Parental conflict; Compensatory high empathy; Insecure attachment; Self-narrative research
父母冲突; 补偿型高共情; 不安全依恋; 自我叙事研究
Abstract:
In today’s society, where the cultivation of children’s social-emotional abilities is highly valued, empathy stands as a core issue in their social development. Previous research has generally posited a negative correlation between parental conflict and children’s empathic ability, suggesting that family conflict inhibits the development of empathy in children. However, it overlooks the individual variability in empathy development under adversity, where some children instead develop a compensatory high-empathy pattern. This study employs a self-narrative research method, tracing and analyzing the researcher’s own developmental experiences. From the perspective of insecure attachment compensation, it integrates attachment theory and Adler’s compensation principle to deeply explore the construction process and effects of compensatory high empathy in children under parental conflict. The findings reveal that parental conflict disrupts family functioning and triggers insecure attachment, leading children to develop psychological behaviors such as emotional suppression, heightened sensitivity, and keen observation. Consequently, children ultimately construct a trauma-driven, dual-attribute compensatory high empathy. This empathy serves as both a survival strategy for adapting to family adversity and carries potential risks like emotional depletion and self-repression. The study challenges the singular conclusion that parental conflict suppresses empathy, enriching the theoretical explanation of differentiated empathic development of children under family adversity.
在当今社会针对儿童社会情感能力培养备受重视的背景下,共情是儿童社会化发展的核心议题。过往研究普遍认为,父母冲突与儿童共情能力呈负相关,即家庭冲突会抑制儿童共情发展,忽视了逆境下共情发展的个体差异性,部分儿童形成了补偿型高共情这一特殊模式。本研究采用自我叙事研究法,通过对研究者自身成长经历进行回溯与分析,并基于不安全依恋补偿视角,融合依恋理论、阿德勒补偿原理,深度剖析父母冲突情境下儿童补偿型高共情的建构过程与影响。研究发现,父母冲突情境会通过破坏家庭功能、诱发不安全依恋,促使儿童形成情绪压抑、高敏感特质、察言观色等心理行为,使儿童最终建构出创伤驱动、兼具双重属性的补偿型高共情;该共情模式是儿童适应家庭逆境的生存策略,也存在情绪内耗、自我压抑等潜在风险。本研究在既有父母冲突与儿童共情发展研究的基础上,基于自我叙事材料呈现了不同于共情受抑路径的个案性发展模式。