Abstract
Previous evidence suggests that the amount of support one received has
an impact on the cognitive empathy, however, it is not clear what
mechanism underlies this relationship. The present study examined the
mediating and moderating mechanism between family support and cognitive
empathy in 2,379 college students who completed self-report
questionnaires assessing their level of family support, cognitive
empathy, cognitive empathy and problematic mobile phone use. The
results indicated that family support was positively associated with
cognitive empathy. A mediation analysis indicated that core
self-evaluation mediated the relationship between family support and
cognitive empathy. Furthermore, the effect of core self-evaluation on
cognitive empathy was moderated by problematic mobile phone use. The
current research contributes to a better understanding of how and when
the family support promotes cognitive empathy in college students.