Sympathy in the context of mother-child and teacher-child relationships

Two studies were carried out to investigate relations between socialization influences, person variables, and sympathy as well as prosocial behavior in 5-year-old preschool children. Of special interest were the interactions between child characteristics (sex, inhibition toward strangers) and socialization practice of child care teachers (Study 1) and mothers caregiving style (Study 2). Participants in Study 1 were 105 five-year-old children who were confronted with the simulated distress of a puppet; 25 teachers were observed while interacting with the children during free play and 93 parents rated their childs inhibition. Participants in study 2 were 79 5-year-old children and their mothers. As in study 1, the childrens reactions to distress were observed. The mothers rated their childs inhibition and participated in an interview to assess the quality of their caregiving style. Positive, albeit weak, relations occurred between child care teachers warmth and childrens sympathetic-prosocial relations to distress; no direct effects emerged for maternal behavior. Negative, albeit weak, associations were found between inhibition and sympathetic-prosocial reactions. These relations improved when interactions between sex, inhibition, and the caregiving style of the teachers (but not of the mothers) were taken into account. The results are discussed with regards to the context specificity of socialization.