CONCERN FOR OTHERS: ORIGINS

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CONCERN FOR OTHERS ORIGINS DEVELOPMENT

• Carolyn Zahn-Waxler, Ph.D.

University of Wisconsin - Madison
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THEORY OF MORAL SENTIMENTSADAM SMITH 1757

• Morality is not always calculating
• Human beings are social creatures
• Born with natural empathy
• Concern for well-being of others is an essential
  feature of morality
• Empathy- understand others perspective have a
  visceral or emotional response

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EARLY THEORIES Children Lack Moral Sense before
Age 7

• Psychoanalytic
• Driven by sexual and aggressive impulses
• Cognitive
• Egocentric---immature cortex
• Unaware of others perspectives
• Sociobiological
• Human social nature is self-serving

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DIFFERENT VIEWS LEGITIMIZE CONSTRUCT OF EMPATHY

• 1. Evolutionary altruism E.O.Wilson
• emphasis on group process
• 2. Empathy in mammals Paul MacLean
• distress cries of offspring gt maternal caregiving
  
• limbic prefrontal cortex interconnections
• 3.Neuroscience mirror neurons/emotional
  resonance
• wired to experience others emotions

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EMPATHY/CARING FOR OTHERSCENTRAL ISSUES
Biology Development Environment Nature
and nurture interact Adaptive/Maladaptive
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CONCERN FOR OTHERS

• A. AFFECT ---Empathic Emotions (face, voice,
  gesture)
• B. BEHAVIOR ---Prosocial Actions
• (helps, shares, comforts)
• C. COGNITION --- Effort to Understand
• (inquiries, hypothesis-testing)

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BIOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF EMPATHY
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Personal Distress
Concern
0-12 mos
12-18 mos
18 mos
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Personal Distress
Concern
0-12 mos
12-18 mos
18 mos
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LONGITUDINAL SAMPLES 1-7 YRS

• A. CONCERN FOR OTHERS (normative)
• NIMH singletons
• Colorado twins
• Wisconsin- twins
• B. CONCERN FOR OTHERS (risk)
• Parental depression
• Marital conflict

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MULTIPLE METHODSHome and Laboratory

• Mothers trained as observers
• Natural distresses observed and caused by child
• Structured probes---simulated distress
• adults, peers, infants, animals
• ________________________________________
• Maternal, teacher child reports
• Natural observations in lab (sibs, peers)
• Mood inductionsphysiological activity
• Narrativeschildrens representations

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• JULIE, 18 mos
• A crying baby in a high chair threw away his
  cookies. Julie (1) tried to return his cookies.
  Mother then put baby in play pen and Julie
  hovered over him there. She began to (2) stroke
  his hair and (3) pat his shoulders making (4)
  sympathetic, cooing sounds. Next she went to (5)
  get her mother from another room. leading her to
  the play pen. Finally, she (6) took her mothers
  hand and placed it on top of the babys head. She
  showed empathic concern throughout.

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NIMH PROSOCIAL ACTS
Zahn-Waxler et al. 1992
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NIMH EMPATHIC CONCERN
Zahn-Waxler et al. 1992
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NIMH HYPOTHESIS TESTING
Zahn-Waxler et al. 1992
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Development of Concern Affective and Cognitive
Forms Knafo,
Zahn-Waxler, et al., 2008
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DEVELOPMENTAL REPLICATIONS

• Zahn-Waxler, et al. (2 samples) (1-2.5 yr olds)
• Knafo, et al., 2008 (twin sample) (1-3 yr. olds)
• Volbrecht, et al., 2007 (1.5-2 yr. olds)
• What about individual differences?
• Environment/parenting
• Temperament
• Genes

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Parenting Practices
High warmth Low control
High Empathy
Low warmth High control
14 mos
20 mos
High warmth Low control Positive family climate
Medium Empathy
Low warmth High control Negative family climate
14 mos
20 mos
Low Control
Low Empathy
High Control
14 mos
20 mos
Robinson et al. 1994
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Child Temperament
High positivity, sociability, negative affect
High Empathy
Low positivity sociability
14 mos
20 mos
High positivity sociability
Medium Empathy
Low positivity sociability
14 mos
20 mos
High positivity sociability
Low Empathy
Low positivity sociability
14 mos
20 mos
Robinson et al. 1994
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CARING GROWS FROM 1-2 YEARS Roth-Hanania,
Davidov, Zahn-Waxler, 2011
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INFANTS CONCERN FOR OTHERS
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CHILDREN of DEPRESSED MOTHERS 2-4 yr olds
Prosocial to Mother
Zahn-Waxler Radke-Yarrow
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CONCERN FOR OTHERSToddlers response to parent
conflict
Cummings et al.
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CONCLUSIONS

• Empathy is present in first years of life
• Continuities/discontinuities across development
• Biological and environmental contributions to
  individual differences in childrens empathic
  concern and prosocial behavior
• Many ways in which concern for others may become
  compromised ---surfeits and deficits that
  interfere with the quality of childrens lives.

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New Directions

• Basic research
• Neural underpinnings in first year of life
• Developing literature on the social brain
• Interactions of parenting, genes, and epigenetic
  factors (Knafo, et al Davidov, et al.)
• Early plasticity/malleability plus socialization
  lit.
• Opportune period of development for
• Interventions that incorporate positive
  socialization practices with mindfulness-based
  parenting

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COLLABORATORS

• Ronald Iannotti Carol Van Hulle Paul Hastings
• Michelle Volbrecht Soo Rhee Dale Hay
• Michael Chapman Robert King Hill Goldsmith
• Brett Haberstick Sharee Light Shari Young
• Pamela Cole Ronit Roth- Hanania Nathan Fox
• Mark Cummings Marian Radke-Yarrow Ariel Knafo
• Robert Emde JoAnn Robinson Barbara Usher
• Elizabeth Shirtcliff Maayan Davidov

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Thanks for Your Attention!