Abstract
A lack of empathy is related to some negative aspects of adolescent interpersonal functioning in the literature, such as bullying. However, the relationship between empathy and positive aspects of adolescent interpersonal functioning is less clear. Thus, this study sought to examine the association between empathy and positive components of peer relationships among adolescents. A scoping review was conducted to identify relevant literature and to provide a narrative overview of the identified studies. Three databases were searched (PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Sociological Abstracts). Subsequently, three reviewers independently analyzed articles to determine inclusion. Twenty-eight studies met inclusionary criteria. The aspects of peer relationships that were studied most frequently included peer attachment, social status (i.e., peer acceptance, likeability, social preference, and popularity), and friendship closeness or quality. The associations between empathy and some aspects of peer relationships among adolescents varied based on type of empathy and gender. Although inconsistencies were observed, the included studies often showed either a positive relationship or no relationship between empathy and positive peer relationship variables. In several studies, empathy was positively related to peer attachment and friendship quality or closeness, but not significantly related to popularity. Additional research is needed to further clarify these relationships. The results are integrated within a positive psychology framework examining the role of empathy as a potential strength in interpersonal functioning.
Highlights
-
Most studies reported positive correlations or no correlation between empathy and positive aspects of adolescent peer relationships.
-
Greater friendship quality or closeness and peer attachment were often related to higher empathy.
-
Based on the reviewed literature, empathy does not appear to be a robust strength in interpersonal functioning among adolescents.
-
More research is needed to clarify the role of empathy in adolescent peer relationships and to explore youth’s perceptions of empathy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th edn.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
Arksey, H., & O’Malley, L. (2005). Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(1), 19–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364557032000119616.
Arnett, J. J. (2010). Adolescence and emerging adulthood: A cultural approach (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.
Barr, J. J., & Higgins-D’Alessandro, A. (2007). Adolescent empathy and prosocial behavior in the multidimensional context of school culture. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 168(3), 231–250. https://doi.org/10.3200/GNTP.168.3.231-250.
Batson, C. D., & Ahmad, N. Y. (2009). Using empathy to improve intergroup attitudes and relations. Social Issues and Policy Review, 3(1), 141–177. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-2409.2009.01013.x.
Brown, B.B., & Larson, J. (2009). Peer relationships in adolescence. In R.M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds), Handbook of adolescent psychology, volume 2: contextual influences on adolescent development (3rd edn., pp. 74–103). John Wiley & Sons.
Buffone, A. E., & Poulin, M. J. (2014). Empathy, target distress, and neurohormone genes interact to predict aggression for others–even without provocation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(11), 1406–1422. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167214549320.
Bukowski, W. M., Hoza, B., & Boivin, M. (1994). Measuring friendship quality during pre- and early adolescence: the development and psychometric properties of the friendship qualities scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 11(3), 471–484. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407594113011.
Caravita, S., Di Blasio, P., & Salmivalli, C. (2009). Unique and interactive effects of empathy and social status on involvement in bullying. Social Development, 18(1), 140–163. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2008.00465.x.
Caravita, S. C., Di Blasio, P., & Salmivalli, C. (2010). Early adolescents’ participation in bullying: is ToM involved? The Journal of Early Adolescence, 30(1), 138–170. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431609342983.
Cavojova, V., Belovicova, Z., & Sirota, M. (2011). Mindreading and empathy as predictors of prosocial behavior. Studia Psychologica, 53(4), 351–362.
Chow, C. M., Ruhl, H., & Buhrmester, D. (2013). The mediating role of interpersonal competence between adolescents’ empathy and friendship quality: a dyadic approach. Journal of Adolescence, 36(1), 191–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.10.004.
Christov-Moore, L., Simpson, E. A., Coudé, G., Grigaityte, K., Iacoboni, M., & Ferrari, P. F. (2014). Empathy: gender effects in brain and behavior. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 46(4), 604–627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.09.001.
Ciarrochi, J., Parker, P. D., Sahdra, B. K., Kashdan, T. B., Kiuru, N., & Conigrave, J. (2017). When empathy matters: the role of sex and empathy in close friendships. Journal of Personality, 85(4), 494–504. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12255.
Cillessen, A. H. N. & Marks, P. E. L. (2011). Conceptualizing and measuring popularity. In A. H. N. Cillessen, D. Schwartz, & L. Mayeux (Eds), Popularity in the peer system (pp. 25–56). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Coie, J. D., Dodge, K. A., & Coppotelli, H. (1982). Dimensions and types of social status: a cross-age perspective. Developmental Psychology, 18(4), 557–570. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.18.4.557.
Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113–126. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113.
de Bruyn, E. H., Cillessen, A. H., & Wissink, I. B. (2010). Associations of peer acceptance and perceived popularity with bullying and victimization in early adolescence. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 30(4), 543–566. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431609340517.
de Wied, M., Branje, S. J., & Meeus, W. H. (2007). Empathy and conflict resolution in friendship relations among adolescents. Aggressive Behavior, 33(1), 48–55. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20166.
Eisenberg, N., & Fabes, R. A. (1990). Empathy: Conceptualization, measurement, and relation to prosocial behavior. Motivation and Emotion, 14(2), 131–149.
