Psychological Flexibility With Prejudices Increases Empathy and Decreases Distress Among Adolescents: A Spanish Validation of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-Stigma.

Sonsoles Valdivia-Salas,Araceli Cruz,José Martín-Albo,Teresa I Jiménez,Víctor J Villanueva-Blasco

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.565638

Sonsoles Valdivia-Salas, Araceli Cruz + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.565638

Copy DOI

Abstract

Empathy is an emotional response that may facilitate prosocial behavior and inhibit aggression by increasing empathic concern for others. But the vicarious experience of other’s feelings may also turn into personal distress when the person has poor regulation skills and holds stigmatizing beliefs. In thinking about the processes that may trigger the experience of personal distress or empathic concern, research on the influence of psychological flexibility and inflexibility on stigma is showing promising results. Both processes are assessed with the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–Stigma (AAQ-S). The current study sought to carry out a validity study of a Spanish version of the AAQ-S with a sample of adolescents aged 11–17 years. The study included an expanded test of its predictive validity with measures at three times to evaluate the role of psychological flexibility and inflexibility as risk or protective variables for the development of personal distress and/or empathic concern in the stigmatizer. Statistical analyses confirmed a two-correlated-factor solution, the adequate reliability of both factors, and their construct and predictive validity in the expected direction. The stigmatizer’s inflexible reaction to their stigmatizing thoughts predicted the occurrence of personal distress, whereas the stigmatizer’s flexible reaction to their stigmatizing thoughts predicted the occurrence of empathic concern for others. These findings confirm the importance of considering the role of regulatory skills in the experience of empathic concern or personal distress in the presence of stigmatizing thoughts, with possible implications for the promotion of prosocial behavior and the reduction of aggressive behavior among adolescents.

Highlights

It is generally assumed that empathy is an emotional response that may facilitate prosocial behavior and inhibit aggression, leading to a better personal and social adjustment from childhood (e.g., Stavrinides et al, 2010; Wang et al, 2011; Mikolajewski et al, 2014; Carlo et al, 2015; Telle and Pfister, 2016; Deschamps et al, 2018; Tampke et al, 2020)
Regarding the predictive relation between psychological flexibility (PsyFlex), PsyInflex, and both personal distress (PerD) and empathic concern (EmpCon), the results showed that, from Time 3 to Time 2, PerD was positively related to PsyInflex (β = 0.15, p < 0.05), and EmpCon was positively related to PsyFlex (β = 0.11, p < 0.05) and negatively related to PsyInflex (β = −0.09, p < 0.05)
The composite reliability index (CRI) yielded the same reliability for both PsyFlex and PsyInflex, a value similar to that shown in the initial validation of the instrument (Levin et al, 2014)

Summary

Introduction

It is generally assumed that empathy is an emotional response that may facilitate prosocial behavior and inhibit aggression, leading to a better personal and social adjustment from childhood (e.g., Stavrinides et al, 2010; Wang et al, 2011; Mikolajewski et al, 2014; Carlo et al, 2015; Telle and Pfister, 2016; Deschamps et al, 2018; Tampke et al, 2020). Cognitive empathy is the ability to understand how others feel, whereas affective empathy entails the vicarious experience of others’ feelings (Vachon and Lynam, 2016). As noted by Eisenberg et al (2010), if above some minimal threshold, such vicarious experience of other’s feelings may turn into empathic concern (EmpCon), personal distress (PerD), or both (see Habashi et al, 2016). While EmpCon consists of feelings of sorrow or concern for the other, PerD is a self-focused, aversive–affective reaction to another’s emotion associated with the desire to alleviate one’s own, but not the other’s distress. EmpCon tends to be positively related to helping others, whereas PerD tends to be negatively or unrelated to prosocial behaviors (e.g., Graziano and Habashi, 2010; Habashi et al, 2016; Winter et al, 2017), in adolescents (Eisenberg et al, 2010), and in Spanish adolescents (Gutiérrez et al, 2011; Tur-Porcar et al, 2016; Valdivia-Salas et al, 2021)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion