Distinct effects of self-construal priming on empathic neural responses in Chinese and Westerners

Emotional engagement with close friends in adolescence predicts neural correlates of empathy in adulthood

Empathy requires the ability to understand another's point of view and is critical for motivating a person to help others. However, little is known about the link between experiences of empathic emotional engagement in close friendships during adolescence and neural correlates of empathy in adulthood. Beginning in 1998, N = 88 participants drawn from a demographically diverse community sample were observed annually from ages 13 to 21 and rated on the amount of emotional engagement displayed toward a close friend during a support task. At approximately age 24, participants underwent functional brain imaging while a partner or stranger was under distress. Contrary to predictions, greater emotional engagement with close friends during adolescence corresponded prospectively with reduced temporal pole activity (a region associated with cognitive empathy and perspective taking) while observing threats directed at others. Results have implications for understanding the neurodevelopmental roots of empathy.

Culture-sex interaction in self-report empathy: The theory and meta-analyses

Empathy is sharing and understanding others' emotions. Recently, researchers identified larger Western-Asian cultural differences in self-report empathy with females relative to males (i.e., the culture-sex interaction theory). Neglecting this phenomenon, previous researchers focused on identifying the cultural impact on empathy per se and reported divergent results. This meta-analysis aims to reveal the heterogeneity of the earlier publications and decode the heterogeneity as per the culture-sex interaction. The current results suggested the following: First, the cultural impact on empathy increased along with three sex stratification categories (male-only, mixed-sex, and female-only, in that order). Second, the effect size statistically differed between the binary classifications of sex (female-only > male-only). Third, the mixed-sex samples' effect size was positively regressed on the samples' sex ratio (i.e., percentage of females). The current results revealed the heterogeneity of previous publications and highlighted the significance of the culture-sex interaction effect on empathy for future investigations.

The validation of a Mandarin version of the Empathy Components Questionnaire (ECQ-Chinese) in Chinese samples

Empathy involves both empathic ability and empathic motivation. An important topic has been how to measure empathic ability and motivation simultaneously in both clinical and non-clinical samples and across different cultures. The Empathy Components Questionnaire (ECQ) is a self-report questionnaire that measures empathic ability and motivation in a questionnaire. The current study aimed to validate the Mandarin Chinese version of the ECQ (ECQ-Chinese) in three Chinese samples. In study 1, a total of 538 Chinese participants (Sample 1) completed the ECQ-Chinese via an online survey, and existing measures of empathy and related constructs which were used for criterion validity. In study 2, a total of 104 participants (Sample 2) were recruited again from sample 1 and completed the ECQ-Chinese three weeks later to investigate test-retest reliability. In study 3, a further 324 participants (Sample 3) completed the ECQ-Chinese for confirmatory factor analysis. The results showed that the ECQ-Chinese has a good internal consistency reliability, split-half reliability, and criterion validity (Study 1), and a good test-retest reliability (Study 2). Further, Study 3 found that a 22-item ECQ-Chinese consisting of five subscales had a good construct validity, convergence validity and discriminate validity, demonstrating it to be a suitable tool for the measurement of empathic ability and motivation in Chinese samples and to carry out cross-cultural studies of empathy and its components.

Symphony of Well-Being: Harmony Between Neural Variability and Self-Construal

Both neural activities and psychological processes vary over time. Individuals with interdependent self-construal tend to define themselves and adjust their behaviors to social contexts and others. The current research tested the hypothesis that the coordination between interdependent self-construal and neural variability could predict life satisfaction changes in university freshmen. We integrated resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning and self-construal assessment to estimate self-dependent neural variability (SDNV). In the whole-brain prediction, SDNV successfully predicted individuals’ life satisfaction changes over 2 years. Interdependent individuals with higher neural variability and independent individuals with lower neural variability became more satisfied with their lives. In the network-based prediction, the predictive effects were significant in the default mode, frontoparietal control, visual and salience networks. The important nodes that contributed to the predictive models were more related to psychological constructs associated with the social and self-oriented functions. The current research sheds light on the neural and psychological mechanisms of the subjective well-being of individuals from a dynamic perspective.

