% pubman genre = article
@article{item_3536716,
title = {{Testing causal effects of empathy on children{\textquoteright}s prosociality in politeness dilemmas}},
author = {Thiede, Noemi and Stengelin, Roman and Seibold, Astrid and Haun, Daniel B. M.},
language = {eng},
isbn = {2470-2986},
doi = {10.1162/opmi{\textbraceleft}\textunderscore{\textbraceright}a{\textbraceleft}\textunderscore{\textbraceright}00102},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-09},
abstract = {{Empathy is commonly considered a driver of prosociality in child ontogeny, but causal assumptions regarding this effect mostly rely on correlational research designs. Here, 96 urban German children (5{\textendash}8 years; 48 girls; predominantly White; from mid-to-high socioeconomic backgrounds) participated in an empathy intervention or a control condition before prosocial behaviors (polite lie-telling: rating the drawing as good; prosocial encouragement: utterances interpreted as cheering up the artist) were assessed in an art-rating task. Contrasting children{\textquoteright}s empathy at baseline with their empathy after the intervention indicated promoted empathy compared to the control group. Despite the intervention{\textquoteright}s effect on children{\textquoteright}s empathy, there were no simultaneous changes in prosocial behaviors. At the same time, children{\textquoteright}s empathy at baseline was associated with their prosocial encouragement. These results indicate conceptual associations between children{\textquoteright}s empathy and prosociality. However, they do not support strict causal claims regarding this association in middle childhood. Further applications of the novel short-time intervention to address causal effects of empathy on prosociality and other developmental outcomes are discussed.}},
contents = {Empathy is commonly considered a driver of prosociality in child ontogeny, but causal assumptions regarding this effect mostly rely on correlational research designs. Here, 96 urban German children (5{\textendash}8 years; 48 girls; predominantly White; from mid-to-high socioeconomic backgrounds) participated in an empathy intervention or a control condition before prosocial behaviors (polite lie-telling: rating the drawing as good; prosocial encouragement: utterances interpreted as cheering up the artist) were assessed in an art-rating task. Contrasting children{\textquoteright}s empathy at baseline with their empathy after the intervention indicated promoted empathy compared to the control group. Despite the intervention{\textquoteright}s effect on children{\textquoteright}s empathy, there were no simultaneous changes in prosocial behaviors. At the same time, children{\textquoteright}s empathy at baseline was associated with their prosocial encouragement. These results indicate conceptual associations between children{\textquoteright}s empathy and prosociality. However, they do not support strict causal claims regarding this association in middle childhood. Further applications of the novel short-time intervention to address causal effects of empathy on prosociality and other developmental outcomes are discussed.},
journal = {{Open Mind}},
volume = {7},
pages = {691--710},
}