Capacity For Empathy Research Articles

In a moral dilemma, choose the one you love: Impartial actors are seen as less moral than partial ones.

Although impartiality and concern for the greater good are lauded by utilitarian philosophies, it was predicted that when values conflict, those who acted impartially rather than partially would be viewed as less moral. Across four studies, using life-or-death scenarios and more mundane ones, support for the idea that relationship obligations are important in moral attribution was found. In Studies 1-3, participants rated an impartial actor as less morally good and his or her action as less moral compared to a partial actor. Experimental and correlational evidence showed the effect was driven by inferences about an actor's capacity for empathy and compassion. In Study 4, the relationship obligation hypothesis was refined. The data suggested that violations of relationship obligations are perceived as moral as long as strong alternative justifications sanction them. Discussion centres on the importance of relationships in understanding moral attributions.

Decreased empathy response to other people\u2019s pain in bipolar disorder: evidence from an event-related potential study

Bipolar disorder (BD) patients often demonstrate poor socialization that may stem from a lower capacity for empathy. We examined the associated neurophysiological abnormalities by comparing event-related potentials (ERP) between 30 BD patients in different states and 23 healthy controls (HCs, matched for age, sex, and education) during a pain empathy task. Subjects were presented pictures depicting pain or neutral images and asked to judge whether the person shown felt pain (pain task) and to identify the affected side (laterality task) during ERP recording. Amplitude of pain-empathy related P3 (450–550 ms) of patients versus HCs was reduced in painful but not neutral conditions in occipital areas [(mean (95% confidence interval), BD vs. HCs: 4.260 (2.927, 5.594) vs. 6.396 (4.868, 7.924)] only in pain task. Similarly, P3 (550–650 ms) was reduced in central areas [4.305 (3.029, 5.581) vs. 6.611 (5.149, 8.073)]. Current source density in anterior cingulate cortex differed between pain-depicting and neutral conditions in HCs but not patients. Manic severity was negatively correlated with P3 difference waves (pain – neutral) in frontal and central areas (Pearson r = −0.497, P = 0.005; r = −0.377, P = 0.040). Electrophysiological correlates of empathy processing are reduced in BD depending on manic symptom severity.

"Cómo Ocultar la Verdad Sin Mentir": Cercas's El Impostor and the Doctrine of Equivocation

"Cómo Ocultar la Verdad Sin Mentir"1:Cercas's El Impostor and the Doctrine of Equivocation Hilaire Kallendorf Javier Cercas's 2014 non-fiction novel El impostor, regarding the massive fraud of alleged Spanish Holocaust survivor Enric Marco – who, it turns out, was a voluntary guest worker in Germany, not a leftist persecuted for his political leanings, as he claimed – raises important philosophical questions about the nature of truth and its vulnerability to manipulation by a cynical charlatan. This case of imposture, widely publicized in Spain, has become a national litmus test for gullibility and an occasion for soul-searching as Spaniards ask why they were taken in by him – essentially, why they wanted to believe his fabricated stories of life in a German concentration camp were true. The purpose of this essay is, first, to explore the novel's own comments about truth and lies (which, as we shall see, are explicitly posed within the context of Spanish Catholic penitential discourse) before turning to a curious text from the Renaissance titled A Treatise of Equivocation. If his case were slightly different, this text might have provided the Protean Enric Marco with his best shot at a defense of his actions within the realm of moral philosophy. As it stands, el caso Marco still opens up for our analysis significant issues of secrecy, sovereignty and absolutism as discussed by political philosopher Alberto Moreiras and French deconstructionist Jacques Derrida. The essay will conclude with an assessment of whether, according to internal criteria laid out for the Renaissance doctrine of equivocation, Marco's actions would have been justifiable to early modern casuists or not. ________ Some of the most appealing features of Javier Cercas's El impostor are the novel's multiple layers of metadiscourse. The narrative voice frequently compares himself to Enric Marco and thereby develops a capacity for empathy with this so-called [End Page 109] moral monster. He also engages in periodic detours or tangents away from the main thread of the story line where he meditates upon questions such as "¿es moralmente lícito mentir?" (Cercas 184). In response to this question, he offers an erudite survey of thinkers ranging from Plato, to Voltaire, to Kant, to Montaigne, a group which he divides into two categories: relativists and absolutists (Cercas 184). He quickly arrives at the rather startling conclusion that most of the thinkers out there are relativists when it comes to lying. In The Republic Plato spoke of the noble lie (Cercas 184), while Voltaire concluded that lying is a vice only when its effects are evil (Cercas 184). As the novelist summarizes the spectrum of these "relativistic" positions, Razonan que la mentira no siempre es mala y a veces es necesaria, o que la bondad o la maldad de una mentira dependen de la bondad o la maldad de las consecuencias que provoca: si el resultado de la mentira es bueno, la mentira es buena; si el resultado es malo, la mentira es mala. (Cercas 184) In contrast, he argues, the absolutists see a lie as evil and culpable in and of itself, regardless of its potentially beneficial effects: Por el contrario, los absolutistas argumentan que la mentira es en sí misma mala, con independencia de sus resultados, porque constituye una falta de respeto al otro, y, en el fondo, una forma de violencia, o un crimen. (Cercas 184) He ultimately concludes that the only true absolutist in the realm of truth-telling was Immanuel Kant, who claimed that the prohibition against lying admits of no exceptions (Cercas 185). He notes that in this area of his dogmatism, Kant had few followers. Javier Cercas – or, more accurately, the narrative voice in his non-fiction novel – goes on to apply these tidbits from the history of moral philosophy to the specific case of Enric Marco. Latching onto Plato's concept of the noble lie, he applies it to Marco's imposture, playing devil's advocate just long enough to explore what his self-defense might look like against the charges brought against him of massive fraud and imposture: Los defensores de Marco … sostienen que las mentiras de Marco eran mentiras nobles, por decirlo como Plat...

