Affective empathy mediates the positive effect of prosocial video games on young children’s sharing behavior

• Published in: Cognitive development Vol. 67; p. 101343
• Main Authors: Li, Yan, Deng, Tao, Kanske, Philipp
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.07.2023
• Subjects: Age difference; Early childhood education; Empathy; Gender difference; Sharing behavior; Video games; Video games; Empathy; Early childhood education; Sharing behavior; Gender difference; Age difference
• ISSN: 0885-2014; 1879-226X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2023.101343

This study investigated the effect of prosocial video game exposure on sharing behavior in Chinese preschoolers and tested the mediating role of empathy as well as the moderating roles of age and gender. A total of N = 120 children aged 4–6 years (50% girls, 50% boys; Mage = 5.0, SD = 0.82) from two Chinese kindergartens participated in this between-subjects design experiment. The results showed that the preschoolers who played prosocial video games exhibited more sharing behavior than those who played neutral video games. Empathy, especially affective empathy, was found to mediate the association between playing prosocial video games and sharing behavior. This suggests that empathy training programs, especially those that promote affective empathy, may be an effective means of promoting sharing behavior in children. The mediating effect was mainly observed for girls and older children. Girls and older children may therefore be the target group for sharing behavior education programs that aim to increase empathy in playing prosocial video games. Nevertheless, promoting sharing behavior in younger children and boys is equally important and deserves attention in future research. •Exposure of children to prosocial video games leads to more sharing behavior.•The effect of prosocial video games on sharing is partially mediated by empathy.•While affective empathy is a significant mediator, cognitive empathy is not.•The mediating effect is mainly observed in girls and older children.