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

Two studies were carried out to investigate relations between socialisation influences, person variables, and sympathy, as well as prosocial behaviour in 5-year-old preschool children. Specifically, we were interested in the interactions between child characteristics (sex, inhibition toward stranger s) and the socialisation practices of child care teachers (Study I) and mot hers' caregiving style (Study II). Participants in Study I were 105 five-ye ar-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 child's inhibition. Participants in Study II were 79 five-year-old children and their mothers. As in Study I, the ch ildren's reactions to distress were observed. The mothers rated their child 's inhibition and participated in an interview to assess the quality of the ir caregiving style. Positive, albeit weak, relations occurred between chil d care teachers' warmth and children's sympathetic-prosocial reactions to d istress; no direct effects emerged for maternal behaviour. Negative, albeit weak, associations were found between inhibition and sympathetic-prosocial reactions. These relations improved when interactions between sex, inhibit ion, and the caregiving style of the teachers (but not of the mothers) were taken into account. The results are discussed with regard to the context-s pecificity of socialisation.