The study looked at how parents' and children's empathy and helpful behavior are connected. They asked 225 fifth-graders to rate their own and their parents' empathy and helpfulness. They found that fathers' empathy was linked to their helpful behavior, as well as mothers' and children's scores. Parents' empathy and helpful behavior were also related to children's empathy and helpful behavior. Boys showed stronger connections between mothers' empathy and helpful behavior, children's empathy and helpful behavior, mothers' empathy and children's empathy, and mothers' empathy and children's helpful behavior compared to girls. This suggests that understanding the relationships between parents' and children's empathy and helpful behavior may be more complex for girls than boys.