Culture, Sex, and Group-Bias in Trait and State Empathy

Empathy is sharing and understanding others’ emotions. Recently, researchers identified a culture–sex interaction effect in empathy. This phenomenon has been largely ignored by previous researchers. In this study, the culture–sex interaction effect was explored with a cohort of 129 participants (61 Australian Caucasians and 68 Chinese Hans) using both self-report questionnaires (i.e., Empathy Quotient and Interpersonal Reactivity Index) and computer-based empathy tasks. In line with the previous findings, the culture–sex interaction effect was observed for both trait empathy (i.e., the generalized characteristics of empathy, as examined by the self-report questionnaires) and state empathy (i.e., the on-spot reaction of empathy for a specific stimulus, as evaluated by the computer-based tasks). Moreover, in terms of state empathy, the culture–sex interaction effect further interacted with stimulus traits (i.e., stimulus ethnicity, stimulus sex, or stimulus emotion) and resulted in three- and four-way interactions. Follow-up analyses of these higher-order interactions suggested that the phenomena of ethnic group bias and sex group favor in empathy varied among the four culture–sex participant groups (i.e., Australian female, Australian male, Chinese female, and Chinese male). The current findings highlighted the dynamic nature of empathy (i.e., its sensitivity toward both participant traits and stimulus features). Furthermore, the newly identified interaction effects in empathy deserve more investigation and need to be verified with other Western and Asian populations.

Dispositional Self-Construal Modulates the Empathy for Others' Pain: An ERP Study

Previous studies have shown that temporal self-construal priming can modulate the empathic neural responses to others' pain. However, little is known about the influences of the dispositional self-construal on empathic neural responses to others' pain. The present study aimed to investigate neural correlates that underlie the modulation effect of dispositional self-construal on perception of others' pain. Event-related potentials were recorded for pictures depicting the hands of strangers in painful or no-painful situations while subjects performed a pain judgment task. The regression analysis on behavioral data showed that the level of interdependent self-construal could positively predict behavioral ratings of perceived pain, but not the self-unpleasantness. The ERP results showed painful stimuli elicited decreased N2 amplitudes and larger P3 amplitudes than those by no-painful stimuli. Moreover, the level of interdependent self-construal (interdependence minus independence scores) could predict the amplitude differences on the P3 component (painful minus neutral stimulus conditions), but not the N2 component: the higher the level of the interdependent self-construal, the larger amplitude differences of P3 to painful stimuli (vs. no-painful stimuli). These findings extended previous studies by showing a clear modulation effect of the dispositional self-construal on empathic neural responses to others' pain, and that this modulation effect occurred at the late cognitive evaluation stage indexed by the P3 component.

Converging electrophysiological evidence for a processing advantage of social over nonsocial feedback

We recently demonstrated a processing advantage of social versus nonsocial feedback stimuli in a western sample by assessing phase-locked neural responses. The current study extended our previous findings to another cultural sample (Chinese) to further test whether non-phase-locked neural oscillations also exhibit the social feedback processing advantage. Fifty-three Chinese volunteers performed a time estimation task with social and nonsocial feedback stimuli (matched for complexity) while electroencephalogram was recorded. Almost entirely replicating our previous results, feedback ERPs showed a processing advantage for social compared with nonsocial stimuli. Importantly, non-phase-locked oscillations also revealed this pattern. Frontal midline theta (FMΘ) oscillations differentiated between negative and positive feedback to a larger extent in response to social compared with nonsocial feedback. The current findings imply a rather universal effect of social stimulus characteristics during feedback processing and further corroborate the notion of social content as a distinct stimulus category.

