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Troncoso A, Blanco K, Rivera-Rei Á, Martínez-Pernía D. Empathy bodyssence: temporal dynamics of sensorimotor and physiological responses and the subjective experience in synchrony with the other's suffering. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1362064. [PMID: 38577111 PMCID: PMC10994162 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1362064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Empathy is foundational in our intersubjective interactions, connecting with others across bodily, emotional, and cognitive dimensions. Previous evidence suggests that observing individuals in painful situations elicits whole bodily responses, unveiling the interdependence of the body and empathy. Although the role of the body has been extensively described, the temporal structure of bodily responses and its association with the comprehension of subjective experiences remain unclear. Objective Building upon the enactive approach, our study introduces and examines "bodyssence," a neologism formed from "body" and "essence." Our primary goal is to analyze the temporal dynamics, physiological, and phenomenological elements in synchrony with the experiences of sportspersons suffering physical accidents. Methods Using the empirical 5E approach, a refinement of Varela's neurophenomenological program, we integrated both objective third-person measurements (postural sway, electrodermal response, and heart rate) and first-person descriptions (phenomenological data). Thirty-five participants watched videos of sportspersons experiencing physical accidents during extreme sports practice, as well as neutral videos, while standing on a force platform and wearing electrodermal and heart electrodes. Subsequently, micro-phenomenological interviews were conducted. Results Bodyssence is composed of three distinct temporal dynamics. Forefeel marks the commencement phase, encapsulating the body's pre-reflective consciousness as participants anticipate impending physical accidents involving extreme sportspersons, manifested through minimal postural movement and high heart rate. Fullfeel, capturing the zenith of empathetic engagement, is defined by profound negative emotions, and significant bodily and kinesthetic sensations, with this stage notably featuring an increase in postural movement alongside a reduction in heart rate. In the Reliefeel phase, participants report a decrease in emotional intensity, feeling a sense of relief, as their postural control starts to reach a state of equilibrium, and heart rate remaining low. Throughout these phases, the level of electrodermal activity consistently remains high. Conclusion This study through an enactive approach elucidates the temporal attunement of bodily experience to the pain experienced by others. The integration of both first and third-person perspectives through an empirical 5E approach reveals the intricate nature of bodyssence, offering an innovative approach to understanding the dynamic nature of empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Troncoso
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago, Chile
| | - Kevin Blanco
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago, Chile
| | - Álvaro Rivera-Rei
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago, Chile
| | - David Martínez-Pernía
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago, Chile
- Geroscience Center for Health and Brain Metabolism (GERO), Santiago, Chile
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Machková M. Enacting Inner Speech on the Academic Stage. A Dialogical Review on Fossa, P. (Ed.). (2022). New Perspectives on Inner Speech. Springer. Integr Psychol Behav Sci 2023; 57:1065-1083. [PMID: 36694098 PMCID: PMC10350432 DOI: 10.1007/s12124-022-09739-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The recently published Springer Brief in cultural psychology presents theoretical and empirical advances on inner speech. The editor Pablo Fossa suggests viewing inner speech as a private area to remember, play and dream, rather than a mere psychological function connected to problem solving. Along the lines of this suggestion, I adopt a playful approach in order to review the volume. Rather than delivering results of an analysis, I invite us to use the academic journal platform to take part in a dialogical encounter. In the first part of this essay, I offer a transparent step-by-step process of researcher's positioning, based on remembering and playing. In the second part, I dream of research methodologies, which would allow us to explore inner speech as dynamic movements experienced by whole and dialogical beings. This experiment, in which I enact my inner speech on the academic stage, eventually lets three key-moments of Fossa's book come forward as gamechangers for future inquiries: 1. The importance of hearing one's voice in audio-diary based research, 2. the shift of attention towards experiential contexts of inner speech (such as bodily sensations or felt knowledge), and 3. the notion of thirdness as a meta-position, pointing at the mutual permeability of reflective and pre-reflective realms of inner speech. This performing review is inspired by a theatre-based practice called Dialogical Acting with the Inner Partners and represents an original contribution to researcher's self-reflexive positioning practices, as well as to inner speech qualitative research methodologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markéta Machková
- Institute for Psychology and Education, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
- Department of Authorial Creativity and Pedagogy, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Prague, Czechia.
