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In order to help another in distress, we must recognize the other’s emotional state and regulate our own emotional state (Decety & Meyer, 2008). People tend to look mainly at the eyes and mouth to collect information regarding others' emotional states (Blais et al., 2012), but there is an individual difference in the pattern of scanning the faces (Guy et al., 2019). Perceiving others’ emotional states can also increase own arousal, and over-arousal often prohibits prosocial helping (Davidov et al., 2013). The aforementioned is based on studies mainly conducted with children and adults, but little is known about earlier in development, during toddlerhood. In the proposed study, 30-month-old toddlers will watch a video of a peer crying for 40 seconds while an eye-tracker is recording the gaze of the participant. Dwell time in the eyes and mouth areas of interest will be calculated. We aim to replicate findings from other stages of development in young toddlers and examine whether toddlers look predominantly at the eyes or the mouth to infer others' emotions. In addition, we predict that the ability to self-regulate interacts with the tendency to look at others’ eyes in predicting prosocial behavior

Early life environment influences the development of various aspects of social behavior, particularly during sensitive developmental periods. We studied how challenges in the early postnatal period or (early) adolescence affect pro-social behavior. To this end, we designed a lever-operated liberation task, to be able to measure motivation to liberate a trapped conspecific (by progressively increasing required lever pressing for door-opening). Liberation of the trapped rat resulted either in social contact or in liberation into a separate compartment. Additionally, a condition was tested in which both rats could freely move in two separate compartments and lever pressing resulted in social contact. When partners were not trapped, rats were more motivated to press the lever for opening the door than in either of the trapped configurations. Contrary to our expectations, the trapped configuration resulted in a reduced motivation to act. Early postnatal stress (24 h maternal deprivation on postnatal day 3) did not affect behavior in the liberation task. However, rearing rats from early adolescence onwards in complex housing conditions (Marlau cages) reduced the motivation to door opening, both in the trapped and freely moving conditions, while the motivation for a sucrose reward was not affected.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relevance of behavior empathy with student achievement, so that its contribution to learning achievement is known. This research includes the type of verification research conducted through data collection in the field using survey methods. The unit of analysis was taken using a simple random sampling technique. Data was collected through observation, interviews, questionnaires, and documentation. This study consist two variables, namely empathy behavior as the dependent variable, and student learning achievement as the independent variable. The results of the study show that the student learning achievement has a positive effect on reasoning empathy behavior significantly. The correlation between empathy behavior reasoning and student achievement is 0.729 (the degree of relationship is strong). This means that students' empathy behavior reasoning is 53.14% determined by learning achievement factors, and 46.86% is determined by other factors

Simple Summary Ants provide an outstanding example of organisms capable of risky acts. When ants engage in rescue behavior, for example, they do so for a chance of saving another individual from a dangerous situation. What contributes to whether a particular ant engages in rescue behavior? Why do some species of ants show high rescue activity while other species show no such behavior at all? How is rescue behavior triggered in ants? Finally, but no less importantly, how risky engaging in a rescue action really is and what benefits it brings to both the rescuing and rescued ant? These are the fundamental questions we address here. We demonstrate the progress in the research field and, in doing so, we expose the extent to which the abovementioned questions are unanswered. In this comprehensive review, we present a summary of relevant published works and hope to spin higher interest in the fascinating area of study that is ant rescue behavior. Abstract Altruism is defined as an action that decreases the lifetime direct fitness of an actor and benefits one or more recipients. This phenomenon, which is generally difficult to understand and explain, requires special research attention. The subject of this review, rescue, is a type of altruistic behavior in which the actor puts itself at risk to save another individual, the recipient, that is in danger. The highest numbers of published empirical works have been devoted to rescue behavior in ants and they have enormous potential for further study. We review studies devoted to the subject and group them into four main areas of research on ant rescue actions: (1) variation in rescue behavior activity on a between-individual scale, (2) factors contributing to the evolution of rescue behavior on a between-species scale, (3) rescue behavior releaser signals and (4) rescue behavior benefits and costs. We highlight the progress in research on rescue behavior in ants, indicate that this behavior is probably much more common than previously thought yet thus far demonstrated in only a few species, and uncover research gaps and open questions that remain unexplored. We additionally point out some gaps in knowledge that become evident when research devoted to rescue behavior in rats, the second most studied group of animals in this context, is briefly overviewed. We hope to help navigate among studies on rescue behavior and provide the most up-to-date summary of the relevant literature. Moreover, we hope to encourage and facilitate researchers in behavioral ecology and other subdisciplines to further experimentally analyze rescue behavior, not only in ants but also in other taxa.

