Abstract
Introduction Numerous theories of anti‐social behaviour have featured lack of empathy as an essential characteristic of the anti‐social personality.
Aim To investigate the relationships between empathy and three theoretically related moral cognitive constructs: moral judgement maturity, moral identity and self‐serving cognitive distortion.
Methods Seventy‐eight adjudicated juvenile delinquents aged 13 to 21 years who had been directed by the court to attend a 10‐week empathy training programme completed self‐report measures as part of routine evaluation. Their anonymised scores were retrieved from programme records.
Results Applying zero‐order correlation, followed by regression analysis, we established that moral judgement maturity was associated with greater empathy, whereas extensive endorsement of self‐serving cognitive distortions was associated with lower empathy. An observed association between moral identity and empathy was mediated or ‘neutralised’ by self‐serving cognitive distortion.
Conclusions and implications for practice Our results suggest that interventions designed to promote empathy and curtail anti‐social behaviour should embrace strategies that facilitate moral judgement maturity and correct or counteract self‐serving cognitive distortions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.