Research Unit of Psychology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
PLoS One. 2021 Mar 24;16(3):e0248226. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248226. eCollection 2021.
The objective of this study was to investigate (i) whether childhood family SES predicts offspring's compassion between ages 20-50 years and (ii) whether adulthood SES predicts compassion or vice versa. We used the prospective population-based Young Finns data (N = 637-2300). Childhood family SES was evaluated in 1980; participants' adulthood SES in 2001 and 2011; and compassion for others in 1997, 2001, and 2012. Compassion for others was evaluated with the Compassion scale of the Temperament and Character Inventory. The results showed that high childhood family SES (a composite score of educational level, occupational status, unemployment status, and level of income) predicted offspring's higher compassion between ages 30-40 years but not in early adulthood or middle age. These results were obtained independently of a variety of potential confounders (disruptive behavior in childhood; parental mental disorder; frequency of parental alcohol use and alcohol intoxication). Moreover, high compassion for others in adulthood (a composite score of educational level, occupational status, and unemployment status) predicted higher adulthood SES later in their life (after a 10-year follow-up), but not vice versa. In conclusion, favorable socioeconomic environment in childhood appears to have a positive effect on offspring's compassion in their middle adulthood. This effect may attenuate by middle age. High compassion for others seems to promote the achievement of higher SES in adulthood.
（i）童年时期家庭社会经济地位（SES）是否会预测子女在 20-50 岁时的同情心；（ii）成年期 SES 是否会预测同情心，或者反之亦然。我们使用了前瞻性的基于人群的芬兰年轻人数据（N=637-2300）。1980 年评估了儿童时期的家庭 SES；参与者的成年 SES 在 2001 年和 2011 年评估；1997 年、2001 年和 2012 年评估了对他人的同情心。对他人的同情心使用特质和性格库存中的同情心量表进行评估。结果表明，高童年家庭 SES（教育水平、职业地位、失业状况和收入水平的综合得分）预测了子女在 30-40 岁之间更高的同情心，但在成年早期或中年则没有。这些结果是在排除了各种潜在混杂因素（儿童期的破坏性行为；父母精神障碍；父母饮酒频率和醉酒状态）后得出的。此外，成年期的高同情心（教育水平、职业地位和失业状况的综合得分）预测了他们以后生活中的成年期 SES 更高（10 年随访后），反之则不然。总之，童年时期有利的社会经济环境似乎对子女中年期的同情心产生积极影响。这种影响可能会在中年时减弱。对他人的高度同情似乎促进了成年期 SES 的提高。