Hospital hand hygiene (HHH) is an important measure to prevent so-called nosocomial infections, i.e., infections patients acquire during a hospital stay. Recommendations on HHH define clearly, when hand hygiene should be performed. However, compliance with those recommendations is often insufficient. Social psychology offers promising insights into potential predictors of this particular behavior. In this dissertation, two perspectives on HHH are explored. One perspective, with respect to dual-process approaches, is to conceptualize HHH as an automatic behavior. In the study by Diefenbacher et al. (2012) implicit attitude (as an element of automatic processing) is tested as potential predictor of HHH and compared to the explanatory power of explicit attitude (as an element of deliberative processing). A second perspective refers to HHH as pro-social behavior that might be influenced by empathy. Three studies reported by Sassenrath et al. (2016) test this notion. Without validly assessing the behavior one wishes to study, however, it is impossible to make advances in explaining or even improving the behavior. Since HHH is a sensitive topic, special care must be given to the question of valid measurement. The review article by Diefenbacher et al. (2016) provides an extensive review of strengths and weaknesses regarding different measurement approaches with emphasis on their application to HHH. The authors then advocate for choosing a method providing enough, but not excessive information depth. In this dissertation, special attention is given to direct observation, the current gold standard, and its biases; to the role of self-reports in measuring HHH and unused possibilities; and to other emerging and new methods, again with respect to different research questions. The empirical work provides support for the notion that HHH is more efficiently guided by automatic than by deliberative processing, and that eliciting empathic feelings toward patients can improve HHH. Both lines of research aim at improving HHH in ways that make it easier for health-care workers to be compliant and, thus, present an important extension to previous strategies based on logic and reasoning., Krankenhaushändehygiene (KHH) ist eine wichtige Maßnahme um nosokomiale Infektionen, also Infektionen, die Patienten während eines Krankenhausaufenthalts erwerben, zu verhindern. KHH-Empfehlungen definieren klar, wann Händehygiene erforderlich ist. Dennoch ist die Umsetzung dieser Empfehlungen oft ungenügend. Die Sozialpsychologie bietet viel versprechende Erkenntnisse zu möglichen Einflussfaktoren dieses spezifischen Verhaltens. In dieser Dissertation werden zwei Perspektiven auf KHH untersucht. Eine Perspektive konzipiert KHH mit Bezug auf Zwei-Prozess-Ansätze als automatisches Verhalten. In der Studie von Diefenbacher et al. (2012) wurde die implizite Einstellung (ein Element automatischer Verarbeitung) als möglicher Einflussfaktor der KHH getestet und mit der Erklärungskraft der expliziten Einstellung (ein Element bewusster Verarbeitung) verglichen. Die zweite Perspektive betrachtet KHH als prosoziales Verhalten, das als solches durch Empathie beeinflusst werden könnte. Drei von Sassenrath et al. (2016) berichtete Studien überprüften diese Idee. Ohne valide Erfassung des zu untersuchenden Verhaltens ist es allerdings nicht möglich bei der Erklärung und Verbesserung des Verhaltens Fortschritte zu erzielen. Die Überblicksarbeit von Diefenbacher et al. (2016) liefert einen umfassenden Überblick zu den Stärken und Schwächen verschiedener Messverfahren mit Schwerpunkt auf deren Anwendung für KHH. Die Autoren empfehlen ein Verfahren zu wählen, das zwar ausreichenden aber keinen exzessiven Informationsgrad bietet. In dieser Dissertation wird besonderes Augenmerk gelegt auf direkte Beobachtung, der derzeitige Goldstandard, und deren Verzerrungen, auf die Rolle von Selbstberichten zur Erfassung von KHH und deren ungenutzte Möglichkeiten sowie auf aufkommende und neue Verfahren, wiederum mit Bezug auf verschiedene Fragestellungen. Die empirische Arbeit unterstützt die Annahmen, dass KHH effizienter durch automatische Verarbeitung gesteuert wird als durch bewusste und dass das Hervorrufen empathischer Gefühle gegenüber Patienten die KHH verbessern kann. Beide Forschungslinien zielen darauf ab KHH zu verbessern, indem Händehygiene-Compliance dem Gesundheitspersonal erleichtert wird, und stellen daher eine wichtige Ergänzung zu bisherigen, auf Logik und Argumentation basierenden Strategien dar.

