Mothers with higher empathy have children who make moral decisions and exhibit higher medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) activity when discussing hypothetical moral dilemmas: an fNIRS study from Singapore.

Abstract

Parents' empathic responses are crucial in shaping children's attitudes. Empathy triggers positive emotional responses, which facilitate adaptive moral judgment and utilitarian decisions. However, no study has examined the role of parental empathy in influencing children's moral reasoning and their underlying neural responses. In this study, we investigated the association between mothers' empathy levels and children's moral decisions and brain activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). 19 children wore a 20-channel functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) cap with a standard PFC montage while discussing preschool-aged stories with their mothers. We measured mothers' empathy levels using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire and their preschool children's empathic tendencies by asking whether they would help the characters of these stories with simple chores in hypothetical scenarios. Findings showed that children are disposed to behave in ways parallel to their mother's attitudes. Empathic mothers have children who make prosocial decisions rooted in empathic mentalization. These helpful children also have higher activations in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the brain area associated with ethical decision-making. This study highlights the impact of parent-child communication in strengthening children's moral knowledge and moral emotions and emphasizes that parents' attitudes and interactions play a significant role in children's decision-making abilities.