ABSTRACT

Previous research suggests that empathy could serve as a mediator in the relation between media violence exposure and social behavior (i.e., aggressive and prosocial behavior). However, conceptualizations of empathy are diverse and empirical findings are mixed. Theory as well as previous research suggests that sympathy, more than empathy, may explain how media violence can affect youths’ aggressive or prosocial behavior. The present study formally tests this assumption using a three-wave longitudinal design with 878 early adolescents. Although neither sympathy nor empathy provided a significant indirect pathway between media violence and social behavior, the findings do show that sympathy is more strongly related to media violence and social behavior than empathy Methodological challenges and suggestions for future research are discussed.

摘要

先前的研究表明，同理心可以作为媒体暴力暴露与社会行为（即攻击性和亲社会行为）之间关系的中介。然而，同理心的概念是多种多样的，实证结果也参差不齐。理论以及之前的研究表明，同情，而不是同理心，可以解释媒体暴力如何影响年轻人的攻击性或亲社会行为。本研究使用 878 名早期青少年的三波纵向设计正式测试了这一假设。尽管同情和同理心都没有在媒体暴力和社会行为之间提供重要的间接途径，但研究结果确实表明，与同理心相比，同情与媒体暴力和社会行为的相关性更强。讨论了对未来研究的方法论挑战和建议。