Abstract
At the age of two, children begin to differentiate between themselves and others. This age sees great growth in their ability to understand others - an ability related to their capacity for self-awareness. These developments are connected to their increasing ability to sympathize. In the current study, we have done a comparative study of mothers and fathers with the aim of exploring what sort of relationship brings out sympathetic behavior in two-year-olds. In Part I of our research we made inquiries into the ways affection is shown to children. In Part II we observed the parents and child in a free play scene, as well as in a scene set up to test for sympathy evocation. The results suggested that whether the child was interacting with the father or mother was not a factor in displays of sympathy. Rather the important factors seemed to be the quantitative issue of how much contact the parent has with the child and the qualitative issue of the nature of that contact on a regular basis.
