A reflective guide on the meaning of empathy in autism research

Abstract

Empathy is an often researched but highly ambiguous concept. This makes research on empathy prone to miscommunication and misinterpretation. Careful reflection on what is meant by empathy in a certain context is essential. As the scope of the variety of possible meanings of empathy one could encounter is vast, such reflection would benefit from a guide that maps out this terrain of conceptual confusion. To this end, the present study maps out the diversity of the meaning of empathy within the scope of autism research. The autism context is of particular relevance as autism is often linked to empathy in research, and crucially, how one understands empathy shapes theories of autism as well as the societal perception of autism. An interdisciplinary literature search was conducted to collect different conceptualizations of empathy used in autism research. In 111 articles, 31 unique definitions of empathy were used. This diversity can be accounted for by a list of 12 dimensions along which the meaning of empathy can diverge, found in this study. These dimensions pinpoint which aspects of empathy require attention and reflection when engaging with empathy in research. It can be used as a practical framework to reflect on empathy in the design and documentation of research, defending methodological decisions, and interpreting the work of others. Furthermore, this study discusses various, and some worrisome, implications for findings and theories in autism research.