Dispositional Self-Construal Modulates Neural Representation of Self: An ERP Study

This study aimed to investigate the influence of dispositional self-construal on self-related processing. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded for a participant’s own and a famous person’s name in a three-stimulus oddball task. The results showed greater P2 and P3 amplitudes induced by one’s own than by a famous person’s name in both independent and interdependent self-construal groups. However, no N2 amplitude differences were found between the partcipant’s own name and a famous person’s name in either group. Moreover, the strength of the P2 effect (own vs. famous person’s name) was stronger in the independent than in the interdependent self-construal group, whereas the P3 effect was similar between these two groups. Thus, these findings might reflect fast modulation of self-related processing by dispositional self-construal.

The influence of self-construals on the ERP response to the rewards for self and mother

Individual self-construal (independent vs. interdependent) could be temporarily modulated by the priming effect. Our previous studies have found that when Chinese participants gambled for mother and for self, outcome feedback evoked comparable neural responses between two conditions. However, it remains unclear if the response to rewards for mother and for self would differ after independence self-construal priming. In this study, we manipulated participants' self-construal (independent vs. interdependent) before a simple gambling task. The event-related potential (ERP) results reveal that when an interdependent self-construal was primed, the participants exhibited a comparable feedback-related negativity (FRN) elicited by outcome feedback for self and for mother. In contrast, independent self-construal priming resulted in a greater FRN elicited by outcome feedback for self than for mother. Meanwhile, the P3 component was insensitive to self-construal manipulation. These findings indicate the modulation effect of self-construal priming on the response to rewards for others.

Culture-Sex Interaction and the Self-Report Empathy in Australians and Mainland Chinese

Empathy is the ability to understand and share other people's emotions. Researchers have debated whether Westerners and Asians differ in their self-report empathy. This study aimed to replicate a previously reported culture-sex interaction in self-report empathy using Australian and Mainland Chinese participants, to investigate the cultural differences in self-report empathy in each sex group, and to verify the moderated mediating effects of three empathy-related traits (i.e., independent self-construal, interdependent self-construal, and personal distress) on the cultural differences in self-report empathy in both sex groups. In this study, scores on two self-report questionnaires of empathy, namely, the Empathy Quotient (EQ) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), were compared between 196 Australian Caucasian (101 males) and 211 Mainland Chinese (59 males) university students. Results first confirmed the significant culture-sex interaction and illustrated that the cultural differences in empathy scores were significant only for female (i.e., Australian females had higher scores than Mainland Chinese females) but not for male participants. Furthermore, results of moderated mediation analyses indicated that higher self-report empathy in both females and males was related to higher interdependent self-construal (exhibited by Mainland Chinese) and less personal distress (exhibited by Australians), and particularly in females, also related to higher independent self-construal (exhibited by Australian females). The current study is one of few studies that suggest cultural differences in empathy are dependent on the sex of the participant. Moreover, the current findings have added new insights into the explanation of cultural differences in empathy using personal distress and self-construal.

Meta-analysis of ERP investigations of pain empathy underlines methodological issues in ERP research

Empathy has received considerable attention from the field of cognitive and social neuroscience. A significant portion of these studies used the event-related potential (ERP) technique to study the mechanisms of empathy for pain in others in different conditions and clinical populations. These show that specific ERP components measured during the observation of pain in others are modulated by several factors and altered in clinical populations. However, issues present in this literature such as analytical flexibility and lack of type 1 error control raise doubts regarding the validity and reliability of these conclusions. The current study compiled the results and methodological characteristics of 40 studies using ERP to study empathy of pain in others. The results of the meta-analysis suggest that the centro-parietal P3 and late positive potential component are sensitive to the observation of pain in others, while the early N1 and N2 components are not reliably associated with vicarious pain observation. The review of the methodological characteristics shows that the presence of selective reporting, analytical flexibility and lack of type 1 error control compromise the interpretation of these results. The implication of these results for the study of empathy and potential solutions to improve future investigations are discussed.

