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Wang Y, Zhou W, Zhu J, Su Y. Schadenfreude or empathy? Children's emotional responses to the physical pain and pleasure of prosocial and antisocial others. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 245:105974. [PMID: 38823357 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Revised: 04/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/03/2024]
Abstract
Adults' emotional reactions to the pain and pleasure of others are influenced by the moral character of those individuals. However, it remains unclear whether children's emotional responses also show such selectivity. To investigate this, we compared 4- to 8-year-old children's emotional responses to the physical pain and pleasure of prosocial versus antisocial puppets. In Study 1, children reported unhappiness after witnessing the pain of the prosocial and antisocial puppets but reported less unhappiness after witnessing the pain of the antisocial puppet. In Study 2, children reported happiness after witnessing the pleasure of both puppets but reported being less happy for the antisocial puppet. These results suggest that children are less likely to empathize with antisocial individuals. Meanwhile, children did not display Schadenfreude (pleasure at others' pain) or Gluckschmerz (displeasure at others' pleasure) toward antisocial individuals in our studies. Moreover, the selectivity of children's emotional responses disappeared after we manipulated the physical competence rather than the moral character of the puppets in Study 3. Our findings help to reveal the moral selectivity of emotional responses to others' pleasure and pain during early childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiyi Wang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Wen Zhou
- Division of Social Sciences, Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan, Jiangsu 215316, China
| | - Jingyun Zhu
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Yanjie Su
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
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2
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Ritchie MB, Compton SAH, Oliver LD, Finger E, Neufeld RWJ, Mitchell DGV. The impact of acute violent videogame exposure on neurocognitive markers of empathic concern. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2024; 19:nsae031. [PMID: 38727544 PMCID: PMC11223611 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsae031] [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] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 07/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Research examining the purported association between violent gaming and aggression remains controversial due to concerns related to methodology, unclear neurocognitive mechanisms, and the failure to adequately consider the role of individual differences in susceptibility. To help address these concerns, we used fMRI and an emotional empathy task to examine whether acute and cumulative violent gaming exposure were associated with abnormalities in emotional empathy as a function of trait-empathy. Emotional empathy was targeted given its involvement in regulating not only aggression, but also other important social functions such as compassion and prosocial behaviour. We hypothesized that violent gaming exposure increases the risk of aberrant social behaviour by altering the aversive value of distress cues. Contrary to expectations, neither behavioural ratings nor empathy-related brain activity varied as a function of violent gaming exposure. Notably, however, activation patterns in somatosensory and motor cortices reflected an interaction between violent gaming exposure and trait empathy. Thus, our results are inconsistent with a straightforward relationship between violent gaming exposure and reduced empathy. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of considering both individual differences in susceptibility and other aspects of cognition related to social functioning to best inform public concern regarding safe gaming practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary B Ritchie
- Graduate Program in Clinical Science and Psychopathology, Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
| | - Shannon A H Compton
- Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
| | - Lindsay D Oliver
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5R0A3, Canada
| | - Elizabeth Finger
- Robarts Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON N6C 2R5, Canada
- Parkwood Institute, St. Joseph’s Health Care, London, ON N6C 0A7, Canada
| | - Richard W J Neufeld
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
| | - Derek G V Mitchell
- Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
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3
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Panagou C, Macbeth A. Trajectories of risk and resilience: The role of empathy and perceived social support in the context of early adversity. CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 2024; 153:106811. [PMID: 38703490 DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Revised: 03/29/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Evidence overwhelmingly suggests that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is a risk factor for poor mental health outcomes. However, the specific mechanisms via which ACEs confer an increased risk of psychopathology are less well understood. OBJECTIVE The study modelled the effect of empathy and perceived social support (PSS) on mental health outcomes in a mixed clinical and non-clinical population, within the context of exposure to ACEs. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING A total of 575 participants (comprising a treatment-receiving and community-based sample), aged 18 to 65 completed self-report measures assessing early adversity, PSS, empathy, and mental health outcomes. METHODS Multiple mediation analyses were used to investigate whether empathy and PSS mediated the relationship between self-reported ACEs and mental health outcomes, and whether affective and cognitive empathy affected differentially the link between emotional neglect and psychological distress. RESULTS Results revealed a statistically significant indirect effect of ACEs on adult mental health through affective empathy and PSS. Emotional neglect was the only type of adversity significantly correlated with both dimensions of empathy. The indirect effect of emotional neglect on mental health outcomes via cognitive and affective empathy was also statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Study results highlight the role of affective empathy and PSS as transdiagnostic mechanisms influencing the pathway between early adversity and adult mental health, and the importance of taking these into account when designing interventions aiming to promote well-being among those who have experienced childhood adversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corinna Panagou
- Clinical Psychologist & Clinical Fellow in Psychological Therapies, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
| | - Angus Macbeth
- Clinical Psychologist & Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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4
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Zainal NH, Newman MG. Examining the Effects of a Brief, Fully Self-Guided Mindfulness Ecological Momentary Intervention on Empathy and Theory-of-Mind for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Ment Health 2024; 11:e54412. [PMID: 38787613 PMCID: PMC11161716 DOI: 10.2196/54412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Revised: 12/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The utility of brief mindfulness ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) to improve empathy and theory-of-mind has been underinvestigated, particularly in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). OBJECTIVE In this randomized controlled trial, we aimed to examine the efficacy of a 14-day, fully self-guided, mindfulness EMI on the empathy and theory-of-mind domains for GAD. METHODS Adults (aged ≥18 y) diagnosed with GAD were randomized to a mindfulness EMI (68/110, 61.8%) or self-monitoring app (42/110, 38.2%) arm. They completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index self-report empathy measure and theory-of-mind test (Bell-Lysaker Emotion Recognition Task) at prerandomization, postintervention, and 1-month follow-up (1MFU) time points. Hierarchical linear modeling was conducted with the intent-to-treat principle to determine prerandomization to postintervention (pre-post intervention) and prerandomization to 1MFU (pre-1MFU) changes, comparing the mindfulness EMI to self-monitoring. RESULTS Observed effects were generally stronger from pre-1MFU than from pre-post intervention time points. From pre-post intervention time points, the mindfulness EMI was more efficacious than the self-monitoring app on fantasy (the ability to imagine being in others' shoes; between-intervention effect size: Cohen d=0.26, P=.007; within-intervention effect size: Cohen d=0.22, P=.02 for the mindfulness EMI and Cohen d=-0.16, P=.10 for the self-monitoring app). From pre-1MFU time points, the mindfulness EMI, but not the self-monitoring app, improved theory-of-mind (a window into others' thoughts and intentions through abstract, propositional knowledge about their mental states, encompassing the ability to decipher social cues) and the fantasy, personal distress (stress when witnessing others' negative experiences), and perspective-taking (understanding others' perspective) empathy domains. The effect sizes were small to moderate (Cohen d=0.15-0.36; P<.001 to P=.01) for significant between-intervention effects from pre-1MFU time points. Furthermore, the within-intervention effect sizes for these significant outcomes were stronger for the mindfulness EMI (Cohen d=0.30-0.43; P<.001 to P=.03) than the self-monitoring app (Cohen d=-0.12 to 0.21; P=.001 to P>.99) from pre-1MFU time points. No between-intervention and within-intervention effects on empathic concern (feeling affection, compassion, and care when observing others in distress, primarily attending to their emotional well-being) were observed from pre-post intervention and pre-1MFU time points. CONCLUSIONS The brief mindfulness EMI improved specific domains of empathy (eg, fantasy, personal distress, and perspective-taking) and theory-of-mind with small to moderate effect sizes in persons with GAD. Higher-intensity, self-guided or coach-facilitated, multicomponent mindfulness EMIs targeting the optimization of social relationships are likely necessary to improve the empathic concern domain in this population. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04846777; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04846777.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nur Hani Zainal
- Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Michelle G Newman
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
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5
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Marx AKG, Frenzel AC, Fiedler D, Reck C. Susceptibility to positive versus negative emotional contagion: First evidence on their distinction using a balanced self-report measure. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0302890. [PMID: 38743712 PMCID: PMC11093349 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Susceptibility to emotional contagion is defined as the disposition of how susceptible someone is to catch others' emotions and it has long been studied in research on mental health, well-being, and social interaction. Given that existing self-report measures of susceptibility to emotional contagion have focused almost exclusively on negative emotions, we developed a self-report measure to assess the susceptibility to emotional contagion of both positive and negative emotions (2 scales). In two studies, we examined their factor structure, validity, and reliability using exploratory factor analysis (Study 1, N = 257), confirmatory factor analysis (Study 2, N = 247) and correlations. Our results confirmed the two-factor structure and demonstrated good internal consistencies. Regarding external validity, our scales showed diverging correlational patterns: While susceptibility to negative emotional contagion was linked to mental health problems and negative emotions, susceptibility to positive emotional contagion was linked to interpersonal functioning and prosocial tendencies. In conclusion, our scales appear to be internally/externally valid and a promising tool for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton K. G. Marx
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Anne C. Frenzel
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Daniel Fiedler
- Department of Music Education, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
| | - Corinna Reck
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich, Munich, Germany
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6
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Schreier HMC, Feinberg ME, Jones DE, Ganguli A, Givens C, Graham-Engeland J. Children's empathy moderates the association between perceived interparental conflict and child health. Brain Behav Immun 2024; 118:128-135. [PMID: 38408496 PMCID: PMC11008563 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.02.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Interparental conflict is known to negatively impact child well-being, including behavioral and physiological well-being. Children's empathy - that is, vicariously experiencing others' emotions - may increase children's sensitivity to and the biological repercussions of interparental conflict. Although empathy represents a valued trait and is an important part of socioemotional development, its influence on children's physical health is unknown. This study examined whether empathy moderates the association between perceived interparental conflict and both child systemic inflammation and parent-rated overall child health in a sample of children between the ages of seven to nine. Children and their parents participating in the long-term evaluation of the Family Foundations program, a randomized trial of a perinatal preventative intervention, provided data approximately eight years following enrollment into the program. We collected peripheral blood samples via dried blood spots, anthropometric measurements, and child and parent psychosocial questionnaires. Results indicated significant positive main effects of child empathy on both C-reactive protein (CRP; B = 0.26, SE = 0.11, p =.026) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6; B = 0.20, SE = 0.10, p =.045) levels. Further, child affective empathy moderated the associations between perceived interparental conflict and both CRP (B = 0.39, SE = 0.19, p =.050) and parent-reported child health (B = 0.30, SE = 0.13, p =.021), such that greater empathy strengthened the negative associations between interparental conflict and child health. Overall, findings suggests that there may be a biological cost of being more empathic in high-conflict environments and highlight the need for tools to help more empathic children appropriately manage vicarious emotions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah M C Schreier
- Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, United States; Social Science Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, United States.
