Abstract
While empathy is typically assumed to promote effective social interactions, it can sometimes be detrimental when it is unrestrained and overgeneralized. The present study explored whether cognitive inhibition would moderate the effect of empathy on social functioning. Eighty healthy young adults underwent two assessments six months apart. Participants’ ability to suppress interference from distracting emotional stimuli was assessed using a Negative Affective Priming Task that included both generic and personally-relevant (i.e., participants’ intimate partners) facial expressions of emotion. The UCLA Life Stress Interview and Empathy Quotient were administered to measure interpersonal functioning and empathy respectively. Multilevel modeling demonstrated that higher empathy was associated with worse concurrent interpersonal outcomes for individuals who showed weak inhibition of the personally-relevant depictions of anger. The effect of empathy on social functioning might be dependent on individuals’ ability to suppress interference from meaningful emotional distractors in their environment.
Highlights
Interpersonal relationships are essential in that they serve fundamental needs and contribute to overall health and well-being [1]
We examined whether cognitive inhibition of emotional content could explain, in part, why elevated levels of empathy are associated with both positive and negative interpersonal outcomes
Participants were evaluated at two time points, six months apart, to test the relation between empathy, cognitive inhibition, and social functioning using a prospective design
Summary
Interpersonal relationships are essential in that they serve fundamental needs and contribute to overall health and well-being [1] Interpersonal problems, such as difficulties being assertive, intimate, or sociable, are associated with maladaptive patterns of interpersonal functioning (e.g. social withdrawal) [2], higher mortality rates [3,4,5], and increased mental health concerns [6], [7]. Given the range of negative outcomes associated with interpersonal problems, understanding the causes and consequences of interpersonal dysfunction has become an important and timely research endeavor. In this regard, personality patterns have emerged as one key factor that might predispose certain people to experience problems when interacting with others [2], [8], [9]. The second, cognitive perspective-taking, PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0112990 February 19, 2015
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