In Babies and more we have talked a lot about education in values, and its importance in the emotional and social development of children. For many parents, one of the most important values to teach their children is kindness, since they are concerned about raising people who care about others.
As we know, example is always the best way to teach habits and values to our children, and according to a recent study, those children who are raised by loving, compassionate, and empathetic mothers tend to be more generous to their peers.
The study
Published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology: Emotion Science , the study followed 74 preschool-age children and their mothers, in order to analyze how the treatment of mothers influenced the development of skills of generosity and kindness .
To do this, two tests were performed when the children were four years old, and again at six years of age. The first consisted of an activity in which the children won tokens as a prize and at the end they were told that they could donate all or part of their tokens to other (fictitious) children who had not been able to attend because they were sick or having difficulties. During this part of the study, the children were also fitted with a monitor that measured their heart rate.
The second was a survey of mothers, in which they provided some responses about compassionate love for their children and for others . Mothers selected phrases in a survey such as ” I prefer to participate in actions that help my child to participate in actions that would help me “, ” Those I meet through my work and my public life can assume that I will be there if they they need me “and” I’d rather suffer myself than see someone else (a stranger) suffer . “
When analyzing the results of the study, the children were more willing to give their tokens to other children who needed them when two conditions were present: to have body changes by giving them the opportunity to share and if they had experienced a positive parenting that had helped model that kindness and generosity .
According to the study, the generosity of children is supported by the combination of their socialization experiences – the compassionate love of their mothers – and their physiological regulation, and that these function as “internal and external supports for the ability to act in prosocial way that they rely on each other. “
In tests conducted at both four and six years, the physiological record showed that children who donated more tokens were calmer and showed better physiological regulation after the activity , compared to children who donated little or no tokens.
Regarding this, the researchers explain that it is possibly because compassionate mothers develop close emotional relationships with their children , while at the same time providing an early example towards the needs of others.
Photo | iStock
Via | Davis Enterprise
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