| | - Mark E Feinberg
- Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University, United States
| | - Damon E Jones
- Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University, United States
| | - Aishwarya Ganguli
- Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, United States
| | - Caitlin Givens
- Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, United States
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7
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Mello M, Fusaro M, Aglioti SM. The neuroscience of human empathy for pleasure: protocol for a scoping review. Syst Rev 2024; 13:82. [PMID: 38431698 PMCID: PMC10908019 DOI: 10.1186/s13643-024-02481-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The neuroscience of human empathy for pleasure and positive affect is an emergent, scarcely addressed topic. The main aim of this scoping review is to map the impact of this new research domain on the field of social and affective neuroscience. INTRODUCTION Most of the literature on empathy and affect sharing has hitherto focused on negative emotions, with a special focus on pain. However, understanding, sharing, and reacting to others' pleasures is an evolutionarily and socially important function. Our scoping review addresses this gap in the literature and tries to unify the available information under the empathy for pleasure umbrella. INCLUSION CRITERIA This scoping review is intended to cover studies on empathy for positive emotions, pleasant sensory outcomes, and other rewards in healthy individuals and neurological/neuropsychiatric/neurodevelopmental disorders populations. METHODS We will perform a systematic search in the Medline (PubMed), Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS) databases. Two authors will independently screen all titles, abstracts, and then full-text articles that meet the inclusion criteria. The year range of interest will be 2000-2022, and only journal articles published in English will be assessed. Data will be extracted and presented in tables and/or graphical representations to synthesize and describe the results. The extracted data will be reported in a comprehensive summary. RESULTS The final manuscript is intended for submission to an indexed journal in late 2023/beginning 2024. CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, the present scoping review will be the first to address the variety and heterogeneity of available evidence on human empathy for pleasure. We ultimately aim at perusing the growing literature on this far-reaching field of study and informing future research. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION The neuroscience of human empathy for pleasure: Protocol for a scoping review. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/W7H6J . (December 27, 2022).
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Mello
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy.
| | - Martina Fusaro
- Social Neuroscience Lab, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia (IIT), Rome, Italy
- Social Neuroscience Lab, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
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8
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Boukarras S, Ferri D, Borgogni L, Aglioti SM. Neurophysiological markers of asymmetric emotional contagion: implications for organizational contexts. Front Integr Neurosci 2024; 18:1321130. [PMID: 38357225 PMCID: PMC10861795 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2024.1321130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Emotions play a vital role within organizations, impacting various crucial aspects of work such as job satisfaction, performance, and employee well-being. Understanding how emotional states spread in organizational settings is therefore essential. Recent studies have highlighted that a leader's emotional state can influence their followers, with significant consequences on job performance. Leaders thus possess the ability to influence their employees' psychological state and, consequently, their well-being. However, the biological underpinnings of emotional contagion from leaders to followers remain unexplored. The field of interpersonal (neuro)physiology, which involves recording brain and peripheral activity of multiple individuals during interactions, holds great potential for investigating this phenomenon. Analyzing the time-lagged synchronization of neurophysiological activity during interactions may serve as a measure of the leader's influence on their followers in organizational contexts. In this "mini review," we examine empirical studies that have employed interpersonal (neuro)physiology to quantify the asymmetrical contagion of emotions in different contexts. Asymmetrical contagion was operationalized as the unidirectional influence exerted by one individual (i.e., the "sender") to another one (i.e., the "receiver"), whereby the receiver's state can be predicted by the sender's one. The reviewed literature reveals that delayed synchronization of physiological states is a widespread phenomenon that may underpin the transmission of emotions. These findings have significant implications for various aspects of organizational life, including leader-to-employee communication, and could drive the development of effective leadership training programs. We propose that Organizational Neuroscience may benefit from including interpersonal neurophysiology in its methodological toolkit for laboratory and field studies of leader-follower dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Boukarras
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Donato Ferri
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Ernst and Young (EY), Rome, Italy
| | - Laura Borgogni
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Salvatore Maria Aglioti
- Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
- Sapienza University of Rome and CLN2S@Sapienza, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
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Vieten C, Rubanovich CK, Khatib L, Sprengel M, Tanega C, Polizzi C, Vahidi P, Malaktaris A, Chu G, Lang AJ, Tai-Seale M, Eyler L, Bloss C. Measures of empathy and compassion: A scoping review. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0297099. [PMID: 38241358 PMCID: PMC10798632 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Evidence to date indicates that compassion and empathy are health-enhancing qualities. Research points to interventions and practices involving compassion and empathy being beneficial, as well as being salient outcomes of contemplative practices such as mindfulness. Advancing the science of compassion and empathy requires that we select measures best suited to evaluating effectiveness of training and answering research questions. The objective of this scoping review was to 1) determine what instruments are currently available for measuring empathy and compassion, 2) assess how and to what extent they have been validated, and 3) provide an online tool to assist researchers and program evaluators in selecting appropriate measures for their settings and populations. A scoping review and broad evidence map were employed to systematically search and present an overview of the large and diverse body of literature pertaining to measuring compassion and empathy. A search string yielded 19,446 articles, and screening resulted in 559 measure development or validation articles reporting on 503 measures focusing on or containing subscales designed to measure empathy and/or compassion. For each measure, we identified the type of measure, construct being measured, in what context or population it was validated, response set, sample items, and how many different types of psychometrics had been assessed for that measure. We provide tables summarizing these data, as well as an open-source online interactive data visualization allowing viewers to search for measures of empathy and compassion, review their basic qualities, and access original citations containing more detail. Finally, we provide a rubric to help readers determine which measure(s) might best fit their context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cassandra Vieten
- Centers for Integrative Health, Department of Family Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- Clarke Center for Human Imagination, School of Physical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Caryn Kseniya Rubanovich
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- T. Denny Sanford Center for Empathy and Technology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Lora Khatib
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Meredith Sprengel
- Human Factors, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Soesterberg, The Netherlands
| | - Chloé Tanega
- Clarke Center for Human Imagination, School of Physical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Craig Polizzi
- U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Pantea Vahidi
- Compassion Clinic, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Anne Malaktaris
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- VA San Diego Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Gage Chu
- VA San Diego Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Ariel J. Lang
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- VA San Diego Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, San Diego, California, United States of America
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Ming Tai-Seale
- Departments of Family Medicine and Medicine (Bioinformatics), School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Lisa Eyler
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- T. Denny Sanford Center for Empathy and Compassion Training in Medical Education, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Cinnamon Bloss
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- T. Denny Sanford Center for Empathy and Technology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- T. Denny Sanford Center for Empathy and Compassion Training in Medical Education, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
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10
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Wang J, Yang J, Yang Z, Gao W, Zhang H, Ji K, Klugah-Brown B, Yuan J, Biswal BB. Boosting interpersonal emotion regulation through facial imitation: functional neuroimaging foundations. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad402. [PMID: 37943770 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad402] [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] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Revised: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Empathic function, which is primarily manifested by facial imitation, is believed to play a pivotal role in interpersonal emotion regulation for mood reinstatement. To explore this association and its neural substrates, we performed a questionnaire survey (study l) to identify the relationship between empathy and interpersonal emotion regulation; and a task-mode fMRI study (study 2) to explore how facial imitation, as a fundamental component of empathic processes, promotes the interpersonal emotion regulation effect. Study 1 showed that affective empathy was positively correlated with interpersonal emotion regulation. Study 2 showed smaller negative emotions in facial imitation interpersonal emotion regulation (subjects imitated experimenter's smile while followed the interpersonal emotion regulation guidance) than in normal interpersonal emotion regulation (subjects followed the interpersonal emotion regulation guidance) and Watch conditions. Mirror neural system (e.g. inferior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobe) and empathy network exhibited greater activations in facial imitation interpersonal emotion regulation compared with normal interpersonal emotion regulation condition. Moreover, facial imitation interpersonal emotion regulation compared with normal interpersonal emotion regulation exhibited increased functional coupling from mirror neural system to empathic and affective networks during interpersonal emotion regulation. Furthermore, the connectivity of the right orbital inferior frontal gyrus-rolandic operculum lobe mediated the association between the accuracy of facial imitation and the interpersonal emotion regulation effect. These results show that the interpersonal emotion regulation effect can be enhanced by the target's facial imitation through increased functional coupling from mirror neural system to empathic and affective neural networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiazheng Wang
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Jiemin Yang
- Sichuan Key Laboratory of Psychology and Behavior of Discipline Inspection and Supervision, Institute of Brain and Psychological Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China
