ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Developmental Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1546521
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Power of Relationships in Human Development: From Prenatal Bonding to Attachment Across the LifespanView all articles
Sibling Empathy Among Preschoolers in China: Analyzing Emotional Responses and Family Influences
Provisionally accepted
- 1Zhejiang Industry and Trade Vocational College, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
- 2Department of Foundations of Education, Faculty of Educational Studies, Putra Malaysia University, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
- 3Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China
- 4National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
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This study investigates the characteristics of sibling empathy among Chinese preschool children and its associations with general empathy and sibling relationship quality.Children (MSCP), data were collected from 222 children aged 3 to 6 years from twochild families in Zhejiang Province, China. The study addressed gaps in the literature by examining differences in sibling empathy across age, gender, birth order, and sibling gender combinations (i.e., two boys, two girls, and one boy and one girl), and by testing a mediation model linking general empathy to sibling relationship quality via sibling empathy. Results revealed no significant gender differences, but younger children demonstrated significantly lower empathy for sadness. Second-born children exhibited greater empathy for fear, and two-girl sibling pairs showed higher empathy for anger than mixed-gender pairs. General empathy was positively associated with both sibling empathy and sibling relationship quality. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) confirmed that sibling empathy significantly mediated the relationship between general empathy and sibling relationship quality. These findings extend existing developmental and cultural theories of empathy and suggest practical interventions targeting emotion-specific empathy can enhance sibling relationships. Although limited by its crosssectional design and reliance on mother-reported data, this study provides a foundational contribution to understanding sibling empathy in the context of China's evolving family structures.
Keywords: Sibling empathy, Preschool children, General empathy, sibling relationships, Emotional Development, socio-emotional development, Birth Order, gender differences
Received: 20 Jan 2025; Accepted: 13 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ye, AHMAD, Burhanuddin, Xie and NA. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
NOR ANIZA AHMAD, Department of Foundations of Education, Faculty of Educational Studies, Putra Malaysia University, Serdang, 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
MENG NA, National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
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