Empathy and Moral Development: Implications for Caring and Justice

Synopsis

Contemporary theories have generally focused on either the behavioral, cognitive or emotional dimensions of prosocial moral development. This volume provides the first comprehensive account of prosocial moral development in children. The book's focus is empathy's contribution to altruism and compassion for others in physical, psychological, or economic distress; feelings of guilt over harming someone; feelings of anger at others who do harm; feelings of injustice when others do not receive their due. Also highlighted are the psychological processes involved in empathy's interaction with certain parental behaviors that foster moral internalization in children and the psychological processes involved in empathy's relation to abstract moral principles.