Cognitions related to empathy in five- to eleven-year-old children.
Studied developmental changes in the conceptualization of empathy by testing and interviewing 16 kindergartners, 16 1st graders, and 16 4th graders. All age groups expected a child to empathize with liked peers more than with disliked peers. Whereas kindergartners expected emotional reactions to be equally strong in response to both types of peers, older Ss predicted weak and qualified empathic re