A escolaridade dos pais e o nível de empatia das crianças

Abstract

Human beings are highly sociable, which is why they use strategies to improve their interactions with other beings of the same species, such as empathy, which is defined as the ability of an individual to identify with another, to put themselves in the other's shoes. The level of education of parents can be directly linked to the time dedicated to the family, so that parents with higher levels of education tend to have less time for their children. The present study aimed to relate children's degree of empathy to their parents' level of education. The study was carried out in the city of Natal, Rio Grande Do Norte, Brazil. The sample had 167 children (aged 5 to 10 years), boys and girls and their respective fathers/mothers (n = 462). To assess whether parents' level of education has an effect on their children's level of empathy, a sociodemographic questionnaire and the EECA. (Empathy Scale for Children and Adolescents) were used, which assesses children's level of empathy. The data was analyzed using ANOVAs, comparing children's empathy levels depending on the different educational levels of fathers and mothers separately. There were no significant effects of the education level of either father or mother on the children's level of empathy. Data in the literature point to inconsistency regarding the effects of caregivers' education on their children's levels of empathy. As this is an exploratory study, we recommend that variables such as the style of parental practices be subsequently analyzed in order to establish possible relationships more clearly.