Establishing a Counter-Empathy Processing Model: Evidence from Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Grey-matter correlates of empathy in 4-Repeat Tauopathies

Loss of empathy is an early and central symptom of frontotemporal lobar degeneration spectrum diseases. We aimed to investigate the topographical distribution of morphometric brain changes associated with empathy in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and Corticobasal Syndrome (CBS) patients. Twenty-seven participants with CBS and 31 with PSP were evaluated using Interpersonal Reactivity Index scales in correlation with gray matter atrophy using a voxel-based morphometry approach. Lower levels of empathy were associated with an increased atrophy in fronto-temporal cortical structures. At subcortical level, empathy scores were positively correlated with gray matter volume in the amygdala, hippocampus and the cerebellum. These findings allow to extend the traditional cortico-centric view of cognitive empathy to the cerebellar regions in patients with neurodegenerative disorders and suggest that the cerebellum may play a more prominent role in social cognition than previously appreciated.

Empathy or Counter-Empathy? The Victims' Empathic Response Toward Offenders Depends on Their Relationships and Transgression Severity

Introduction

Empathy facilitates prosocial behaviors, whereas counter-empathy harms others. The question that remains unanswered is: when and for whom do people show different empathic responses? This study aimed to explore the effects of transgression severity and interpersonal relationships on victims' empathy or counter-empathy toward an offender.

Methods

Before and after experiencing a slight or serious transgression, 42 college students were asked to imagine that they had different relationships (ie, intimate, strange, or bad) with a person and then report their empathy or counter-empathy toward that person from cognitive and affective aspects.

Results

The results showed that, in the affective aspect, the participants' empathy for the intimate friend decreased after a slight transgression and even disappeared after a serious transgression. For strangers, empathy transformed into counter-empathy after the transgression, and its intensity increased with the transgression's severity. For a person in a bad relationship, the participants felt counter-empathy before the transgression, and its intensity increased with the transgression's severity. In the cognitive aspect, participants' counter-empathy toward the stranger and the person in a bad relationship increased with transgression severity.

Discussion

These results suggest that interpersonal relationships and transgression severity can change the type and degree of a victim's empathy toward the offender. Our findings not only deepen our understanding of the cognitive aspect of counter-empathy but also provide insights for handling interpersonal conflict.

Development and Validation of the Counter-Empathy Scale

Counter-empathy refers to an emotional response that is valence-opposite from the emotional state of another individual. Screening for counter-empathy characteristics is of great significance for social psychology, clinical psychology, and criminal psychology research. Unfortunately, until now, there has been no specific scale to measure counter-empathy, creating a main bottleneck in counter-empathy research. We developed and validated a new instrument to measure counter-empathy: the Counter-Empathy Scale (CES). We tested the CES in a survey of 1265 Chinese college students. Both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis revealed a clear two-factor structure (feeling annoyed with others' happiness and taking pleasure in others' pain) for the CES. The CES is internally consistent, test-retest stable, and acceptable in terms of criterion-related validity. In conclusion, the CES is a promising instrument to assess counter-empathy.