Lack of Interaction Motivation in Older Adults Automatically Reduces Cognitive Empathy.

Empathy, the ability to understand and respond to the experiences of others, is an important skill for maintaining good relationships throughout one's life. Previous research indicated that emotional empathy remained stable or even increased in older adults compared to younger adults, while cognitive empathy showed age-related deficits. Based on the selective engagement hypothesis, this deficit was not caused by a decline in cognitive functioning, but by a lack of willingness to judge the target person's emotions more precisely, that is, by a lack of interaction motivation. In order to provide more evidence on the causes of empathic aging in older adults, the current study investigated the influence of interaction motivation on empathy in older adults in an Eastern cultural context (China) based on the selective engagement hypothesis. This study used older adults and younger adults as subjects. Through two experiments, empathy was measured by the multiple empathy test (Experiment 1) and film tasks (Experiment 2); at the same time, use accountability instructions (Experiment 1), the age-related events (Experiment 2) to manipulate interaction motivation. The results showed that emotional empathy was significantly higher in older adults than in younger adults, regardless of whether interaction motivation was elicited. In terms of cognitive empathy, when there is no motivation, the cognitive empathy of older adults is significantly lower than that of younger adults. When the interaction motivation is stimulated, the cognitive empathy of older adults is no less than that of younger adults. This suggested that empathic aging in older adults was not a permanent decline in cognitive empathy, but rather a decline in interaction motivation, supporting the selective engagement hypothesis.

The Relationship Between Teacher-Student Relationship and Adolescent Emotional Intelligence: A Chain-Mediated Mediation Model of Openness and Empathy.

Background: As the role of emotional intelligence has been increasingly explored, researchers generally agree that emotional intelligence is a better predictor of individual success. And fortunately, emotional intelligence is somewhat easily shaped. Schools are important microsites for the shaping of an individual's emotional intelligence. Good teacher-student relationship contribute to the shaping and development of students' emotional intelligence. Objective: Based on the theory of developmental contextualism, the current study aims to identify the relationship between good teacher-student relationship and students' emotional intelligence, and the mediating roles of students' openness and emotional intelligence. Methods: In this study, a total of 352 adolescents (11-15 years old) from two schools were surveyed using the teacher-student relationship scale, big five inventory openness subscale, and emotional intelligence scale. Results: Teacher-student relationship were positively correlated with students' openness, empathy, and emotional intelligence. Teacher-student relationship positively predicted students' emotional intelligence; students' openness and empathy played a fully mediating role in teacher-student relationship and emotional intelligence. Conclusion: The closeness and supportiveness of the teacher-student relationship were positively related to students' openness, empathy, and emotional intelligence were positively correlated.

The Influence of Student-Teacher Relationship on School-Age Children's Empathy: The Mediating Role of Emotional Intelligence.

Objective: Empathy is the ability to adopt another person's perspective and experience the thoughts and emotions of that individual. A growing number of studies have shown that school-age children's empathy robustly contributes to their interpersonal communication, academic achievement and psychosocial adjustment. For school-age children, school becomes the main place for learning and socializing. The student-teacher relationship is an important interpersonal relationship between children and adults after they leave home, which plays an important role in the development of children's self-ability. However, the relationship between student-teacher relationship and children's empathy and its mechanisms are unclear. This study aimed to explore the influence of student-teacher relationship on school-age children's empathy, and the mediating roles of emotional intelligence. Methods: 468 school-age children (250 boys and 238 girls) aged 8-11 (M age = 9.22, SD age = 1.20) from Guizhou Province completed questionnaires about student-teacher relationship, emotional intelligence, and children's empathy. Results: The results showed that student-teacher relationship positively and directly predicted empathy for girls, but not for boys. In addition, we also found that emotional intelligence mediated the relationship between student-teacher relationship and children's empathy among both boys and girls. Conclusion: This study reveals the effect of student-teacher relationship on the school-age children's empathy, and the unique mediating role of emotional intelligence. Moreover, this study further reveals the different effects of student-teacher relationship on boys' and girls' empathy, emphasizing that positive student-teacher relationship can directly promote the development of girls' empathy. Finally, this study emphasizes that cultivating and improving the emotional intelligence of school-age children may be an effective way to promote the development of children's empathy.

The relationship between empathy and school adjustment of left-behind children: The mediating role of coping styles.

To investigate the effects of left-behind children's empathy and coping styles on school adjustment, 605 left-behind children in the third grade from three rural elementary schools in Suzhou, Anhui Province were selected to complete the Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reaction Index Scale, the Coping Style Scale, and the School Adjustment Behavior Scale for Primary and Secondary School Students. The results showed that (1) emotional empathy positively predicted children's social competence, and negatively predicted children's antisocial behavior; cognitive empathy positively predicted children's social competence; (2) the role of positive coping styles mediated the relationship between cognitive empathy and social competence, and that between cognitive empathy and antisocial behavior; negative coping styles mediated the relationship between cognitive empathy and antisocial behavior; both positive and negative coping styles mediated the relationship between emotional empathy and social competence, and that between emotional empathy and antisocial behavior. The findings of the study are valuable for understanding the relationship between empathy and school adjustment, which also helps to enhance the school adjustment of left-behind children.

The Theories of the Development of Students: A Factor to Shape Teacher Empathy From the Perspective of Motivation.

Empathy represents an essential prerequisite for developing effective interpersonal behavior and maintaining interpersonal relationships. Education is a result of teacher-student interaction, and, therefore, it is worth noting that teaching empathy is critical for the development of students and the professional growth of teachers. Recently, researchers began to explore the influential factors of empathy (e.g., empathic mindsets) based on motivation. Beyond their empathic attitudes, teachers also have a mindset toward the development of students. A survey study was adopted to explore the relationship between the theories of the growth of students and teacher empathy. Four hundred and eighty-four Chinese teachers completed the student development scale, the teacher empathic motivation scale, and the teacher empathy scale. The mediation model results showed that the theories of the development of students could significantly predict teacher empathy and teacher empathic motivation. The teacher empathic motivation mediated the positive relationship between the theories of the development of students and teacher empathy. This study proposes a new concept and method for teacher empathy intervention in future.