| | - Zhenzhen Yang
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Wei Gao
- Sichuan Key Laboratory of Psychology and Behavior of Discipline Inspection and Supervision, Institute of Brain and Psychological Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China
| | - HeMing Zhang
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Katherine Ji
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, United States
| | - Benjamin Klugah-Brown
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - JiaJin Yuan
- Sichuan Key Laboratory of Psychology and Behavior of Discipline Inspection and Supervision, Institute of Brain and Psychological Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China
| | - Bharat B Biswal
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610041, China
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, United States
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11
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Lohaus T, Reckelkamm S, Thoma P. Treating social cognition impairment with the online therapy 'SoCoBo': A randomized controlled trial including traumatic brain injury patients. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0294767. [PMID: 38198450 PMCID: PMC10781160 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Acquired brain injuries (ABIs), such as traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), often entail impairments of general cognition (e.g., memory, attention or executive functions) and social cognition (e.g. emotion recognition, theory of mind [ToM], social problem-solving). The availability of fully computerized interventions targeting sociocognitive deficits specifically in neurologically impaired patients is extremely limited. Therefore, the Treatment Program for Deficits in Social Cognition and Social Competencies of the Ruhr University Bochum (SoCoBo), a fully computerized online therapy designed for ABI patients was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial involving TBI patients. METHOD Sixty-four patients with TBI were randomly assigned to two groups with 43 patients fully completing either SoCoBo (N = 27) or a commercially available computerized program for cognitive rehabilitation (RehaCom®, N = 16). All participants underwent comprehensive pre-post online neuropsychological assessment and worked with their respective rehabilitation programs for four days a week during a scheduled period of 12 weeks. RESULTS After treatment, the SoCoBo group, but not the RehaCom® group showed significant improvements in facial emotion recognition and self-rated empathy. Moreover, in the SoCoBo group, an increase in empathy was also associated with increased life satisfaction after treatment. There were no improvements in ToM and social problem-solving. Furthermore, general cognition did not improve in any of the groups. CONCLUSIONS SoCoBo represents an effective new online therapy for the amelioration of deficits in key domains of social cognition. Its implementation in clinical practice will serve as a meaningful addition to the existing fully computerized approaches specifically in neurological patient groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Lohaus
- Neuropsychological Therapy Centre (NTC), Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
| | - Sally Reckelkamm
- Neuropsychological Therapy Centre (NTC), Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
| | - Patrizia Thoma
- Neuropsychological Therapy Centre (NTC), Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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12
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Zhu D, Tian X, Li R. Mark his motives: A motivational attribution perspective on observer responses to peer helping behaviors. Work 2024; 77:601-614. [PMID: 37718830 DOI: 10.3233/wor-220647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mutual help among members is critical to the accomplishment of complex tasks in an organization. Helping behaviors are infectious, and employees learn to imitate their coworkers' helping behaviors through observation. However, whether coworker helping triggers imitation learning depends on observers' motivational attributions for coworker helping behaviors to some extent. OBJECTIVE Based on attribution theory and approach-avoidance framework, this research explored the approach and avoidance-oriented emotional and behavioral consequences of observers' prosocial and impression management motivational attributions of coworker helping behavior. METHODS An experimental study with 178 participants and a field study with 259 employees was conducted. RESULTS The results revealed that observers attribute coworkers' helpfulness to prosocial motivation, which elicited observers' approach-oriented emotions (i.e., positive empathy) and behaviors (i.e., helping behavior) and reduced coworker exclusion, while impression-management motivation elicited observers' avoidance-oriented emotions (i.e., disgust) and behaviors (i.e., coworker exclusion) and reduced helping behavior. CONCLUSION The results suggest that prosocial motivational attributions and impression management motivational attributions are key factors in determining whether observers have approach- or avoidance-oriented emotions and behaviors toward coworker helping. Accordingly, individual employees and managers should focus on employees' motivation to help others in order to promote mutual support and harmony in the workplace.
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Affiliation(s)
- Di Zhu
- School of Business, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
- School of Business, Quzhou University, Quzhou, China
| | - Xiaoming Tian
- School of Education, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, China
| | - Rui Li
- School of Management, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China
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13
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Smith-Flores AS, Herrera-Guevara IA, Powell LJ. Infants expect friends, but not rivals, to be happy for each other when they succeed. Dev Sci 2024; 27:e13423. [PMID: 37312424 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
A friend telling you good news earns them a smile while witnessing a rival win an award may make you wrinkle your nose. Emotions arise not just from people's own circumstances, but also from the experiences of friends and rivals. Across three moderated, online looking time studies, we asked if human infants hold expectations about others' vicarious emotions and if they expect those emotions to be guided by social relationships. Ten- and 11-month-old infants (N = 154) expected an observer to be happy rather than sad when the observer watched a friend successfully jump over a wall; infants looked longer at the sad response compared to the happy response. In contrast, infants did not expect the observer to be happy when the friend failed, nor when a different, rival jumper succeeded; infants' looking times to the two emotion responses in these conditions were not reliably different. These results suggest that infants are able to integrate knowledge across social contexts to guide expectations about vicarious emotional responses. Here infants connected an understanding of agents' goals and their outcomes with knowledge of social relationships to infer an emotion response. Biased concern for friends but not adversaries is not just a descriptive feature of human relationships, but an expectation about the social world present from early in development. Further, the successful integration of these information types welcomes the possibility that infants can jointly reason about goals, emotions, and social relationships under an intuitive theory of psychology. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: 11-month-old infants use knowledge of relationships to make inferences about others' vicarious emotions. In Experiment 1 infants expected an observer to respond happily to a friend's success but not their failure. Experiments 2 and 3 varied the relationship between the observer and actor and found that infants' expectation of vicarious happiness is strongest for positive relationships and absent for negative relationships. The results may reflect an intuitive psychology in which infants expect friends to adopt concern for one another's goals and to thus experience one another's successes as rewarding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis S Smith-Flores
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Isabel A Herrera-Guevara
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Lindsey J Powell
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, California, USA
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14
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Larionow P, Preece DA. The Perth Empathy Scale: Psychometric Properties of the Polish Version and Its Mental Health Correlates. Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ 2023; 13:2615-2629. [PMID: 37998072 PMCID: PMC10670358 DOI: 10.3390/ejihpe13110182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The Perth Empathy Scale (PES) is a 20-item self-report questionnaire that assesses people's ability to recognize emotions in others (i.e., cognitive empathy) and vicariously experience other's emotions (i.e., affective empathy), across positive and negative emotions. Originally developed in English, the aim of our study was to introduce the first Polish version of the PES and test its psychometric performance. Our sample was 318 people (184 females, 134 males) with ages ranging from 18 to 77. The factor structure was verified with confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was tested in terms of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. To explore convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity, we examined relationships between the PES and measures of depression, anxiety, and emotional intelligence. It was shown that the scale was characterized by the intended four-factor solution, thus supporting factorial validity. The internal consistency reliability was also good and test-retest reliability was moderate. The convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity were strong. The clinical importance of assessing affective empathy across both positive and negative emotions was supported. Overall, our results therefore suggest that the Polish version of the PES has strong psychometric performance and clinical relevance as a measure of the multidimensional empathy construct.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paweł Larionow
- Faculty of Psychology, Kazimierz Wielki University, 85-064 Bydgoszcz, Poland
| | - David A. Preece
- Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia;
- School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
- Brain and Behaviour Division, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
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15
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Smith-Flores AS, Bonamy GJ, Powell LJ. Children's Reasoning About Empathy and Social Relationships. Open Mind (Camb) 2023; 7:837-854. [PMID: 37946849 PMCID: PMC10631796 DOI: 10.1162/opmi_a_00109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Across the lifespan, empathic and counter-empathic emotions are shaped by social relationships. Here we test the hypothesis that this connection is encoded in children's intuitive theory of psychology, allowing them to predict when others will feel empathy versus counter-empathy and to use vicarious emotion information to infer relationships. We asked 4- to 7-year-old children (N = 79) to make emotion predictions or relationship inferences in response to stories featuring two characters, an experiencer and an observer, and either a positive or negative outcome for the experiencer. In the context of positive outcomes, we found that children engaged in robust joint reasoning about relationships and vicarious emotions. When given information about the characters' relationship, children predicted empathy from a friendly observer and counter-empathy from a rival observer. When given information about the observer's response to the experiencer, children inferred positive and negative relationships from empathic and counter-empathic responses, respectively. In the context of negative outcomes, children predicted that both friendly and rival observers would feel empathy toward the experiencer, but they still used information about empathic versus counter-empathic responses to infer relationship status. Our results suggest that young children in the US have a blanket expectation of empathic concern in response to negative outcomes, but otherwise expect and infer that vicarious emotions are connected to social relationships. Future research should investigate if children use this understanding to select social partners, evaluate their own relationships, or decide when to express empathy toward others.
