Attachment and Prosocial Behavior: The Mediating Role of Empathy

• In Event: 1-148 - International Perspectives on Sociocognitive and Socioemotive Mechanisms in Prosocial Development

Integrative Statement

The status of attachment is the product of a genetically encoded psychobiological predisposition along with the care experience and these attachment mechanisms are expressed throughout life (Schore, 2001). Recent studies have affirmed the existence of relationships between the system of attachment and the system of care in understanding empathy responses (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2005). Mikulincer, Shaver, Gillath and Nitzberg (2005) affirm that attachment relationships not only affect empathy, but that secure attachment fosters compassion, altruism and the desire to help others in distress. Numerous studies have shown the mediating relationship between attachment style and empathy and have indicated that children with secure attachment histories are more prosocial (Weinfield, Srouffe, Egeland, & Carlson, 2010). Avoidant attachment, which is associated with negative models of others, is negatively related to empathy. The indifference reaction of individuals with an avoidant attachment style may be the result of distancing themselves from potential sources of pain and / or negative emotions (Marvin & Britner, 1999). Anxious attachment, which is associated with negative models of the self, is related to the inhibition of empathy and the strengthening of personal discomfort. When faced with another person who suffers, it would seem that individuals with anxious attachment cannot get the focus out of themselves to provide help (Mikulincer et al., 2005). Since empathy and attachment are interdependent, and self-regulation and empathy are necessary for the prosocial relationship with others, the objective of the present study was to analyze how the different types of attachment: secure, avoidant and anxious, affect the development of empathy, and how both - attachment and empathy - are related to prosociality. The Empathy Questionnaire for children aged 9 to 12 years (Richaud, Lemos, & Oros, 2015), the Attachment Style Classification Questionnaire (ASCQ, Finzi et al., 1996, Argentine adaptation Richaud, Mesurado, & Minzi, 2018), and the Prosocial Behavior toward Different Targets Questionnaire (Padilla-Walker & Christensen, 2011, Argentina adaptation Mesurado, 2017) were administered to a sample of 389 children, 9 to 12 years, of both sexes, and middle socioeconomic level.
To test the theoretical model that relates attachment to prosociality through empathy, a structural equation modeling was conducted for each type of attachment (i.e., secure, avoidant, and anxious attachment). The different indexes indicated appropriate model fit (Model 1 χ2= 93.84 df=17, p≤ .001; GFI=.94, AGFI=.87, CFI=.91, RMR=.01, RMSEA=.12; Model 2 χ2= 90.55 df=17, p≤ .001; GFI=.94, AGFI=.88, CFI=.90, RMR=.02, RMSEA=.12; Model 3 χ2= 103.51 df=17, p≤ .001; GFI=.94, AGFI=.87, CFI=.88, RMR=.03, RMSEA=.12). The results (see Figures 1 and 2) showed that attachment has not a direct effect on prosociality but indirectly, through empathy. Secure attachment is positively related to empathy, avoidant attachment is negatively related to empathy, and anxious attachment has no relation to empathy. In conclusion, although the relation between attachment and prosociality towards different targets is not direct, the relation between attachment and empathy indicates that attachment processes are important to better understand prosocial development in children and adolescents.

Authors

• María Cristina Richaud, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)
  Presenting Author

• Belén Mesurado, National Scientific and Technical Research Council
  Non-Presenting Author