Abstract
Empathy and prosociability of 62 6- to 7-yr.-old preschool children were assessed before and after training in an empathy programme. Group I consisted of 14 children (9 boys and 5 girls), Group II of 17 children (9 boys and 8 girls), and the control group of two preschool classes of 15 each. The methods used were the Feshbach and Roe Empathy Slide series and the Ikonen-Nylund Test on Sociability. Prosociability was evaluated by the 1981 Weir and Duveen scale and by the 1981 Kalliopuska rating scale. The WISC Vocabulary scale measured verbal ability. The empathy programme for Group I included music, physical exercise with music, and music drawing, for Group II activities were role-playing, acting, and storytelling. The programmes took time 35 hr. over 4 mo. at 2 hr. per week. The results were promising; empathy was consciously developed during the preschool years. Prosociability seemed to increase along with empathy.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.