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16
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Banwinkler M, Rütgen M, Lamm C, Hartmann H. A pill as a quick solution: association between painkiller intake, empathy, and prosocial behavior. Sci Rep 2023; 13:18320. [PMID: 37884594 PMCID: PMC10603176 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-45267-0] [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] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous research has demonstrated a link between the administration of analgesic drugs and the reduction of empathy levels in humans. This apparent blunting effect of pain medication has been explained through shared neural mechanisms for the first-hand and the empathic experience of pain (simulation theory). Considering that analgesics are among the most consumed drugs in the world and the ability to empathize with others is fundamental to human social interactions, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether the typical day-to-day analgesic consumption rate in Austria and Germany is associated with a reduction in empathy and prosocial behavior. We therefore collected self-reports of analgesic consumption behavior as well as empathy for pain and prosocial behavior measures in an online survey (n = 940). Analyses revealed no significant association between the analgesic intake frequency and measures of empathy or prosocial behavior. However, liberal intake of analgesics (i.e. mind-set of "a pill is a quick solution") was linked to lower empathic concern and helping behavior, which may hint towards a negative effect in people who take pain medication for non-pain related issues or episodes of low pain. Nevertheless, further research is needed to investigate the effects of analgesic drugs in high frequency users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena Banwinkler
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne Germany, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Markus Rütgen
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Claus Lamm
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Helena Hartmann
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Clinical Neurosciences, Department for Neurology and Center for Translational and Behavioral Neuroscience, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
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17
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Wang Y, Harris PL, Pei M, Su Y. Do Bad People Deserve Empathy? Selective Empathy Based on Targets' Moral Characteristics. AFFECTIVE SCIENCE 2023; 4:413-428. [PMID: 37304566 PMCID: PMC10247634 DOI: 10.1007/s42761-022-00165-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The relation between empathy and morality is a widely discussed topic. However, previous discussions mainly focused on whether and how empathy influences moral cognition and moral behaviors, with limited attention to the reverse influence of morality on empathy. This review summarized how morality influences empathy by drawing together a number of hitherto scattered studies illustrating the influence of targets' moral characteristics on empathy. To explain why empathy is morally selective, we discuss its ultimate cause, to increase survival rates, and five proximate causes based on similarity, affective bonds, the appraisal of deservingness, dehumanization, and potential group membership. To explain how empathy becomes morally selective, we consider three different pathways (automatic, regulative, and mixed) based on previous findings. Finally, we discuss future directions, including the reverse influence of selective empathy on moral cognition, the moral selectivity of positive empathy, and the role of selective empathy in selective helping and third-party punishment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiyi Wang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, 100871 Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Paul L. Harris
- Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA USA
| | - Meng Pei
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, 100871 Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yanjie Su
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, 100871 Beijing, People’s Republic of China
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18
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Deist M, Fourie MM. (Not) part of the team: Racial empathy bias in a South African minimal group study. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0283902. [PMID: 37023090 PMCID: PMC10079011 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Minimal Group Paradigm (MGP) research suggests that recategorization with an arbitrarily defined group may be sufficient to override empathy biases among salient social categories like race. However, most studies utilizing MGPs do not consider sufficiently the socio-historical contexts of social groups. Here we investigated whether the recategorization of White participants into arbitrarily defined mixed-race teams using a non-competitive MGP would ameliorate racial empathy biases towards ingroup team members in the South African context. Sixty participants rated their empathic and counter-empathic (Schadenfreude, Glückschmerz) responses to ingroup and outgroup team members in physically painful, emotionally distressing, and positive situations. As anticipated, results indicated significant ingroup team biases in empathic and counter-empathic responses. However, mixed-race minimal teams were unable to override ingroup racial empathy biases, which persisted across events. Interestingly, a manipulation highlighting purported political ideological differences between White and Black African team members did not exacerbate racial empathy bias, suggesting that such perceptions were already salient. Across conditions, an internal motivation to respond without prejudice was most strongly associated with empathy for Black African target individuals, regardless of their team status. Together, these results suggest that racial identity continues to provide a salient motivational guide in addition to more arbitrary group memberships, even at an explicit level, for empathic responding in contexts characterized by historical power asymmetry. These data further problematize the continued official use of race-based categories in such contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Deist
- Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Melike M Fourie
- Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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19
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Luis EO, Martínez M, Akrivou K, Scalzo G, Aoiz M, Orón Semper JV. The role of empathy in shared intentionality: Contributions from Inter-Processual Self theory. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1079950. [PMID: 36968699 PMCID: PMC10036387 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1079950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Research in psychology related to the conceptualization of empathy has been on the rise in the last decades. However, we argue that there is still space for further research to help capture the important notion of empathy and its theoretical and conceptual depth. Following a critical review of the current state of the research that conceptualizes and measures empathy, we focus on works that highlight the importance of a shared vision and its relevance in psychology and neuroscience. Considering the state of the art of current neuroscientific and psychological approaches to empathy, we argue for the relevance of shared intention and shared vision in empathy-related actions. Upon review of different models that emphasize a shared vision for informing research on empathy, we suggest that a newly developed theory of self, human growth and action–the so-called Inter-Processual Self theory (IPS)–can significantly and novelly inform the theorization on empathy beyond what the literature has stated to date. Then, we show how an understanding of integrity as a relational act that requires empathy is an essential mechanism for current key research on empathy and its related concepts and models. Ultimately, we aim to present IPS as a distinctive proposal to expand upon the conceptualization of empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elkin O. Luis
- Psychological Processes in Education and Health Group, School of Education and Psychology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
- Methods and Research in Affective and Cognitive Psychology, School of Education and Psychology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Martín Martínez
- Methods and Research in Affective and Cognitive Psychology, School of Education and Psychology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Kleio Akrivou
- Henley Business School, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Kleio Akrivou,
| | - Germán Scalzo
- School of Business, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Martín Aoiz
- Institute of Modern Languages, School of Education and Psychology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
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20
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Fast AA, Ravi S, Olson KR. When it is better to give than to receive: Children's giving and happiness. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2023. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/11/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Anne A. Fast
- Department of Psychology University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
- Department of Psychology Western Washington University Bellingham Washington USA
| | - Sanjana Ravi
- Department of Psychology University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
- Department of Psychology & Human Development Vanderbilt University Nashville Tennessee USA
| | - Kristina R. Olson
- Department of Psychology University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
- Department of Psychology Princeton University Princeton New Jersey USA
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21
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Arioli M, Basso G, Baud-Bovy G, Mattioni L, Poggi P, Canessa N. Neural bases of loss aversion when choosing for oneself versus known or unknown others. Cereb Cortex 2023:7030624. [PMID: 36748997 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2022] [Revised: 01/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the ubiquitous interdependence between one's own decisions and others' welfare, and the controversial evidence on the behavioral effect of choosing for others, the neural bases of making decisions for another versus oneself remain unexplored. We investigated whether loss aversion (LA; the tendency to avoid losses over approaching equivalent gains) is modulated by (i) choosing for oneself, other individuals, or both; (ii) knowing or not knowing the other recipients; or (iii) an interaction between these factors. We used fMRI to assess the brain activations associated with choosing whether to accept or reject mixed gambles, either for oneself, for another player, or both, in 2 groups of 28 participants who had or had not briefly interacted with the other players before scanning. Participants displayed higher LA for choices involving their payoff compared with those affecting only the payoff of other, known, players. This "social" modulation of decision-making was found to engage the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and its inhibitory connectivity to the middle cingulate cortex. This pattern might underpin decision-making for known others via self-other distinction processes associated with dorsomedial prefrontal areas, with this in turn promoting the inhibition of socially oriented responses through the downregulation of the midcingulate node of the empathy network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Arioli
- Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Piazzale Sant'Agostino 2, Bergamo 24129, Italy
| | - Gianpaolo Basso
- School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Cadore 48, Monza (MB) 20900, Italy
| | - Gabriel Baud-Bovy
- Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences Unit, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, Genova 16163, Italy.,Faculty of Psychology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Via Olgettina 58, Milan 20132, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Mattioni
- Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS, IUSS Cognitive Neuroscience (ICoN) Center, Piazza della Vittoria 15, Pavia 27100, Italy.,Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory of Pavia Institute, Via Maugeri 10, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | - Paolo Poggi
- Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Radiology Unit of Pavia Institute, Via Maugeri 10, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | - Nicola Canessa
- Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS, IUSS Cognitive Neuroscience (ICoN) Center, Piazza della Vittoria 15, Pavia 27100, Italy.,Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory of Pavia Institute, Via Maugeri 10, Pavia 27100, Italy
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22
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Adaptación y validación de la Escala Disposicional de Empatía Positiva a población adolescente argentina. ACTA COLOMBIANA DE PSICOLOGIA 2022. [DOI: 10.14718/acp.2023.26.1.3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
La empatía positiva implica una expresión de felicidad o alegría, la cual es resultado de comprender la condición emocionalpositiva de otra persona y compartirla. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar las propiedades psicométricas de laadaptación de la Escala Disposicional de Empatía Positiva (Dispositional Positive Empathy Scale) en población adolescenteargentina. El instrumento sobre el cual se realizó la adaptación está compuesto por siete ítems, originalmente en idiomainglés. La muestra (n = 303) estuvo conformada por 95 varones (31%) y 208 mujeres (69%), con edades entre 11 y 17 años,estudiantes de secundaria. Se estudió la validez de constructo realizando un análisis factorial confirmatorio y la invariancia de la escala en relación con el sexo y edad de los participantes. Se comprobó la validez convergente con la conducta prosocial hacia diversos objetivos, las diferencias de los niveles de empatía positiva entre los sexos y en distintos grupos de edad y los niveles de fiabilidad (Ω = .78). Los resultados indican que la escala es unidimensional, coincidiendo con la versión original. Se encontró un buen ajuste del modelo a los datos (cfi = .98; tli = .96; nnfi = .96; nfi = .95; rmsea = .05). El modelo permaneció constante en ambos sexos y grupos de edades. La empatía positiva se relacionó con la prosocialidad y se encontraron diferencias según sexo y edades. Los hallazgos dan cuenta de que las características psicométricas de la adaptación de la Escala Disposicional de Empatía Positiva a población adolescente argentina son satisfactorias.