The influence of self-construal type on outcome evaluation: Evidence from event-related potentials

Recent studies have revealed a close relationship between the self and reward networks. One of our previous studies has found that outcome evaluation (including the processing of reward and punishment) is modulated by self-reflection. A question remaining unclear is how different types of self-construal influence outcome evaluation. Self-construal refers to the way in which people perceive themselves to be linked (or not) with other people. Two subtypes of self-construal have been identified: independent self and interdependent self. In the present study, 27 normal adults read essays that contained independent or interdependent pronouns (i.e., I or we) and then performed a gambling task while brain event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The ERP analysis focused on the feedback-related negativity (FRN) and the P3 component. Outcome feedback evoked a larger FRN in the independent self-priming condition than in the interdependent self-priming condition. In contrast, the P3 amplitude was insensitive to self-construal manipulation. The present findings suggest that different types of transient self-construal manifest differently in outcome evaluation processes, supporting the existence of a close link between the self and reward networks.

Culture moderates the relationship between interdependence and face recognition

Recent theory suggests that face recognition accuracy is affected by people’s motivations, with people being particularly motivated to remember ingroup versus outgroup faces. In the current research we suggest that those higher in interdependence should have a greater motivation to remember ingroup faces, but this should depend on how ingroups are defined. To examine this possibility, we used a joint individual difference and cultural approach to test (a) whether individual differences in interdependence would predict face recognition accuracy, and (b) whether this effect would be moderated by culture. In Study 1 European Canadians higher in interdependence demonstrated greater recognition for same-race (White), but not cross-race (East Asian) faces. In Study 2 we found that culture moderated this effect. Interdependence again predicted greater recognition for same-race (White), but not cross-race (East Asian) faces among European Canadians; however, interdependence predicted worse recognition for both same-race (East Asian) and cross-race (White) faces among first-generation East Asians. The results provide insight into the role of motivation in face perception as well as cultural differences in the conception of ingroups.

Interaction between oxytocin receptor polymorphism and interdependent culture values on human empathy

Recent evidence suggests that the association between oxytocin receptor polymorphism (OXTR rs53576) and emotion-related behavioral/psychological tendencies differs between individuals from East Asian and Western cultures. What remains unresolved is which specific dimension of cultural orientations interacts with OXTR rs53576 to shape these tendencies and whether such gene × culture interactions occurs at both behavioral and neural level. This study investigated whether and how OXTR rs53576 interacts with interdependence-a key dimension of cultural orientations that distinguish between East Asian and Western cultures-to affect human empathy that underlies altruistic motivation and prosocial behavior. Experiment 1 measured interdependence, empathy trait and OXTR rs53576 genotypes of 1536 Chinese participants. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed a stronger association between interdependence and empathy trait in G allele carriers compared with A/A homozygotes of OXTR rs53576. Experiment 2 measured neural responses to others' suffering by scanning A/A and G/G homozygous of OXTR rs53576 using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed stronger associations between interdependence and empathic neural responses in the insula, amygdala and superior temporal gyrus in G/G compared with A/A carriers. Our results provide the first evidence for gene × culture interactions on empathy at both behavioral tendency and underlying brain activity.

Challenging emotional prejudice by changing self-concept: priming independent self-construal reduces racial in-group bias in neural responses to other's pain

Humans show stronger empathy for in-group compared with out-group members' suffering and help in-group members more than out-group members. Moreover, the in-group bias in empathy and parochial altruism tend to be more salient in collectivistic than individualistic cultures. This work tested the hypothesis that modifying self-construals, which differentiate between collectivistic and individualistic cultural orientations, affects in-group bias in empathy for perceived own-race vs other-race pain. By scanning adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found stronger neural activities in the mid-cingulate, left insula and supplementary motor area (SMA) in response to racial in-group compared with out-group members' pain after participants had been primed with interdependent self-construals. However, the racial in-group bias in neural responses to others' pain in the left SMA, mid-cingulate cortex and insula was significantly reduced by priming independent self-construals. Our findings suggest that shifting an individual's self-construal leads to changes of his/her racial in-group bias in neural responses to others' suffering.