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada no ISPA – Instituto Universitário para obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade em Psicologia Clínica Os comportamentos pró-sociais, como partilhar, confortar e ajudar, que podem ser definidos genericamente como qualquer comportamento que tem por objetivo beneficiar outra pessoa e que envolvem custo para o próprio, surgem em idades muitos precoces. A literatura recente tem proposto que cada uma destas formas de comportamento pró-social tem uma trajetória de desenvolvimento específica. Contudo, sabe-se ainda pouco sobre as trajetórias de desenvolvimento de cada um desses comportamentos, em particular ao longo da primeira infância. Para mais, sabendo que o comportamento altruísta se desenvolve em todas as crianças, não é ainda claro que fatores podem explicar o facto de nem todas as crianças serem altruístas de igual forma. O presente estudo, com um desenho observacional e exploratório, tem como objetivo investigar o papel da sincronia entendida como percursor da empatia, no desenvolvimento dos comportamentos pró-sociais, em particular, nos comportamentos de partilha. Mais concretamente, o presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar de que forma é que a empatia está associada aos comportamentos de partilha. Participaram neste estudo 80 crianças de idades pré-escolares (3 e 5 anos), a quem foram propostas tarefas de partilha, seguidas de situações de sincronia/assincronia. Verificou-se então que os valores totais da partilha (i.e., o número de autocolantes totais que cada criança partilhou) aumentaram no grupo das crianças que dançaram. Salienta-se assim a importância da construção e aplicação de programas de tomada de consciência corporal para as crianças, com o objetivo reconhecerem a existência do outro enquanto ser diferente de si, possuidor de estados emocionais próprios e únicos. ABSTRACT: Pro-social behaviors such as sharing, comforting, and helping, which can be generically defined as any behavior that aims to benefit another person and that involve cost to one's own, arise at very early ages. Recent literature has proposed that each of these forms of pro-social behavior has a specific developmental trajectory. However, little is known about the developmental trajectories of each of these behaviors, particularly in early childhood. In addition, knowing that altruistic behavior develops in all children, it is not yet clear which factors may explain why not all children are altruistic in the same way. The present study aims to investigate the role of synchrony as the precursor of empathy, in the development of pro-social behaviors, in particular, in the behaviors of sharing. More specifically, I was interested in exploring how empathy is associated with sharing behaviors. Participants in this study were 80 preschool children (3- and 5-year-old), to whom sharing tasks were proposed, followed by synchrony / asynchrony situations. It was then found that the total amount of the sharing (i.e., the number of total stickers each child shared) was higher in the group of children who danced, as compared to the group of non-dancers. The importance of the construction and application of corporal awareness programs for children is emphasized, with the objective of recognizing the differentiation self-other as entities that possess their own unique emotional states.

一昨年の東日本大震災の影響を受け，最近では人とのつながりが話題となっている。そして，新たな対人関係を構築したり，これまでの関係を維持したり，より良いものに発展させるための手段として向社会的行動が挙げられる。先行研究の結果を踏まえると実際の向社会的行動場面を扱った場合に，共感性との関連が見られないことがわかる。そこで本研究では実際に向社会的行動をとる際には社会的に望ましいか否かの判断が混ざっている可能性を考えた。そして，質問紙を用いて測定する「自分がとると思う向社会的行動の頻度」と，実験参加への承諾から測定する「実際に向社会的行動をとる場面」との2側面を向社会的行動ととらえることとする。そして，共感性ではなく社会的望ましさの影響が強くなると自分がとると思う向社会的行動の頻度と実際の行動場面においてどのような違いが出るのか，共感性は自分がとると思う向社会的行動と実際の行動の両方を動機づけるのか検討することを目的とする。

