UC Riverside

Prior research has documented the relationship between empathy and prosocial behavior in children (e.g., Batson, 1987, 1991; Eisenberg et al., 1987; Radke-Yarrow et al., 1983; Strayer & Roberts, 1989), as well as a relationship between empathy and perceived similarity (Håkansson & Montgomery, 2003; Miller et al., 2011). Additionally, research has also provided evidence for the mediating effect of perceived similarity on the relationship between empathy and prosocial behavior in adults (Batson et al., 1981; Gaertner & Dovidio, 1977; Krebs, 1975), but few studies have examined these relationships in children (Panofsky, 1976), and perhaps none have examined these relationships in regard to media characters. The purpose of the current study was to assess the extent to which children’s feelings of similarity or difference to media characters affected children’s cognitive empathy and theory of mind abilities. Additionally, the current study examined whether children’s predictions of prosociality would be affected by perceived similarity. Thirty-two 4-6 year old children participated in an approximately 30 min. Zoom interview in which children created two characters: one character similar to the child and one character different from the child based on gender, skin tone, and other outward physical aspects. The created characters were inserted into two real-apparent emotion theory of mind stories that assessed children’s cognitive empathy and theory of mind abilities. Analyses indicated that children’s cognitive empathy and theory of mind abilities did not differ depending on which character the child was reasoning about. Additionally, children did not attribute significantly less prosocial behavior to the different character. Findings are discussed in terms of mechanistic processes that may play a role in perceived similarity and its differential effects on learning and reasoning abilities during early childhood.