Estévez López, E., Jiménez, T. I., & Cava, M. J. (2016). A cross-cultural study in Spain and Mexico on school aggression in adolescence: examining the role of individual, family, and school variables. Cross-Cultural Research, 50(2), 123–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069397115625637.
Estévez López, E., Pérez, S. M., Ochoa, G. M., & Ruiz, D. M. (2008). Adolescent aggression: effects of gender and family and school environments. Journal of Adolescence, 31(4), 433–450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2007.09.007.
Geary, D. C. (2010). Male, female: the evolution of human sex differences (2nd ed.). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/12072-000.
Gorrese, A. (2016). Peer attachment and youth internalizing problems: a meta-analysis. Child & Youth Care Forum, 45(2), 177–204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-015-9333-y.
Gorrese, A., & Ruggieri, R. (2012). Peer attachment: a meta-analytic review of gender and age differences and associations with parent attachment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(5), 650–672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9759-6.
Gorrese, A., & Ruggieri, R. (2013). Peer attachment and self-esteem: a meta-analytic review. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(5), 559–568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.04.025.
Gray, C. C., & Rodrigue, J. R. (2001). Brief report: perceptions of young adolescents about a hypothetical new peer with cancer: an analog study. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 26(4), 247–252. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/26.4.247.
Hoffman, M. L. (2000). Empathy and moral development: implications for caring and justice. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805851.
Huang, H., & Su, Y. (2014). Peer acceptance among Chinese adolescents: the role of emotional empathy, cognitive empathy and gender. International Journal of Psychology, 49(5), 420–424. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12075.
Johnson, H. D., Wernli, M. A., & LaVoie, J. C. (2013). Situational, interpersonal, and intrapersonal characteristic associations with adolescent conflict forgiveness. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 174(3), 291–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2012.670672.
Jugert, P., Noack, P., & Rutland, A. (2013). Children’s cross-ethnic friendships: why are they less stable than same- ethnic friendships? European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 10(6), 649–662. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2012.734136.
Laible, D. (2007). Attachment with parents and peers in late adolescence: Links with emotional competence and social behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(5), 1185–1197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.03.010.
Laible, D. J., Carlo, G., & Roesch, S. C. (2004). Pathways to self-esteem in late adolescence: The role of parent and peer attachment, empathy, and social behaviours. Journal of Adolescence, 27(6), 703–716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2004.05.005.
Levac, D., Colquhoun, H., & O’Brien, K. K. (2010). Scoping studies: advancing the methodology. Implementation Science, 5(69), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-5-69.
Llorca-Mestre, A., Samper-García, P., Malonda-Vidal, E., & Cortés-Tomás, M. T. (2017). Parenting style and peer attachment as predictors of emotional instability in children. Social Behavior and Personality, 45(4), 677–694. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.5363.
Lovett, B. J., & Sheffield, R. A. (2007). Affective empathy deficits in aggressive children and adolescents: a critical review. Clinical Psychology Review, 27(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2006.03.003.
Malti, T., Chaparro, M. P., Zuffianò, A., & Colasante, T. (2016). School-based interventions to promote empathy-related responding in children and adolescents: a developmental analysis. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 45(6), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2015.1121822.
McHugh, M. L. (2012). Interrater reliability: the kappa statistic. Biochemia Medica, 22(3), 276–282.
McMahon, S. D., Wernsman, J., & Parnes, A. L. (2006). Understanding prosocial behavior: the impact of empathy and gender among African American adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 39(1), 135–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.10.008.
Meuwese, R., Cillessen, A. H., & Güroğlu, B. (2017). Friends in high places: a dyadic perspective on peer status as predictor of friendship quality and the mediating role of empathy and prosocial behavior. Social Development, 26(3), 503–519. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12213.
Nangle, D. W., Erdley, C. A., Newman, J. E., Mason, C. A., & Carpenter, E. M. (2003). Popularity, friendship quantity, and friendship quality: interactive influences on children’s loneliness and depression. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32(4), 546–555. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15374424JCCP3204_7.
Naylor, J. M. (2011). Peer relationships. In S. Goldstein & J. A. Naglieri (Eds), Encyclopedia of child behavior and development (pp. 1075–1076). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_2098.
Oberle, E., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., & Thomson, K. C. (2010). Understanding the link between social and emotional well-being and peer relations in early adolescence: gender-specific predictors of peer acceptance. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39(11), 1330–1342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-009-9486-9.
Overgaauw, S., Rieffe, C., Broekhof, E., Crone, E. A., & Güroğlu, B. (2017). Assessing empathy across childhood and adolescence: validation of the Empathy Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (EmQue-CA). Frontiers in Psychology, 8(870), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00870.
Poorthuis, A. M. G., Thomaes, S., Denissen, J. J. A., van Aken, M. A. G., & Orobio de Castro, B. (2012). Prosocial tendencies predict friendship quality, but not for popular children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 112(4), 378–388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2012.04.002.
Poulin, F., Dishion, T. J., & Haas, E. (1999). The peer influence paradox: relationship quality and deviancy training within male adolescent friendships. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 45(1), 42–61.