In mammals, helping is preferentially provided to members of one’s own group. Yet, it remains unclear how social experience shapes pro-social motivation. We found that rats helped trapped strangers by releasing them from a restrainer, just as they did cagemates. However, rats did not help strangers of a different strain, unless previously housed with the trapped rat. Moreover, pair-housing with one rat of a different strain prompted rats to help strangers of that strain, evidence that rats expand pro-social motivation from one individual to phenotypically similar others. To test if genetic relatedness alone can motivate helping, rats were fostered from birth with another strain and were not exposed to their own strain. As adults, fostered rats helped strangers of the fostering strain but not rats of their own strain. Thus, strain familiarity, even to one’s own strain, is required for the expression of pro-social behavior. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.01385.001, eLife digest Humans help family members and friends under circumstances where they may not help strangers. However, they also help complete strangers through both direct actions, such as helping someone who has stumbled, and indirect actions, such as giving to charity. Ben-Ami Bartal et al. have now explored the biological basis of such socially selective helping by testing whether rats help strangers, and if so, under what circumstances. In the experiments a free rat was exposed to another rat trapped inside a plastic tube with an outward-facing door for 12 one-hour sessions. When tested with a cagemate trapped inside the tube, most free rats learned within a few days to release the trapped rat by opening the door. Ben-Ami Bartal et al. then exposed the free rats to strangers they had never met or seen before. Remarkably the rats consistently released the trapped stranger, acting toward strangers just as they had acted toward familiar cagemates. This result suggested that individual familiarity is not required for helping to occur. To test the limits of rat benevolence, Ben-Ami Bartal et al. tested free rats (always white albino rats) with trapped rats from a different outbred strain (black-hooded rats). The rats helped cagemates of a different strain but not strangers of a different strain. These results could be explained by a requirement for strain familiarity or individual familiarity. To distinguish between these possibilities, albino rats were housed for 2 weeks with a rat of a different strain, and then re-housed with another albino rat before being tested with a trapped rat belonging to a different strain. Consistent with a requirement for strain but not individual familiarity, the free rats now helped stranger rats from the different, but now familiar, strain. To explore if there is any role for genetics or relatedness in socially selective helping, Ben-Ami Bartal et al. tested whether rats will help strangers of their own strain based on genetic relatedness alone. To do this albino pups were transferred to litters of a different strain on the day they were born, and never saw or interacted with another albino rat until testing. Remarkably, the albino rats helped strangers from the different strain that they were raised with, but they did not help strangers of their own strain because this strain was unfamiliar to them. The fact that the motivation to help other rats has its origins in social interactions rather than genetics provides the flexibility that is needed to navigate their way through social environments that often change unexpectedly. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.01385.002

In the thesis on the pro-social traits of workers in helping (assistance-providing) professions I dedicate myself to pro-social behavior, empathy and the basic characteristics of personality issuing from the five-factor personality model {--} The Big Five. Most professionals agree that pro-social behavior and empathy belong among the basic characteristics that assistance-providing professionals should have. An important role is also the personality of the care provider. The listed constructs and connections among them however remain the home environment of empirical research and thereby represent the phenomena regarding which there exist few verified findings. The goal of the paper rests in fining the level of empathy and personal dispositions in accordance with the Big Five model that could influence pro-social behavior in selected groups of assistance-giving professionals. The factors in question are neuroticism, extroversion, and openness to experience, graciousness and conscientiousness. Data collection took place with the help of two psychodiagnostic questionnaires. The IRI questionnaire measures level of empathy and the NEO-FFI questionnaire was used for diagnosing the five personality dimensions. The study was quantitative. The monitored set included respondents from three assistance-giving professions {--} nurses, members of the Czech Republic Fire Rescue Corps, and elementary-school teachers. The results confirmed the hypothesis that care providing workers show higher levels of empathy in comparison to the population average, and the hypothesis that these professionals show a higher level of personality traits that, in an interpersonal context, display positive orientation towards others, that is that they are more extroverted and gracious in comparison with the population average, was refuted. These results make it possible to consider that the relationship between the basic personality dimensions and pro-social tendencies may be mediated by the level of empathy with regard to other psychological constructs and the results of social learning. Conclusions cannot be generalized, due to a relatively small sample group. For this purpose it would be interesting to carry out a professional study, which would exceed, in its scope and possibilities, the usual requirements of a thesis paper.