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23
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Dou J, Liu C, Xiong R, Zhou H, Lu G, Jia L. Empathy and Post-Traumatic Growth among Chinese Community Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Roles of Self-Disclosure and Social Support. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:15739. [PMID: 36497813 PMCID: PMC9739831 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192315739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Given the prolonged nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and its long-term psychological impacts, this study aimed to explore how empathy leads to post-traumatic growth (PTG) among Chinese community workers. Guided by the revised PTG model, this study identified the relation between empathy and PTG using a multiple mediation model that included self-disclosure and social support as hypothesized mediators. This study utilized data from 414 Chinese adults aged 20 years or older who completed an online survey during the pandemic. Self-disclosure and social support were measured as mediating variables. The study variables were positively correlated with PTG. Empathy was positively correlated with self-disclosure and social support. After controlling for demographic covariates, the results indicated that self-disclosure and social support mediated the link between empathy and PTG in both parallel and sequential fashion. Empathy, self-disclosure, and social support played important roles in the growth of Chinese community workers. The present findings have been useful in increasing our understanding, policy programs, and interventions by governments or regional bodies to ameliorate community workers' PTG.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinhua Dou
- School of Public Health, Weifang Medical University, Weifang 261053, China
| | - Chang Liu
- School of Psychology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang 261053, China
| | - Ruoyu Xiong
- School of Psychology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang 261053, China
| | - Hongguang Zhou
- Second Department of Children and Adolescents’ Psychological Behavior, Shandong Mental Health Center, Jinan 250014, China
| | - Guohua Lu
- School of Psychology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang 261053, China
| | - Liping Jia
- School of Psychology, Weifang Medical University, Weifang 261053, China
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Samavi A, Hajializadeh K, Javdan M, Farshad MR. Psychometric validation of teacher empathy scale: Measurement invariance in gender. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1042993. [PMID: 36507024 PMCID: PMC9733426 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1042993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Result from Wang et al. study described the development and validation of an empathy scale for teachers (EST) and suggested that the EST could be an effective tool to assess the empathy of primary, middle and high school teachers in relation to their students. This study examines the factorial structure and factorial invariance of the EST in an Iranian sample. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to explore dimensionality and test for measurement invariance in factor structure, factor loadings and intercepts across gender in a sample (N = 462), of Iranian high-school male and female teachers (24-55 years). The data supported the multidimensional structure in both male and female samples. Accordingly, all factor loadings were significant and scale structure confirmed like the original scale. The results indicated that the EST includes three dimensions: cognitive empathy, negative affective empathy and positive affective empathy, and the internal consistency reliability of the three subscales are satisfactory in total sample and both sexes. Furthermore, the results revealed that invariance of the measure according to gender was confirmed. In addition, as the validity evidence, the EST is positively correlated with empathic concern scale scores. The study suggests that the EST could be an effective tool to measure the empathy of high school teachers in relation to their students in Iranian sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdolvahab Samavi
- Department of Educational Sciences, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran,*Correspondence: Abdolvahab Samavi,
| | - Kobra Hajializadeh
- Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Bandar Abbas, Iran
| | - Moosa Javdan
- Department of Counseling, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran
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25
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Isham A, Elf P, Jackson T. Self-transcendent experiences as promoters of ecological wellbeing? Exploration of the evidence and hypotheses to be tested. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1051478. [PMID: 36452396 PMCID: PMC9701724 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1051478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
In recent years, much has been written on the role of different mental states and their potential to influence our way of thinking and, perhaps more importantly, the way we act. With the recent acceleration of environmental and mental health issues, alongside the limited effectiveness of existing interventions, an exploration of new approaches to deliver transformative change is required. We therefore explore the emerging potential of a type of mental state known as self-transcendent experiences (STEs) as a driver of ecological wellbeing. We focus on four types of STEs: those facilitated by experiences of flow, awe, and mindfulness, as well as by psychedelic-induced experiences. Some of these experiences can occur naturally, through sometimes unexpected encounters with nature or during immersion in every-day activities that one intrinsically enjoys, as well as through more intentional practices such as meditation or the administration of psychedelics in controlled, legal settings. We explore the evidence base linking each of the four types of STE to ecological wellbeing before proposing potential hypotheses to be tested to understand why STEs can have such beneficial effects. We end by looking at the factors that might need to be considered if STEs are going to be practically implemented as a means of achieving ecological wellbeing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy Isham
- Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), Centre for Environment and Sustainability, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
- School of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
| | - Patrick Elf
- Middlesex University Business School, Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research (CEEDR), Middlesex University, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tim Jackson
- Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), Centre for Environment and Sustainability, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
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26
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Linking objective and subjective social status to altruistic sharing in China: the role of empathy. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03675-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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27
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Hu Z, Wen Y, Wang Y, Lin Y, Shi J, Yu Z, Lin Y, Wang Y. Effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions on empathy: A meta-analysis. Front Psychol 2022; 13:992575. [PMID: 36337535 PMCID: PMC9632989 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.992575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 10/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Empathy is essential for human survival and social interaction. Although mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been used to improve empathy in healthy populations, its therapeutic efficacy remains unknown. This study aims to investigate the therapeutic effects of MBIs on empathy in a healthy population and the potential factors affecting the efficacy of MBIs. The literature search focused on PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and CNKI from inception to September 2022. Randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies reporting the effects of using MBIs on empathy in healthy populations were included. A total of 13 studies were included in this review. Results of the meta-analysis showed that MBIs improved empathy (SMD, 0.372, 95% CI, 0.164-0.579, p = 0.001) in the healthy population compared with that in the control group. Moreover, results of the subgroup analysis showed that intervention dose (over 24 h vs. under 24 h), format (online vs. offline), and types (different types) were important factors affecting treatment outcomes. This comprehensive review suggests that MBIs are effective treatment for empathy in healthy population. Future research should markedly focus on large-sample, rigorously designed experiments to explore the long-term effects of MBIs on empathy and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of MBIs. This study provides a reference for the daily application of MBIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengyu Hu
- Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shenyang Sport University, Shenyang, China
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yurong Wen
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
| | - Yafei Wang
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yangyang Lin
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jian Shi
- Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shenyang Sport University, Shenyang, China
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zihan Yu
- Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shenyang Sport University, Shenyang, China
| | - Youtian Lin
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
- Postgraduate Research Institute, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuling Wang
- Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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28
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Grignoli N, Filipponi C, Petrocchi S. Eliciting empathetic drives to prosocial behavior during stressful events. Front Psychol 2022; 13:963544. [PMID: 36337517 PMCID: PMC9632620 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.963544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
In the current pandemic situation, psychological science is increasingly considered by public health policy. Empathy is mainly recognized as a crucial drive for prosocial behavior. However, this rich body of evidence still lacks visibility and implementation. Effective social programs are needed, and little is known about how to elicit empathetic drives. The paper gives first a clear foundation to the role of empathy during stressful events. It provides then a comprehensive overview of innovative interventions triggering empathic response in the public such as fiction, film, and theater. Moreover, it integrates interactive ways of sharing personal views that could elicit empathetic feelings in different people. Advances deriving from this perspective could be of significant public interest in the current and future health crises and help authorities develop innovative social programs, which should be the focus of further scientific inquiry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Grignoli
- Cantonal Socio-Psychiatric Organisation, Public Health Division, Department of Health and Social Care, Repubblica e Cantone Ticino, Mendrisio, Switzerland
- Department of Internal Medicine, Regional Hospital of Bellinzona and Valleys, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Bellinzona and Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
- *Correspondence: Nicola Grignoli, ; Serena Petrocchi,
| | - Chiara Filipponi
- Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Applied Research Division for Cognitive and Psychological Science, IEO European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy
| | - Serena Petrocchi
- Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
- Lab of Applied Psychology and Intervention, Università del Salento, Lecce, Italy
