초등학교 고학년 아동의 공감이 친구관계 및 갈등해결전략에 미치는 영향 = The Effects of Empathy on Friendship and Conflict Resolution Strategies of Upper Grade Children in Elementary School

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of empathy on friendship and conflict resolution strategies of upper grade children in elementary school.
Specific research questions are as follows:
1. Which differences are in empathy, friendship and conflict resolution strategies in relation to children's gender and grade?
2. How does the children's empathy influence their friendship?
3. How does the children's empathy influence their conflict resolution strategies?
The subjects were 370 students of the 5th grade and 6th grade in an elementary school.
The instruments used in this study were Friendship Quality Scale by Rhee and Koh(1999) and a scale on Friendship conflict resolution strategies by Rhee, Koh and Oh(2000). In order to measure the children's empathy, a questionnaire that was adapted from Interpersonal Reactivity Index by Davis(1980) and modified for elementary school students by Ahn(1999) was used.
The data collected from the questionnaire was analyzed by ANOVA and stepwise regression analysis using SPSS 19.0 program.
The major results of this study as follows:
First, when examining whether there are differences in empathy, friendship and conflict resolution strategies depending on the children's gender and grade level, it was found that although girls have a higher level of empathy than boys, and girls scored higher in friendship than boys, there was no significant difference according to grade level. There was no significant difference in conflict resolution strategies according to gender and grade level.
Second, empathy had a static correlation to friendship. Also, when children had higher level of imagination and empathetic interest, sub-elements of empathy, it was found that these children developed a more intimate friendship.
Third, there is a static correlation between empathy and conflict resolution strategies. It implies that when the level of empathy is higher, children are more receptive to diverse values and become deeply considerate of others, allowing them to wisely resolve conflict between friends.
This study is expected to be used as a basic counseling tool to help children develop positive friendship and resolve conflicts in a desirable way.