Effects of secure attachment on empathy and altruistic behavior

Subjects: Psychology >> Personality Psychology Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2019-08-26

潘彦谷 肖遥 胡俞

Abstract： Altruistic behavior refers to the motivation of which ultimate goal is to increase other individuals’ welfare. It is not only an important research topic in the field of social psychology but also the need of social harmony and stability. Empathy occurs when an observer perceives or imagines someone else’s affect and this triggers a response such that the observer partially feels what the target is feeling. Empathy is the intrinsic motivation for altruistic behavior. Previous studies indicated that secure attachment style and security priming positively impact individuals’ empathy and altruistic behavior. According to attachment theory and literatures, emotion regulation and cognitive schema might be the mechanism explaining how secure attachment influences individuals’ empathy and altruistic behavior. Future research can further explore the moderating role of the relationship between givers and receivers of altruistic behavior, examine the mechanism underlying the relation between secure attachment and empathy or altruistic behavior, investigate the effect of altruistic behavior on secure attachment, and develop the interventions that improve empathy and altruistic behavior through secure attachment. "

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