In this study, we investigate the relationship between social preferences (material preference and group preference) and indirect reciprocity and the role of empathy in 3-5-year-old children in China. The first study involved 94 children and aimed to investigate the relationship between social preferences and indirect reciprocity and the…

This paper explores what it means to be an autonomous learner in an online social context. Using distinctions originally drawn by Jürgen Habermas, it argues that classic accounts of learner autonomy as teleological action are inadequate to explain learner activity in group settings. It points out that learners in such settings display attitudes…

Tested two theoretical explanations for attraction-enhancing effects of counselor self-disclosure by constructing counseling analogue which varied the valence (positive or negative) of a counselor's disclosure and its relevance to client's presenting problem. Clients were 70 male college students. Results were mixed, supporting social exchange…

This paper is a report of a study which explores the relative contributions of norms, modeling, positive affect, and empathy to generalized reciprocity (prior help by one person leading to greater helpfulness by the recipient toward another person). Preschool children were randomly assigned to one of six groups and individually exposed to two…

Examines whether affective perspective taking (the ability to identify and understand another person's feelings) plays a more significant role in altruistic helping than does cognitive perspective taking (the ability to recognize and understand the thoughts of others). This hypothesis is supported by the results of an experiment pairing videotape…