- *Correspondence: Nicola Grignoli, ; Serena Petrocchi,
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29
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Cherewick M, Dahl RE, Leiferman JA, Hipp E, Schmiege S. Psychometric properties of the empathy questionnaire for children and adolescents in a sample of Tanzanian adolescents. Front Psychol 2022; 13:981967. [PMID: 36275217 PMCID: PMC9583906 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.981967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Construct definitions of empathy have sought to distinguish between different domains of empathetic capacity that are related to psychological distress or wellbeing. This study aims to validate the psychometric properties of the Empathy Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (EmQue-CA) and to test for measurement invariance by gender in a sample of 579 very young adolescents (270 boys and 309 girls) ages 9-12 from Tanzania. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were completed to assess the factor analytic structure of the EmQue-CA, indicating a three-factor model fit these data well. Concurrent validity was demonstrated through strong significant correlations with prosocial behavior and generosity measures. Convergent validity indicated the behavioral subdimension of empathy, intent to comfort, was significantly and negatively associated with externalizing behaviors. Measurement invariance by gender was not supported for these data due to configural invariance in covariance between cognitive empathy and intent to comfort latent constructs. These findings confirm the EmQue-CA is an important measure of three dimensions of empathy; affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and behavioral empathy (intent to comfort) in a sample of Tanzanian adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan Cherewick
- Department of Community and Behavioral Health, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, United States
- *Correspondence: Megan Cherewick,
| | - Ronald E. Dahl
- Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Jenn A. Leiferman
- Department of Community and Behavioral Health, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, United States
| | - Emily Hipp
- Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, United States
| | - Sarah Schmiege
- Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, United States
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30
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Wu YE, Hong W. Neural basis of prosocial behavior. Trends Neurosci 2022; 45:749-762. [PMID: 35853793 PMCID: PMC10039809 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2022.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The ability to behave in ways that benefit other individuals' well-being is among the most celebrated human characteristics crucial for social cohesiveness. Across mammalian species, animals display various forms of prosocial behaviors - comforting, helping, and resource sharing - to support others' emotions, goals, and/or material needs. In this review, we provide a cross-species view of the behavioral manifestations, proximate and ultimate drives, and neural mechanisms of prosocial behaviors. We summarize key findings from recent studies in humans and rodents that have shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying different processes essential for prosocial interactions, from perception and empathic sharing of others' states to prosocial decisions and actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ye Emily Wu
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Weizhe Hong
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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31
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Associations between Empathy and social anxiety in Childhood: the moderating role of mother-child conflict and peer rejection. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03537-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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32
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Li B, Blijd-Hoogewys E, Stockmann L, Vergari I, Rieffe C. Toward feeling, understanding, and caring: The development of empathy in young autistic children. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2022:13623613221117955. [PMID: 35999700 DOI: 10.1177/13623613221117955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT Empathy is a highly valued human capacity. Yet, autistic people are often portrayed as lacking in empathy. Recent research, which views empathy as a complex construct emerging from multiple interrelated emotional and cognitive processes, argues that, although many autistic people do have difficulty understanding others' emotions, and this may hinder them from responding to others in a prosocial manner, they are not indifferent to other people's feelings. Hoping to contribute to a better understanding of the unique challenges that autistic children face in their empathy development, we followed the development of four empathy abilities: emotion contagion, attention to others, emotion acknowledgment, and prosocial actions, in 1- to 6-year-old autistic children, in comparison with non-autistic children. Once a year, for 4 consecutive years, children's empathy abilities were evaluated by experimenters who acted out emotional episodes to provoke empathy in children, and by parents who filled out empathy questionnaires. We found that autistic children experienced indeed more difficulty attending to others, acknowledging others' emotions, and initiating prosocial actions toward others. However, according to parents, they did not differ from their non-autistic peers in feeling along with others' negative emotions. This indicates that it might not be the case that autistic children did not want to act empathetically toward others. Rather, they might not know how to do so. Notably, despite these difficulties, when looking at children's developmental trajectories, autistic children showed similar improvements over time as non-autistic children. This provides evidence that autistic children have the potential to learn and to improve their empathy skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boya Li
- Leiden University, The Netherlands
| | | | | | | | - Carolien Rieffe
- Leiden University, The Netherlands.,Twente University, The Netherlands.,University College London, UK
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33
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Duan X, Wang X, Li X, Li S, Zhong Y, Bu T. Effect of mass sports activity on prosocial behavior: A sequential mediation model of flow trait and subjective wellbeing. Front Public Health 2022; 10:960870. [PMID: 35979458 PMCID: PMC9376381 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.960870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives Participation in mass sports is one of the most efficient strategies for people to attain physical and mental health in China. Prosocial behavior has a positive effect on social development. This study developed a conceptual model with mass sports activity as the independent variable, prosocial behavior as the dependent variable, and flow trait and subjective wellbeing as the mediating variables. Methods Participants (N = 351) completed an online survey. Mass sports activity, flow trait, subjective wellbeing, and prosocial behavior were measured using the physical activity rank scale-3 (PARS-3), short dispositional flow scale (SDFS), index of wellbeing (IWB), and prosocial tendencies measure (PTM), respectively. Descriptive statistics compared differences between sports population (PARS-3, ≥ 36) and non-sports population (PARS-3, <36). Mediation effect was analyzed using the PROCESS (Template, Model 6). Results Sports population scored significantly higher (all P ≤ 0.05) on SDFS, IWB, and PTM than non-sports population. Participation in mass sports stimulated flow trait and thus improved prosocial behavior, with a mediation effect value of 0.061 (95% CI, 0.028–0.104), which accounted for 30.18% of the total effect. Participation in mass sports enhanced subjective wellbeing and thus improved prosocial behavior, with a mediation effect value of 0.044 (95% CI, 0.007–0.090), which accounted for 21.96% of the total effect. Flow trait and subjective wellbeing mediated the relationship between mass sports activity and prosocial behavior in a sequential manner, with a mediation effect value of 0.059 (95% CI, 0.035–0.090), which accounted for 29.23% of the total effect. Conclusion The preliminary results of the mediation model validated the hypothesized sequential links between mass sports activity, flow trait, subjective wellbeing, and prosocial behavior. Greater participation in mass sports increases the likelihood of prosocial behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiyan Duan
- College of Physical Education, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Xiaohua Wang
- School of Physical Education and Health, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Xiaogang Li
- Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan Province, Department of Psychology, School of Education Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Shichen Li
- College of Physical Education, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
- *Correspondence: Shichen Li
| | - Yiping Zhong
- Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan Province, Department of Psychology, School of Education Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
- Yiping Zhong
| | - Te Bu
- College of Physical Education, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
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34
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McCrackin SD, Provencher S, Mendell E, Ristic J. Transparent masks reduce the negative impact of opaque masks on understanding emotional states but not on sharing them. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2022; 7:59. [PMID: 35796906 PMCID: PMC9261140 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-022-00411-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
While face masks provide necessary protection against disease spread, they occlude the lower face parts (chin, mouth, nose) and consequently impair the ability to accurately perceive facial emotions. Here we examined how wearing face masks impacted making inferences about emotional states of others (i.e., affective theory of mind; Experiment 1) and sharing of emotions with others (i.e., affective empathy; Experiment 2). We also investigated whether wearing transparent masks ameliorated the occlusion impact of opaque masks. Participants viewed emotional faces presented within matching positive (happy), negative (sad), or neutral contexts. The faces wore opaque masks, transparent masks, or no masks. In Experiment 1, participants rated the protagonists’ emotional valence and intensity. In Experiment 2, they indicated their empathy for the protagonist and the valence of their emotion. Wearing opaque masks impacted both affective theory of mind and affective empathy ratings. Compared to no masks, wearing opaque masks resulted in assumptions that the protagonist was feeling less intense and more neutral emotions. Wearing opaque masks also reduced positive empathy for the protagonist and resulted in more neutral shared valence ratings. Wearing transparent masks restored the affective theory of mind ratings but did not restore empathy ratings. Thus, wearing face masks impairs nonverbal social communication, with transparent masks able to restore some of the negative effects brought about by opaque masks. Implications for the theoretical understanding of socioemotional processing as well as for educational and professional settings are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah D McCrackin
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College Avenue, Montreal, QC, H3A 1G1, Canada.
| | - Sabrina Provencher
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College Avenue, Montreal, QC, H3A 1G1, Canada
| | - Ethan Mendell
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College Avenue, Montreal, QC, H3A 1G1, Canada
| | - Jelena Ristic
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College Avenue, Montreal, QC, H3A 1G1, Canada.
