Babies express empathy as early as 5 months of age. This, according to researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Hebrew University in Israel.
Researchers showed 27 infants, ages 5-9 months, two videos: One depicted a square figure with eyes walk up a hill, meet a friendly circular figure, and then the two walk happily back down the hill together. The other depicted a square figure walk up a hill, meet a mean round figure that hits and bullies the square figure until it walks back down the hill in tears.
After, the researchers presented the babies with both square figures on a tray. Over 80% of the babies pointed to or picked up the figure that was bullied, demonstrating empathic preference.
This study suggests that babies as early as 5 months old display empathy. Researchers say these findings discredit the theory that babies cannot feel empathy until after one year of age.
Source:
Uzefovsky, F., Paz, Y., Davidov, M. (2019). Young infants are pro-victims, but it depends on the context. British Journal of Psychology. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/bjop.12402
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