Empathy and Role-Taking Ability : Guilt Feelings in 5-Year-Old Preschoolers

Abstract

Influences of both empathy and role-taking ability on guilt feelings were investigated in a study in which participants were 5-year-old preschoolers. Guilt feelings were induced by manipulating interpersonal situations and rule-breaking situations. 100 preshoolers were assessed on the following indices: guilt, empathy, and role-taking ability. Guilt was measured in terms of "feeling sorry"; empathy, by the Affective Situation Test; and role-taking ability, by Selman's Task. The results indicate that empathy influenced guilt feelings in the interpersonal situation, and role-taking ability affected guilt feelings in the rule-breaking situation.