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35
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Zhang Y, Liang T, Gan X, Zheng X, Li H, Zhang J. Social Self-Efficacy and Internet Gaming Disorder Among Chinese Undergraduates: The Mediating Role of Alexithymia and the Moderating Role of Empathy. Front Psychol 2022; 13:898554. [PMID: 35865686 PMCID: PMC9294543 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.898554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
As an increasingly serious social problem, Internet gaming disorder (IGD) of college students may be related to their social self-efficacy. However, the relationship and its internal mechanisms underlying are still unclear. The current study tested the mediating effect of alexithymia in the association between social self-efficacy and IGD, and whether this mediating process was moderated by empathy. Social Self-Efficacy Scale (PSSE), Chinese version of Internet Game Addiction Scale (IGAS-C), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Interpersonal Response Scale (IRI-C) were adopted to examine the model on 888 Chinese college students. The results indicated that social self-efficacy was significantly negatively associate with IGD. Mediation analysis illustrated that alexithymia mediated the association between social self-efficacy and IGD. Further, moderated mediation analysis manifested that the mediated effects was stronger for lower level of empathy. The conclusions corroborate and clarify the mechanisms that alexithymia mediated the association between social self-efficacy and IGD, and the mediation effects is moderated via empathy. Besides, these findings provide available references for colleges to conduct educational activities, and at the same time provide scientific suggestions for preventing IGD among undergraduates.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Xiong Gan
- Department of Psychology, College of Education and Sports Sciences, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
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36
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Yin Y, Wang Y. Is empathy associated with more prosocial behaviour? A meta‐analysis. ASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/ajsp.12537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yingying Yin
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
- Department of Psychology University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
| | - Yong Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
- The Research Center for Psychological Education University of International Relations Beijing China
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37
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Asymmetric affective perspective taking effects toward valence influenced by personality perspective taken. Psychon Bull Rev 2022; 29:1978-1985. [PMID: 35355224 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-022-02090-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Previously, we found that taking perspectives of two polar targets of the neuroticism dimension of personality influenced affect evaluations of negative pictures more than positive pictures. As neuroticism is more reactive to negative affects, the current follow-up experiment explores the effect of affective perspective taking (APT) when perspectives are derived from extroversion, which is more reactive to positive affects. Stimuli consisted of neutral, sad, and happy pictures, which were rated from the perspectives of an introvert and an extrovert. Emotional strength rating was a dependent variable, and N = 41. We found a significant interaction between APT and valence. The difference in ratings between adopting an introverted and an extroverted perspective toward happiness was larger than toward sadness. Together with the results from our previous study, these results suggest an asymmetric influence of APT toward positive and negative valances and that the direction of influence asymmetry depends on the type of personality dimension from which perspectives are derived.
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38
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Lei F, Lei L. How Does the Optimism of Students Learning a Foreign Language Affect Their Creative Self-Efficacy? The Mediating Effects of Hope and Empathy. Front Psychol 2022; 13:831593. [PMID: 35369131 PMCID: PMC8966132 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.831593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Creative self-efficacy (CSE) is a core influencer of creative behavior and has a positive impact on well-being and development. However, the positive psychological processes that help to promote CSE in foreign-language learning (FLL) remain under-studied. Focusing specifically on FLL students, the present study examined the associations among optimism, hope, empathy, and CSE and investigated the possible mediating roles of hope and empathy in the relationship between optimism and CSE. A sample of 330 FLL students from two Chinese universities participated in this study. The results showed that (i) optimism, hope, and empathy were all positively related to CSE and that (ii) optimism did not directly predict CSE but indirectly and positively predicted CSE through hope and empathy. These findings suggest that optimism, empathy, and hope potentially play positive roles in facilitating CSE in FLL students. Based on the present results, some practical approaches are discussed that could help improve the CSE of FLL students, paying particular attention to the effects that potentially motivate their positivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Lei
- School of Foreign Studies, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- Center for Language Cognition and Assessment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Lin Lei
- School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
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39
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Fast AA, Morelli SA, Zaki J, Olson KR. Mutual identification promotes children's generosity. INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/icd.2310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anne A. Fast
- Department of Psychology University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
| | - Sylvia A. Morelli
- Department of Psychology Stanford University Stanford California USA
| | - Jamil Zaki
- Department of Psychology Stanford University Stanford California USA
| | - Kristina R. Olson
- Department of Psychology University of Washington Seattle Washington USA
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40
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Balinisteanu T. Health, well-being, and material-ideal hybrid spaces in Yeats's writing. MEDICAL HUMANITIES 2022; 48:26-36. [PMID: 33168776 DOI: 10.1136/medhum-2019-011813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Traditionally regarded as high-art, poetry is often seen as a superior form of literary achievement consecrating in verse worldviews and lives connected to ideal, transcendental realms, the pursuance of which supposedly leads to some kind of ideal health and spiritual well-being. The poet WB Yeats (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1923), who believed in the power of poetry to reveal realities and states of such perfection, thereby giving purpose to mundane life, likened this effect of poetry to the fashioning of statues as monuments of unageing intellect. However, contradictorily, he also questioned the value of poetry thus conceived by questioning whether it is healthy to aspire to embody poetically consecrated ideals in real life. Yeats's dilemmatic negotiation between these two positions suggests that better personal well-being can be achieved in living an enlightening life by being mindful of the body's sensuality and materiality. In poetic explorations of the ways in which idealism and sensuality can affect how we live our lives, Yeats used real-life examples of people he knew, often important public figures in Irish social and political history.The present paper frames these explorations in terms of Yeats's concepts of living stream and stone/statuary, augmented with Bruno Latour's concepts of traditional subject and articulated body, discussed in relation to purpose in life and closeness and empathy, proposing that an overly idealistic 'poetic' lifestyle can have adverse effects, whereas poetry that increases one's awareness of oneself as articulated body is conducive to better health and well-being.
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Petrova K, Schulz MS. Emotional experiences in technology-mediated and in-person interactions: an experience-sampling study. Cogn Emot 2022; 36:750-757. [PMID: 35200113 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2022.2043244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
As the ubiquity of technology-mediated communication grows, so does the number of questions about the costs and benefits of replacing in-person interactions with technology-mediated ones. In the present study, we used a daily diary design to examine how people's emotional experiences vary across in-person, video-, phone-, and text-mediated interactions in day-to-day life. We hypothesised that individuals would report less positive affect and more negative affect after less life-like interactions (where in-person is defined as the most life-like and text-mediated as the least life-like). In line with this hypothesis, the analysis of 527 unique interactions reported by 102 individuals (mean age = 19.3; 85.6% female) over the course of 7 days reveals that people feel lonelier, sadder, less affectionate, less supported, and less happy following less life-like interactions. Additional analyses show that the links between life-like communication and momentary experiences are independent of properties of individual interactions such as interaction length and participants' overall evaluations of interaction quality. These findings provide initial evidence that there may be inherent properties of common technology-mediated communication tools that may lead to momentary changes in affective experiences and make social connection more challenging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Petrova
- Psychology Department, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, USA
| | - Marc S Schulz
- Psychology Department, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, USA
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Giannou K, Lander K, Taylor JR. Attentional Features of Mindfulness are Better Predictors of Face Recognition than Empathy and Compassion-Based Constructs. Psychol Rep 2022; 126:1481-1515. [PMID: 35113737 PMCID: PMC10173350 DOI: 10.1177/00332941211061698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Recent research has employed measures of either empathy, compassion or mindfulness and linked better face recognition memory to higher scores of identification with all humanity and mindfulness but not empathy or compassion. Additionally, empathy, compassion and mindfulness have been suggested as concepts that intertwine, but research has not yet examined how their respective personality questionnaires map onto latent concepts. We employed these measures together to explore their factor structure and, using structural equation modelling, we investigated if the suggested latent variables predict recognition memory performance for face and non-face stimuli. Attentional notions of mindfulness described a latent factor that predicted face recognition. All self-compassion facets and the non-react mindfulness facet described a latent factor, which predicted false alarms in face recognition. Finally, empathy and compassion-based notions described one latent factor, which did not predict recognition performance. None of the latent variables predicted performance in either object or voice recognition. Collectively, findings indicate attention-based mindfulness to benefit face recognition, prompting further research into the potential of mindfulness to support the face recognition process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyriaki Giannou
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences, 12203The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Karen Lander
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences, 12203The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Jason R Taylor
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences, 12203The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
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Raine A, Chen FR, Waller R. The Cognitive, Affective and Somatic Empathy Scales for Adults. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2022; 185:111238. [PMID: 35221409 PMCID: PMC8880876 DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.111238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
The Cognitive, Affective and Somatic Empathy Scales (CASES) assess three forms of empathy, each with subscales for positive and negative empathy. The present study extends this child instrument to adults and examines its factor structure and construct validity. A secondary aim is to investigate the under-researched area of positive empathy. Community samples totaling 2,604 adults completed the CASES for adults, together with scales assessing construct validity. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor cognitive-affective-somatic model and a two-factor positive-negative empathy model. Findings were replicated in a second independent sample. Internal reliabilities ranged from .80 to .92. Individuals with higher psychopathy and stimulation-seeking scores were less impaired in their empathic reactions to positive relative to negative valence events, suggesting that they are relatively capable of responding emotionally to rewarding events. Somatic empathy was most strongly associated with pleasure in affective touch and with female > male gender differences. While proactive aggression was associated with reduced cognitive and affective empathy, reactive aggression was associated with increased empathy. Findings provide initial support for the utility of CASES for assessing different forms of empathy and suggest that the balance between positive and negative empathy could provide new insights into psychological traits.
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Yelland J, Whittlestone KD. A Call for Compassionate Empathy: Analysis of Verbal Empathic Communication between Veterinary Students and Veterinary Clients and their Dogs. JOURNAL OF VETERINARY MEDICAL EDUCATION 2022; 49:51-60. [PMID: 33657338 DOI: 10.3138/jvme-2020-0046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
In human medicine, empathy contributes to enhanced patient satisfaction and trust, decreased litigation, and increased adherence to medical recommendations. Understanding client perspectives is crucial in the empathic process; failure to explore these perspectives has been linked to decreased client satisfaction in veterinary consultations. This article explores how veterinary clients verbally expressed emotional concerns during consultations and how veterinary students addressed them. The "Model of Empathic Communication in the Medical Interview" by Suchman et al., is the starting point for a thematic analysis of consultation transcripts. Clients expressed multiple emotional concerns both directly by using explicit words (coded as empathic opportunities-EO), and indirectly (coded as potential empathic opportunities-PEO), throughout the consultations. Indirect examples prevailed and included stories about previous experiences with pet illnesses and pet care received elsewhere. Clients used explicit words, including "fear" and "panic." Students usually responded with a biomedical focus, including asking medical questions and giving medical explanations. Although students demonstrated various communication skills, they failed to demonstrate a complete verbal compassionate empathic response (a novel code) that includes exploring and verbalizing accurate understanding of the clients' perspectives and offering help based on this understanding. These findings suggest that strategies to teach compassionate empathy and support its use in the clinical setting are not fully effective, and veterinary students risk entering practice unprepared to employ this vital competency. The authors also introduce an operational definition for compassionate empathy.
