Support empathy by having siblings consider the other’s point of view.
Even if one sibling is better at this skill early on than the other, that understanding will rub off.
The Conversation reports on a study that finds empathy can be contagious:
“Our research at the University of Calgary and the University of Toronto shows that siblings, like parents, can have a dramatic impact on one another’s development. We’ve found, for example, that warmth and support from an older sibling can help boost the younger sibling’s language development and their understanding of others’ minds and points of view.”
The report in The Conversation goes on to easy how,
“Empathic children become empathic friends, spouses and parents.”
Who wouldn’t want this for their children? Helping your children to establish empathy now can give them vital skills for all future relationships.
If all your children don’t naturally pick up on seeing what it is like in the other’s shoes, you can role play to give them perspective, or have them verbalize what they would have felt if they were their sibling in a scenario.