Peer Status Influences In-Group Favoritism in Pain Empathy During Middle Childhood: Evidence from Behavioral and Event-Related Potentials Studies
Background/Objectives: Empathy for pain enhances our ability to perceive pain and recognize potential dangers. Empathic bias occurs when members of the in-group evoke more intense empathic responses compared to out-group members. In the process of interacting with peers, children develop peer status...
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MDPI AG
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/14/12/1262 |
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| author | Yiyue Chen Jingyuan Liang Gaoxin Han Xue Yang Juan Song |
| author_facet | Yiyue Chen Jingyuan Liang Gaoxin Han Xue Yang Juan Song |
| author_sort | Yiyue Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background/Objectives: Empathy for pain enhances our ability to perceive pain and recognize potential dangers. Empathic bias occurs when members of the in-group evoke more intense empathic responses compared to out-group members. In the process of interacting with peers, children develop peer status and spontaneously form peer groups. The present study examined how peer status affects pain empathy in mid-childhood individuals. Methods: A behavior and an event-related potential (ERP) study were conducted. Participants were exposed to pictures of different peers in painful or non-painful situations and completed the pain and unpleasantness rating tasks. Four types of peers were included: popular, rejected, neglected and unfamiliar peers. Results: The behavioral results suggested that the influence of peer status on cognitive empathy is more salient, and the empathic response to unfamiliar peers is higher than neglecting and rejecting peers. The ERP results indicated that larger P3 and LPP amplitude were observed in the painful stimulus condition than in the non-painful stimulus condition. The findings also showed that the popular peers elicited larger LPP amplitude than other peers. The LPP response to unfamiliar peers was larger than to neglected peers. Conclusions: All these results demonstrated that mid-childhood individuals showed empathic bias to in-group members, but it was influenced by peer status in the cognitive processes of pain empathy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e817229fa7d84807a341d031b519586b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-e817229fa7d84807a341d031b519586b2024-12-27T14:14:56ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252024-12-011412126210.3390/brainsci14121262Peer Status Influences In-Group Favoritism in Pain Empathy During Middle Childhood: Evidence from Behavioral and Event-Related Potentials StudiesYiyue Chen0Jingyuan Liang1Gaoxin Han2Xue Yang3Juan Song4Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, ChinaFaculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, ChinaFaculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, ChinaFaculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, ChinaFaculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, ChinaBackground/Objectives: Empathy for pain enhances our ability to perceive pain and recognize potential dangers. Empathic bias occurs when members of the in-group evoke more intense empathic responses compared to out-group members. In the process of interacting with peers, children develop peer status and spontaneously form peer groups. The present study examined how peer status affects pain empathy in mid-childhood individuals. Methods: A behavior and an event-related potential (ERP) study were conducted. Participants were exposed to pictures of different peers in painful or non-painful situations and completed the pain and unpleasantness rating tasks. Four types of peers were included: popular, rejected, neglected and unfamiliar peers. Results: The behavioral results suggested that the influence of peer status on cognitive empathy is more salient, and the empathic response to unfamiliar peers is higher than neglecting and rejecting peers. The ERP results indicated that larger P3 and LPP amplitude were observed in the painful stimulus condition than in the non-painful stimulus condition. The findings also showed that the popular peers elicited larger LPP amplitude than other peers. The LPP response to unfamiliar peers was larger than to neglected peers. Conclusions: All these results demonstrated that mid-childhood individuals showed empathic bias to in-group members, but it was influenced by peer status in the cognitive processes of pain empathy.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/14/12/1262childrenempathy for painpeer statusin-group favoritismERP |
| spellingShingle | Yiyue Chen Jingyuan Liang Gaoxin Han Xue Yang Juan Song Peer Status Influences In-Group Favoritism in Pain Empathy During Middle Childhood: Evidence from Behavioral and Event-Related Potentials Studies Brain Sciences children empathy for pain peer status in-group favoritism ERP |
| title | Peer Status Influences In-Group Favoritism in Pain Empathy During Middle Childhood: Evidence from Behavioral and Event-Related Potentials Studies |
| title_full | Peer Status Influences In-Group Favoritism in Pain Empathy During Middle Childhood: Evidence from Behavioral and Event-Related Potentials Studies |
| title_fullStr | Peer Status Influences In-Group Favoritism in Pain Empathy During Middle Childhood: Evidence from Behavioral and Event-Related Potentials Studies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Peer Status Influences In-Group Favoritism in Pain Empathy During Middle Childhood: Evidence from Behavioral and Event-Related Potentials Studies |
| title_short | Peer Status Influences In-Group Favoritism in Pain Empathy During Middle Childhood: Evidence from Behavioral and Event-Related Potentials Studies |
| title_sort | peer status influences in group favoritism in pain empathy during middle childhood evidence from behavioral and event related potentials studies |
| topic | children empathy for pain peer status in-group favoritism ERP |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/14/12/1262 |
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