was only partially confirmed. Finally, only the perception of self-efficacy in expressing positive affect is related to prosociality and aggressiveness.

Multidimensional Social Competence, Motivation, and Cyberbullying: A Cultural Approach With Colombian and Spanish Adolescents

International research on the risk and protective factors of cyberbullying focus on individual personality variables and the use of technological devices. However, it is necessary to examine in greater depth the interpersonal context as a factor that may influence cyberbullying and the possible differences between cultures. The objective of this article was to analyze the relationship of influence of two interpersonal variables, multidimensional social competence and social motivation, on cyberaggression and cybervictimization through a cultural study of Spain and Colombia, which will permit generalizing the influence of interpersonal variables on cyberbullying in different cultural settings. The sample consisted of 3,830 secondary school students (50.4% Colombian and 49.6% Spanish). Self-reporting measurement instruments validated with different European samples were used. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were performed. A model of mutual influence revealing the inverse relationship of normative adjustment and the direct relationship of popularity goals in cyberaggression was obtained. Cybervictimization was explained by the direct influence of prosocial behaviors and avoidance goals and the inverse influence of perceived social efficacy, development goals, and social and normative adjustment. As conclusion, this study demonstrates the homogeneity of the Colombian and Spanish models and the important role that the face-to-face context plays in cyberbullying involvement. This article highlights and supports the design of cyberbullying prevention programs, which requires the inclusion of multidimensional social competence and social goals.