关键词: 同胞共情, “全面二孩”, 特点, 影响因素

Abstract: With the end of China’s over 30 years one-child policy and the implement of the two-child policy, a large number of children went through the transformation from single-child to first-born child, and siblings empathy has been the focus of researchers. Siblings empathy referred to psychological phenomena that were genetically related to each other, linked by family bonds, and had one common natural parent at least who felt each other's emotions, perceptions, and thoughts. Siblings were the first contact and closest partners of young children. To some extent, children spent more time with their siblings than their parents, and their communication and activities would promote the development of mutual empathy. In order to understand the characteristics, influencing factors and theoretical mechanism of sibling empathy, this review was arranged as follows: In the first section, the generation and development of sibling empathy was introduced. When children are 2 years old, they could understand their relationship with their siblings. It also showed that siblings empathy began to develop, age grows, the relationship between siblings, the gender combination affected the development of siblings empathy, and studies have shown that empathy involved multiple cognitive and social emotional components, and each child might have its own unique developmental trajectory In the second section, we distinguished and discussed common (reciprocity, difference, enthusiasm) and specific characteristics: (1) Reciprocity. Due to the persistence of time spent with siblings and the indivisibility of blood relationship, the development of siblings empathy showed an interactive model, which older brothers and sisters would promote empathy of the younger brothers and sisters, and vice versa. (2) Difference. Siblings’ beliefs about their relationship, attachment level to their parents and age or birth order were associated with differences in the development of sibling empathy. Within a certain range, older siblings tended to develop empathy better than younger siblings. Among the siblings, the empathy of sisters developed better than that of brothers. (3) Positivity. The interaction between siblings helped the development of compatriot empathy, which would bring many benefits to the contemporary life of siblings, e.g. directly promote children's social, emotional and cognitive development. In addition, the development of sibling empathy was often higher than that of peer empathy, showing the characteristics of specificity with ordinary peer empathy. First of all, ordinary peers could be chosen and changed independently, while siblings were natural playmates of children. Secondly, children were more likely to empathize with people who they were familiar with or similar to themselves. At the same age, the empathy ability of children with siblings developed better than that of only-child children. Finally, there were obvious differences in the mechanism of empathy between siblings and ordinary peers. In the third section, we discussed the factors involving four dimensions: individual, sibling, family. Individual factors. Perspective-taking ability, attachment relationship, self-control ability, temperament, curiosity, and motor coordination ability were associated with the empathy. Sibling factors. First, types of sibling relationship. Positive relations of siblings were more conducive to promoting the development of empathy, such as warmth and intimacy. Second, sex composition. The same-sex sibling groups were more likely to have competitive relationships and lead to anxiety and depression. However, the same-sex compatriots could understand each other better, so the development of the same-sex empathy of siblings was better. In terms of sex composition, the influence on the development of empathy was in the order of sisters, brothers, brother and sister, sister and brother. Third, age interval. Great age interval in siblings was associated with a more positive influence of older siblings on the development of empathy of younger. Fourth, birth order and frequency of interaction and moderate conflict also were associated with siblings empathy. Family factors. Mother sensitivity, parental emotional expression, and parent-child interaction were positively associated with siblings empathy. In the fourth section, we discussed several limitations of previous studies and pointed out some promising directions for future research accordingly.

Key words: siblings empathy, the “second child” policy, characteristics, influencing factor