Focusing on the negative: cultural differences in expressions of sympathy

Feeling concern about the suffering of others is considered a basic human response, and yet we know surprisingly little about the cultural factors that shape how people respond to the suffering of another person. To this end, we conducted 4 studies that tested the hypothesis that American expressions of sympathy focus on the negative less and positive more than German expressions of sympathy, in part because Americans want to avoid negative states more than Germans do. In Study 1, we demonstrate that American sympathy cards contain less negative and more positive content than German sympathy cards. In Study 2, we show that European Americans want to avoid negative states more than Germans do. In Study 3, we demonstrate that these cultural differences in "avoided negative affect" mediate cultural differences in how comfortable Americans and Germans feel focusing on the negative (vs. positive) when expressing sympathy for the hypothetical death of an acquaintance's father. To examine whether greater avoided negative affect results in lesser focus on the negative and greater focus on the positive when responding to another person's suffering, in Study 4, American and German participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: (a) to "push negative images away" (i.e., increasing desire to avoid negative affect) from or (b) to "pull negative images closer" (i.e., decreasing desire to avoid negative affect) to themselves. Participants were then asked to pick a card to send to an acquaintance whose father had hypothetically just died. Across cultures, participants in the "push negative away" condition were less likely to choose sympathy cards with negative (vs. positive) content than were those in the "pull negative closer" condition. Together, these studies suggest that cultures differ in their desire to avoid negative affect and that these differences influence the degree to which expressions of sympathy focus on the negative (vs. positive). We discuss the implications of these findings for current models of sympathy, compassion, and helping.

Toward a Better Understanding of Self-Construal Theory: An Agency View of the Processes of Self-Construal

This article offers a novel perspective on self-construal theory. Self-construal concerns how individuals understand who they are in relation to the broad set of cultural influences in which they live. We look at the nature and antecedents of self-construal, and characterize it as a self-process, rather than self-knowledge. Integrating work from the literature on social and evolutionary psychology, and philosophy, we suggest that the differences between independent and interdependent self-construal are best understood from a self-agency perspective. This concerns how people assess whether they are the causes of an action and, if so, whether their causal role depends on other people. We introduce and discuss the roles of 3 different modalities of agency involved in self-agency assessment: implicit (sensorimotor), intermediate (self-related affordances), and explicit (reflective) self-agency. We offer a conceptual model on how self-agency relates to power, evolutionary motivations and to social and cultural affordances, in the formation of, and interaction with, different types of dominant independent and interdependent self-construals.

Cultural differences in human brain activity: a quantitative meta-analysis

Psychologists have been trying to understand differences in cognition and behavior between East Asian and Western cultures within a single cognitive framework such as holistic versus analytic or interdependent versus independent processes. However, it remains unclear whether cultural differences in multiple psychological processes correspond to the same or different neural networks. We conducted a quantitative meta-analysis of 35 functional MRI studies to examine cultural differences in brain activity engaged in social and non-social processes. We showed that social cognitive processes are characterized by stronger activity in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, lateral frontal cortex and temporoparietal junction in East Asians but stronger activity in the anterior cingulate, ventral medial prefrontal cortex and bilateral insula in Westerners. Social affective processes are associated with stronger activity in the right dorsal lateral frontal cortex in East Asians but greater activity in the left insula and right temporal pole in Westerners. Non-social processes induce stronger activity in the left inferior parietal cortex, left middle occipital and left superior parietal cortex in East Asians but greater activations in the right lingual gyrus, right inferior parietal cortex and precuneus in Westerners. The results suggest that cultural differences in social and non-social processes are mediated by distinct neural networks. Moreover, East Asian cultures are associated with increased neural activity in the brain regions related to inference of others' mind and emotion regulation whereas Western cultures are associated with enhanced neural activity in the brain areas related to self-relevance encoding and emotional responses during social cognitive/affective processes.