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Troncoso A, Soto V, Gomila A, Martínez-Pernía D. Moving beyond the lab: investigating empathy through the Empirical 5E approach. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1119469. [PMID: 37519389 PMCID: PMC10374225 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1119469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Empathy is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that plays a crucial role in human social interactions. Recent developments in social neuroscience have provided valuable insights into the neural underpinnings and bodily mechanisms underlying empathy. This methodology often prioritizes precision, replicability, internal validity, and confound control. However, fully understanding the complexity of empathy seems unattainable by solely relying on artificial and controlled laboratory settings, while overlooking a comprehensive view of empathy through an ecological experimental approach. In this article, we propose articulating an integrative theoretical and methodological framework based on the 5E approach (the "E"s stand for embodied, embedded, enacted, emotional, and extended perspectives of empathy), highlighting the relevance of studying empathy as an active interaction between embodied agents, embedded in a shared real-world environment. In addition, we illustrate how a novel multimodal approach including mobile brain and body imaging (MoBi) combined with phenomenological methods, and the implementation of interactive paradigms in a natural context, are adequate procedures to study empathy from the 5E approach. In doing so, we present the Empirical 5E approach (E5E) as an integrative scientific framework to bridge brain/body and phenomenological attributes in an interbody interactive setting. Progressing toward an E5E approach can be crucial to understanding empathy in accordance with the complexity of how it is experienced in the real world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Troncoso
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago, Chile
| | - Vicente Soto
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago, Chile
| | - Antoni Gomila
- Department of Psychology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - David Martínez-Pernía
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago, Chile
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Martínez-Pernía D, Cea I, Troncoso A, Blanco K, Calderón Vergara J, Baquedano C, Araya-Veliz C, Useros-Olmo A, Huepe D, Carrera V, Mack Silva V, Vergara M. "I am feeling tension in my whole body": An experimental phenomenological study of empathy for pain. Front Psychol 2023; 13:999227. [PMID: 36687843 PMCID: PMC9845790 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.999227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Traditionally, empathy has been studied from two main perspectives: the theory-theory approach and the simulation theory approach. These theories claim that social emotions are fundamentally constituted by mind states in the brain. In contrast, classical phenomenology and recent research based on the enactive theories consider empathy as the basic process of contacting others' emotional experiences through direct bodily perception and sensation. Objective This study aims to enrich the knowledge of the empathic experience of pain using an experimental phenomenological method. Materials and methods Implementing an experimental paradigm used in affective neuroscience, we exposed 28 healthy adults to a video of sportspersons suffering physical accidents while practicing extreme sports. Immediately after watching the video, each participant underwent a phenomenological interview to gather data on embodied, multi-layered dimensions (bodily sensations, emotions, and motivations) and temporal aspects of empathic experience. We also performed quantitative analyses of the phenomenological categories. Results Experiential access to the other person's painful experience involves four main themes. Bodily resonance: participants felt a multiplicity of bodily, affective, and kinesthetic sensations in coordination with the sportsperson's bodily actions. Attentional focus: some participants centered their attention more on their own personal discomfort and sensations of rejection, while others on the pain and suffering experienced by the sportspersons. Kinesthetic motivation: some participants experienced the feeling in their bodies to avoid or escape from watching the video, while others experienced the need to help the sportspersons avoid suffering any injury while practicing extreme sports. The temporality of experience: participants witnessed temporal fluctuations in their experiences, bringing intensity changes in their bodily resonance, attentional focus, and kinesthetic motivation. Finally, two experiential structures were found: one structure is self-centered empathic experience, characterized by bodily resonance, attentional focus centered on the participant's own experience of seeing the sportsperson suffering, and self-protective kinesthetic motivation; the other structure is other-centered empathic experience, characterized by bodily resonance, attentional focus centered on the sportsperson, and prosocial kinesthetic motivation to help them. Discussion We show how phenomenological data may contribute to comprehending empathy for pain in social neuroscience. In addition, we address the phenomenological aspect of the enactive approach to the three dimensions of an embodiment of human consciousness, especially the intersubjective dimension. Also, based on our results, we suggest an extension of the enactive theory of non-interactive social experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Martínez-Pernía
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile,Faculty of Medicine, Geroscience Center for Brain Health and Metabolism (GERO), University of Chile, Santiago, Chile,Faculty of Medicine, Memory and Neuropsychiatric Clinic (CMYN), Neurology Service, Hospital del Salvador, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile,*Correspondence: David Martínez-Pernía,
| | - Ignacio Cea
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile,Philosophy Department, Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Santiago, Chile
| | - Alejandro Troncoso
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Kevin Blanco
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Jorge Calderón Vergara
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Constanza Baquedano
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | | | - Ana Useros-Olmo
- Unidad de Daño Cerebral, Hospital Beata María Ana, Madrid, Spain,Departamento de Fisioterapia and Motion in Brains Research Group, Institute of Neuroscience and Sciences of the Movement (INCIMOV), Centro Superior de Estudios Universitarios La Salle, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - David Huepe
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Valentina Carrera
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Victoria Mack Silva
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Mayte Vergara
- School of Psychology, Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
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