Empathy, prosocial behavior, and positive development in schools

The ability to respond appropriately to others’ distress is an important topic in child development. Prosocial behavior has been defi ned as voluntary behavior intended to benefi t another (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). Contemporary researchers have distinguished between several emotional responses thought to contribute to prosocial behavior. Th ese responses include: (a) empathy, which is defi ned as an aff ective response that is identical to or very similar to what another person is feeling or is expected to feel; (b) sympathy, which is an aff ective response that consists of feelings of sorrow or concern for others; and (c) personal distress, which is characterized by a proneness to over-arousal in the presence of another’s distress. Children’s empathy and especially sympathy have been positively related to prosocial behavior, such as altruistic behaviors and helping (Batson, 1991; Eisenberg, Fabes, Schaller, & Miller, 1989; Zahn-Waxler, Robinson, & Emde, 1992), whereas personal distress reactions have been negatively related or unrelated to prosocial actions toward others (Eisenberg et al., 1993; Zahn Waxler, Cole, Welsh, & Fox, 1995).