The impact of the socio-cultural learning environment and gender on the development of empathy and prosociality in Ugandan and British infants

Empathy and prosocial behaviour are key components of human socio-emotional functioning that begin at an early age in ontogeny. While empathy and prosocial behaviour
are central topics in developmental science, existing findings have limited generalisability
due to sampling biases and insufficient integration of sociocultural factors such as
socialisation goals and gender. By drawing on infant and maternal data from urban and rural
Uganda, as well as the UK, and using diverse methodologies, this thesis demonstrates how
empathy and prosocial development emerge through complex interactions between individual
skills, gendered experiences, and cultural learning environments.
Four empirical studies form the core of the thesis. Chapter 3 examined needs
understanding in infants across our three sites, and correlates of infant helping across two
Ugandan contexts. Findings revealed that infants in all sites showed early sensitivity to
others’ needs, suggesting developmental robustness. However, helping behaviour was shaped
by motor and social skills, not solely maternal socialisation, underscoring the dynamic
interplay between individual abilities and environmental influences. Chapter 4 used
qualitative focus groups to explore how Ugandan mothers’ experiences of gender roles
inform children’s sociocultural learning. Analyses highlighted adaptive practices, such as
emotional restraint and gendered expectations for daughters, that reflect both constraints and
strategies for navigating societal demands. Chapter 5 employed a mixed-methods approach to
examine gender stereotypes in Uganda and the UK. While quantitative data suggested cross
site differences, thematic analysis revealed that stereotypes persisted across contexts to
different extents. Chapter 6 investigated emotion regulation as a foundation for empathy,
extending the toy removal paradigm to cross-cultural and sex-based comparisons. Results
showed distinct cultural, sex-based and contextual patterns. Importantly, infants’ regulatory
strategies did not directly predict comforting behaviour,
Taken together, these studies highlight that while certain aspects of empathy and
prosociality (e.g., needs understanding) emerge robustly across cultures, their behavioural
expression is shaped by context-specific skills, gendered socialisation, and cultural norms.
The thesis contributes methodological advances (e.g., validating eye-tracking in diverse
settings), challenges assumptions of universality in developmental pathways, and underscores
the value of integrating cross-cultural and gendered perspectives in developmental science.