Volume 24, Issue 105, September - October, 2020

An investigation of empathy in Vietnamese and Indonesian children

Vinh-Long Tran-Chi^1♦, Liftiah Liftiah², Hai The Hoang³, Thuy-Trinh Ngo-Thi⁴, Hong-Gam Ngo-Thi⁵

¹Faculty of Psychology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Email: longtcv@hcmue.edu.vn
²Universitas Negeri Semarang, Semarang, Indonesia. Email: liftiah@mail.unnes.ac.id
³Faculty of Psychology and Education, The University of Danang - University of Science and Education, Danang City, Vietnam. Email: hthai@ued.udn.vn
⁴Faculty of Psychology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Email: thuytrinhgeirlys@gmail.com
⁵Faculty of Psychology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Email: gamngongo2605@gmail.com

^♦Corresponding author
Faculty of Psychology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Email: longtcv@hcmue.edu.vn

ABSTRACT

Empathy is essential to healthy relationships and overall well-being. Previous research suggests that children from East Asian cultures experience more personal distress and less empathic concerns than those from western cultures, but none of these differences between children from Vietnam or Indonesia have been specifically studied. This study attempted to determine the differences between children’s empathy in Vietnam and Indonesia. Seven hundred nine children aged 8-12 years-old participated, including 336 Vietnamese and 373 Indonesian children. Results found significant differences in gender, grade level, and nationality on the children’s empathy. Girls were higher than boys, younger children were higher than older children, and Indonesian children were higher than Vietnamese children. For the interaction, it was found the interactions between gender and grade level, gender and nationality, and grade level and nationality. Therefore, the differences in children’s empathy between Vietnamese and Indonesian children can be explained under a general trend in development as well as the cultural influences in their experience of empathy.

Keywords: Empathy, Vietnamese, Indonesian, children, gender, grade

Medical Science, 2020, 24(105), 3404-3412

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