Pöyhönen, V., Juvonen, J., & Salmivalli, C. (2010). What does it take to stand up for the victim of bullying? The interplay between personal and social factors. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 56(2), 143–163.
Rawana, E. P., & Brownlee, K. (2009). Making the possible probable: a strength-based assessment and intervention framework for clinical work with parents, children and adolescents. Families in Society, 90(3), 255–260. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.3900.
Reniers, R. L., Corcoran, R., Drake, R., Shryane, N. M., & Völlm, B. A. (2011). The QCAE: a questionnaire of cognitive and affective empathy. Journal of Personality Assessment, 93(1), 84–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2010.528484.
Rose, A. J., & Rudolph, K. D. (2006). A review of sex differences in peer relationship processes: Potential trade-offs for the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys. Psychological Bulletin, 132(1), 98–131. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.98.
Rose, A. J., & Smith, R. L. (2009). Sex differences in peer relationships. In K. H. Rubin, W. M. Bukowski & B. Laursen (Eds), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups (pp. 379–393). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Rubin, K. H., Dwyer, K. M., Booth-LaForce, C., Kim, A. H., Burgess, K. B., & Rose-Krasnor, L. (2004). Attachment, friendship, and psychosocial functioning in early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 24(4), 326–356. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431604268530.
Sahdra, B. K., Ciarrochi, J., Parker, P. D., Marshall, S., & Heaven, P. (2015). Empathy and nonattachment independently predict peer nominations of prosocial behavior of adolescents. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(263), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00263.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: an introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066X.55.1.5.
Singer, T., & Klimecki, O. M. (2014). Empathy and compassion. Current Biology, 24(18), R875–R878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.06.054.
Smith, R. L. (2015). Adolescents’ emotional engagement in friends’ problems and joys: associations of empathetic distress and empathetic joy with friendship quality, depression, and anxiety. Journal of Adolescence, 45, 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.08.020.
Smith, R. L., & Rose, A. J. (2011). The “cost of caring” in youths’ friendships: considering associations among social perspective taking, co-rumination, and empathetic distress. Developmental Psychology, 47(6), 1792–1803. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025309.
Soenens, B., Duriez, B., Vansteenkiste, M., & Goossens, L. (2007). The intergenerational transmission of empathy-related responding in adolescence: the role of maternal support. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33(3), 299–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167206296300.
Spreng, R. N., McKinnon, M. C., Mar, R. A., & Levine, B. (2009). The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire: Scale development and initial validation of a factor-analytic solution to multiple empathy measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(1), 62–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223890802484381.
Tan, E., Zou, Y., He, J., & Huang, M. (2011). Empathy and subjective well-being: emotion regulation as a mediator. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 19(5), 672–674.
van Noorden, T. H., Haselager, G. J., Cillessen, A. H., & Bukowski, W. M. (2015). Empathy and involvement in bullying in children and adolescents: a systematic review. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(3), 637–657. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0135-6.
Vinayak, S., & Judge, J. (2018). Resilience and empathy as predictors of psychological wellbeing among adolescents. International Journal of Health Sciences and Research, 8(4), 192–200.
Wentzel, K. R., Filisetti, L., & Looney, L. (2007). Adolescent prosocial behavior: the role of self-processes and contextual cues. Child Development, 78(3), 895–910. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01039.x.
Wilkinson, R. B. (2004). The role of parental and peer attachment in the psychological health and self-esteem of adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 33(6), 479–493. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOYO.0000048063.59425.20.
Wölfer, R., Cortina, K. S., & Baumert, J. (2012). Embeddedness and empathy: how the social network shapes adolescents’ social understanding. Journal of Adolescence, 35(5), 1295–1305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.04.015.
You, S., & Kim, A. Y. (2016). Understanding aggression through attachment and social emotional competence in Korean middle school students. School Psychology International, 37(3), 255–270. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034316631039.
You, S., Lee, J., Lee, Y., & Kim, A. Y. (2015). Bullying among Korean adolescents: the role of empathy and attachment. Psychology in the Schools, 52(6), 594–606. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21842.
Zorza, J. P., Marino, J., de Lemus, S., & Mesas, A. A. (2013). Academic performance and social competence of adolescents: predictions based on effortful control and empathy. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 16(e87), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2013.8.
Zorza, J. P., Marino, J., & Mesas, A. A. (2015). The influence of effortful control and empathy on perception of school climate. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 30(4), 457–472. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-015-0261-x.
Author Contributions
E.P.: Collaborated in designing the manuscript, co-conducting the review, and writing sections of the paper. S.P.: Collaborated in designing the manuscript, co-conducting the review, and writing sections of the paper. B.P.: Collaborated in co-conducting the review and writing sections of the paper. E.R.: Collaborated in designing the manuscript, provided feedback throughout the duration of the reviewing and writing process, and collaborated in editing manuscript drafts. K.B.: Collaborated in writing and editing manuscript drafts.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Portt, E., Person, S., Person, B. et al. Empathy and Positive Aspects of Adolescent Peer Relationships: a Scoping Review. J Child Fam Stud 29, 2416–2433 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01753-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01753-x