During which stage of development do children typically begin to show empathy?

Children typically begin to show empathy during early childhood, particularly between the ages of 2 to 6. This developmental stage is characterized by significant emotional and social growth. During these years, children start to understand and respond to the feelings of others, demonstrating basic empathetic responses such as concern for a friend who is upset or sharing toys with peers to comfort them.

As they engage in imaginative play and develop language skills, they learn to express their own feelings and recognize those of others, which is a crucial step in the development of empathy. This emerging ability to understand and share the emotions of others lays the foundation for more complex social interactions as they grow older.

In contrast, during infancy, while infants can exhibit some reactions to others' emotions, such as crying when they hear another baby cry, this behavior is more instinctive rather than empathetic. In middle childhood, children refine their empathic skills further but have typically started to demonstrate empathetic behavior earlier in early childhood. Adolescence brings more advanced social understanding, but the roots of empathy are generally established well before this stage.