How empathy, perceived parental care, and overprotection indexes are affected by participants’ sex: investigating cultural differences

Culture seems to affect how empathy’s development is influenced by parental behaviors. Considering that empathy is a social ability whose development is affected by many environmental and biological factors, differences can be expected in the way fathers and mothers care for and protect their sons and daughters, as social roles are influenced by culture. The objective of this research was to assess to what extent empathy, perceived parental care, and overprotection are affected by the offspring’s sex. 477 adults participated in the study and three instruments were used: the Brazilian versions of the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and the Empathy Quotient. Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression, and moderation analyses were conducted. Maternal and paternal care were related to empathy variables for women in the Brazilian context, whereas the perceived parenting behaviors of care and overprotection did not show significant associations with empathy for male participants. Preliminary analysis also suggests that the offspring’s sex influences paternal care expressed through variables such as perspective taking and combined cognitive empathy. This study’s outcomes suggest that the way Brazilian parents behave is dependent on their offspring’s sex. The main results were discussed in comparison to literature that used distinct cultural samples, especially to the outcomes found in British reports, to identify Brazilian parents’ behaviors specificities and their association with the autonomous–relational parenting orientation.