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Shamay-Tsoory SG, Hertz U. Adaptive Empathy: A Model for Learning Empathic Responses in Response to Feedback. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2022; 17:1008-1023. [PMID: 35050819 DOI: 10.1177/17456916211031926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Empathy is usually deployed in social interactions. Nevertheless, common measures and examinations of empathy study this construct in isolation from the person in distress. In this article we seek to extend the field of examination to include both empathizer and target to determine whether and how empathic responses are affected by feedback and learned through interaction. Building on computational approaches in feedback-based adaptations (e.g., no feedback, model-free and model-based learning), we propose a framework for understanding how empathic responses are learned on the basis of feedback. In this framework, adaptive empathy, defined as the ability to adapt one's empathic responses, is a central aspect of empathic skills and can provide a new dimension to the evaluation and investigation of empathy. By extending existing neural models of empathy, we suggest that adaptive empathy may be mediated by interactions between the neural circuits associated with valuation, shared distress, observation-execution, and mentalizing. Finally, we propose that adaptive empathy should be considered a prominent facet of empathic capabilities with the potential to explain empathic behavior in health and psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone G Shamay-Tsoory
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa.,Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBRC), University of Haifa
| | - Uri Hertz
- Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBRC), University of Haifa.,Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of Haifa
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Cui D, Liu L, Li Y. Association Between Children's Empathy and Depression: The Moderating Role of Social Preference. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2022; 54:857-869. [PMID: 34982305 DOI: 10.1007/s10578-021-01312-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Although empathy is typically an adaptive characteristic of children, extreme empathy alone or in combination with a negative environment may contribute to a risk of depression. The present study comprehensively investigated the associations between the three constructs of empathy and depression in children, as well as the potential moderating effect of peer relationships (i.e., social preference) on this association. A total of 1223 children (mean age = 10.50 ± .93 years) completed questionnaires on empathy and depression, and social preference was nominated by their peers. Cognitive empathy and positive empathy exerted a positive quadratic effect on depression, while negative empathy had a positive linear association with depression. For children with a low social preference, all three empathy constructs were positively quadratically correlated with depression, extremely high and low empathy were associated with increased depression, and moderate empathy was associated with the lowest level of depression. For children with a high social preference, higher positive empathy was associated with lower depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Cui
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment for Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Lisha Liu
- Center for Teacher Education Research, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Yanfang Li
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment for Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
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Moving Crisis to Opportunities: A Corporate Perspective on the Impact of Compassionate Empathic Behaviour on the Well-Being of Employees. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GLOBAL BUSINESS AND COMPETITIVENESS 2022. [PMCID: PMC8725425 DOI: 10.1007/s42943-021-00040-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The recent raging pandemic has disrupted the world economy in a humongous way causing socio-psychological stressors affecting the mental well-being of employees. The fear of losing jobs due to economic shutdowns, or facing challenges of digitisation of the workplace, or fear of contaminating illness generated a feeling of despair and panic to more serious paranoia behaviour amongst the employees. The present study aims at investigating how did the leadership use prosocial empathic skills during this pandemic to manage the mental well-being of their respective employees, so that they are motivated and engaged for meaningful performance. The major themes that emerged from the structured interviews of the apex leadership were (1) compassionate empathic behaviour impacts the employee motivation and performance; (2) open, honest and timely vertical communication promotes trust and bonding; (3) support for employee autonomy impacts their well-being; (4) encouraging competence and self-efficacy in employees; (5) promoting positive and healthy relationships by displaying compassionate empathy positively impacts mental health and thereby employee performance during crisis. Right from providing unified Communication platform, to displaying empathic leadership, the apex leadership unanimously believes that people are their best assets and if managed well in the crisis can help them stem the storm successfully.
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Cherewick M, Schmiege S, Hipp E, Leiferman J, Njau P, Dahl RE. A developmental analysis of dimensions of empathy during early adolescence: Behavioral empathy but not cognitive empathy is associated with lower psychopathology. PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 2:e0001231. [PMID: 36962683 PMCID: PMC10021927 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Accepted: 10/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Construct definitions of empathy have sought to distinguish between different dimensions of empathetic capacity that are significantly associated with psychological distress or wellbeing. Research has provided substantial evidence differentiating affective and cognitive empathy; however, more recent research has cited the importance of a third domain represented by empathetic behaviors and compassionate intent to comfort others. Examining developmental and maturational stage during the rapid transitional period of early adolescence is needed to model developmental trajectories, mechanisms of change and mental health outcomes. This study aims to assess relationships between pubertal developmental stage, dimensions of empathy, and depression, anxiety and externalizing behaviors among early adolescents. A cross-sectional survey among young adolescents ages 9-12 years was conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The relationships between pubertal developmental stage, affective, cognitive, and behavioral empathy scores and internalizing and externalizing symptoms were evaluated using hierarchical regression modeling. Structural equation modeling was used to test a theoretical model of structural paths between these variables. A sample of 579 very young adolescents (270 boys and 309 girls) aged 9-12 years participated in the study. Pubertal development scale scores were associated with affective, cognitive, and behavioral empathy. Adolescents who had greater behavioral empathy scores reported lower internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Adolescents who had transitioned further through puberty and had higher cognitive empathy scores and reported higher internalizing symptoms. These findings support the importance of pubertal developmental stage in assessing risk and protective paths to mental health during adolescence. While empathetic capacity is widely perceived to be a positive trait, dimensional analysis of empathy among early adolescents indicates that behavioral skills and compassionate acts may be particularly protective and promote positive mental health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan Cherewick
- Department of Community & Behavioral Health, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, United States of America
| | - Sarah Schmiege
- Department of Biostatistics & Informatics, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, United States of America
| | - Emily Hipp
- Department of Biostatistics & Informatics, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, United States of America
| | - Jenn Leiferman
- Department of Community & Behavioral Health, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, United States of America
| | - Prosper Njau
- Health for a Prosperous Nation, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Ronald E Dahl
- Institute of Human Development, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States of America
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Stosic MD, Blanch-Hartigan D, Aleksanyan T, Duenas J, Ruben MA. Empathy, friend or foe? Untangling the relationship between empathy and burnout in helping professions. The Journal of Social Psychology 2021; 162:89-108. [PMID: 34821209 DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2021.1991259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The relationship between empathy and burnout in helping professions has been debated extensively, with some arguing the tendency to vicariously experience the emotions of another is a risk factor for burnout and others arguing that this disposition protects against burnout. We sought to aid this debate by assessing the relationship between two empathy facets, positive and negative, and burnout across three samples of helping professionals: practicing clinicians (N = 59), medical students (N = 76), and teaching assistants (N = 77). Results across all three samples consistently revealed that one's tendency to share in the positive emotions of another (i.e., positive empathy) was related to lower levels of burnout, even after controlling for several potential confounding factors. Beyond discussing the utility of the emerging study of positive empathy, we offer potential avenues for reducing burnout in helping professions by emphasizing the importance of sharing in the positive emotions of others.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Mollie A Ruben
- University of Maine, Maine.,Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, Va Boston Healthcare System, Massachusetts
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50
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de Lima FF, Osório FDL. Empathy: Assessment Instruments and Psychometric Quality - A Systematic Literature Review With a Meta-Analysis of the Past Ten Years. Front Psychol 2021; 12:781346. [PMID: 34899531 PMCID: PMC8653810 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.781346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective: To verify the psychometric qualities and adequacy of the instruments available in the literature from 2009 to 2019 to assess empathy in the general population. Methods: The following databases were searched: PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Scielo, and LILACS using the keywords "empathy" AND "valid∗" OR "reliability" OR "psychometr∗." A qualitative synthesis was performed with the findings, and meta-analytic measures were used for reliability and convergent validity. Results: Fifty studies were assessed, which comprised 23 assessment instruments. Of these, 13 proposed new instruments, 18 investigated the psychometric properties of instruments previously developed, and 19 reported cross-cultural adaptations. The Empathy Quotient, Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy were the instruments most frequently addressed. They presented good meta-analytic indicators of internal consistency [reliability, generalization meta-analyses (Cronbach's alpha): 0.61 to 0.86], but weak evidence of validity [weak structural validity; low to moderate convergent validity (0.27 to 0.45)]. Few studies analyzed standardization, prediction, or responsiveness for the new and old instruments. The new instruments proposed few innovations, and their psychometric properties did not improve. In general, cross-cultural studies reported adequate adaptation processes and equivalent psychometric indicators, though there was a lack of studies addressing cultural invariance. Conclusion: Despite the diversity of instruments assessing empathy and the many associated psychometric studies, there remain limitations, especially in terms of validity. Thus far, we cannot yet nominate a gold-standard instrument.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Flávia de Lima Osório
- Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- National Institute for Science and Technology (INCT-TM, CNPq), Brasília, Brazil
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