This study experimentally investigated how empathy moderated the influence of external emotional stimuli on preschoolers’ subsequent sharing behaviour. Children aged 4–6 (N = 218) were randomly presented with one of the video clips that elicited sad, happy, or neutral emotion, and were then asked to play a dictator game with puppet partners. Results revealed that compared to the neutral condition, children with higher empathy increased sharing after induced happiness but did not change sharing after induced sadness; by contrast, children with lower empathy decreased sharing after induced sadness. It appears that empathy may enhance the positive effect of happiness while reducing the negative effect of sadness on sharing behaviour. These findings provide experimental evidence in early childhood to support approaches that emphasize the role of immediate emotions in moral decision‐making; critically, such emotional effects vary with individual differences in dispositional empathy.

中文翻译：

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移情作为缓冲：移情如何缓和学龄前儿童共享的情感影响

这项研究通过实验研究了共情如何缓解外部情绪刺激对学龄前儿童随后的共享行为的影响。4-6岁的儿童（N （= 218）随机呈现引起悲伤，快乐或中立情感的视频片段之一，然后被要求与木偶伙伴一起玩独裁游戏。结果显示，与中立状态相比，具有较高同理心的孩子在诱发快乐后分享增加，而在诱发悲伤后没有改变分享。相反，同情心较低的孩子在诱发悲伤后分享减少。移情似乎可以增强幸福的积极影响，同时减少悲伤对共享行为的消极影响。这些发现提供了幼儿期的实验证据，以支持强调即时情绪在道德决策中的作用的方法。至关重要的是，这种情感影响会随着性情移情的个体差异而变化。