Older siblings as socializers of younger siblings' empathy

(I)n this study, the ways in which older siblings' personal qualities and s ibling relationship experiences were associated with younger siblings' leve ls of empathy during early adolescence and preadolescence were explored Par ticipants were 199 sibling dyads (mean years of age = 11 and 8, respectivel y) who were interviewed using two procedures: (a) in their homes about thei r family relationships and personal qualities and (b) in a sequence of seve n nightly telephone interviews about their daily activities and companions. Multiple regression analyses were conducted separately by younger siblings ' gender to examine the relations of older siblings' personal qualities and sibling relationship experiences to younger siblings' empathy. Analyses re vealed that younger sisters' as compared to younger brothers' empathy was r elated differentially to their older siblings' personal qualities and to th e nature of their sibling relationship. Additional analyses to examine youn ger siblings' personal qualities and sibling relationship experiences as po tential predictors of older siblings' empathy generally were nonsignificant , indicating that older siblings enhance younger siblings' empathy rather t han vice versa.