Attachment and Prosocial Behavior: The Mediating Role of Empathy

MESURADO, B.; RICHAUD, M. C.

Baltimore

Congreso; 2019 Biennial Meeting of the Society of Research in Child Development (SRCD); 2019

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 another 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 was to analyze how the different types of attachment: secure, avoidant and anxious, affect the development of empathy, modulating as internal contextual factors the development of it; at the same time, how both - attachment and empathy - are related to prosociality. The Empathy Questionnaire for children aged 9 to 12 years (Richaud, Lemos, & Oros, 2015), Attachment Style Classification Questionnaire (ASCQ, Finzi et al., 1996, Argentine adaptation Richaud, Mesurado, & Minzi, 2018), and 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 (1.secure, 2. avoidant, and 3. anxious). The different indexes indicated good models 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), showing that attachment has not a direct effect on prosociality but indirectly, through empathy. On the other hand, secure attachment is positively related to empathy, avoidance attachment is negatively related to empathy and anxious attachment has no relation to empathy. In conclusion, although the relationship between attachment and prosociality towards different targets is not direct, its bond with empathy would indicate that the way for increasing prosocial behavior may lie within the realm of the attachment theory.