Psychopathy and Responsibility: Empirical Data and Normative Judgments

Psychopathy and Responsibility:Empirical Data and Normative Judgments Walter Glannon (bio) Keywords Empirical data, normative judgments, philosophers, psychopathy, responsibility, social scientists Psychopathy is one of the most frequently cited disorders in discussions of moral and criminal responsibility. Many philosophers and psychologists have argued that psychopaths’ impaired capacity for empathy, diminished responses to fear-inducing stimuli, and failure to conform to social norms indicate that they are not responsible for their actions. In “Philosophers on psychopaths: A cautionary tale in interdisciplinarity,” Jarkko Jalava and Stephanie Griffiths (2017) cite psychological data from case studies, the moral/conventional distinction task, fear conditioning and facial affect recognition experiments in arguing that philosophers systematically misinterpret or simplify the data to support their conclusions about psychopaths’ responsibility. Jalava and Griffiths state that “inconsistent but suggestive data do not imply merely reduced responsibility, nor do they allow for tentative conclusions about responsibility. Any responsibility claim on the basis of these data is equally suspect” (2017, p. 9). Although the authors are right to point out the need for philosophers to be more circumspect in drawing inferences from the results of psychology experiments to responsibility judgments, their claims are too strong and not supported by their discussion. Moreover, it is unclear what the implications of the inconclusive nature of empirical data on psychopaths are for the actual practice of holding people morally and criminally responsible for their behavior. Much of the recent empirical evidence influencing philosophers’ claims about psychopaths’ diminished responsibility is from neuroimaging studies. Curiously, the authors do not include these among their data sources. At least one study involving magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has shown a reduction in gray matter volume in brain regions associated with empathic processing, prosocial emotions, and moral reasoning in violent criminal psychopaths compared with normal controls (Gregory et al., 2012). Some functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have shown functional abnormalities in pathways between the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which also mediate the capacity for moral reasoning (Blair, 2007, 2013). Correlations between brain abnormalities and psychopathic [End Page 13] behavior do not imply that the first cause the second. Yet if the abnormalities are consistent with a pattern of behavior indicating impairment in the relevant mental capacities, then the imaging data may support tentative conclusions about responsibility. Although imaging data alone would not provide sufficient evidence that an individual lacked or was impaired in these capacities, the data might confirm such a judgment made on the basis of the individual’s behavior. Provided that it supplements rather than supplants behavioral evidence, neuroimaging may provide helpful information about the functional or dysfunctional neural bases of that behavior and can be used legitimately as one factor in assessing responsibility. Even if philosophers overstate correlations between particular brain features and behavior, they are not alone in doing this. Social scientists have claimed on the basis of neuroscientific evidence that highly psychopathic individuals are not responsible and should not be punished for their criminal behavior (Glenn & Raine, 2014). It is unfair to single out philosophers for drawing these conclusions too easily. In their critique of philosophers’ reliance on empirical data to argue that psychopaths are not responsible or have reduced responsibility because they are impaired in the necessary mental capacities, the authors say nothing about the reliance of some social scientists on this data to argue that psychopaths are responsible. They have but fail to exercise these capacities (Cima, Tonnaer & Hauser, 2010). If we should be skeptical of claims about psychopaths’ diminished responsibility based on studies in experimental psychology, then we should also be skeptical of claims about full responsibility based on similar studies. If drawing inferences from inconclusive data to negative judgments about responsibility is questionable, then drawing inferences from inconclusive data to positive judgments about responsibility is equally questionable. There is no reason to assume that data suggesting that a psychopath has the mental capacities necessary for responsibility is any more scientifically robust than data suggesting that he or she lacks these capacities. If we rely primarily on experimental data in trying to show that a psychopath is or is not responsible, and if the data are limited in this regard, then this suggests that there are no grounds for...

The role of empathy in the knowledge building of eighth grade girls as they reflect on their experiences with literature

This study focused on the role that empathy played in the knowledge building of 7 eighth grade readers. Participants met for twenty sessions over the course of a school year to reflect on their experiences empathizing with characters in their favorite works of literature. These reflections led to the generation of social themes. The girls worked to advance these themes by extending, contesting, and evaluating ideas presented.In this community, the girls’ attempts to empathize with characters were foundational for analyzing actions and intentions of people. Empathy was also used as a tool in their talk as the girls imagined perspectives very different from their own. This resulted in new self knowledge because hearing different perspectives led them to expand their thinking. Results suggest a role for the sociocognitive benefits of engaging in literature and developing students’ capacity for empathy in Language Arts instruction.

Intimitäts- und Zugehörigkeitsmuster im Wandel: Implikationen für die Gruppenanalyse

Summary Changing Patterns of Relating and Belonging: Implications for Group Analysis This article explores changing patterns of relating and belonging and links these changes to recent developments in communications technology and the increase in disembodied and screen-mediated communication. Contemporary modes of connecting and grouping together, and the increased flexibility and fluidity of ways that we construct and present ourselves are considered in relation to identity formation, separation experiences, and our capacity for empathy and reflective functioning. Some implications for group analysis are presented.

Arts and humanities inquiry in the Long-Term Ecological Research Network: empathy, relationships, and interdisciplinary collaborations

The Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network is a collection of 25 National Science Foundation-funded sites committed to long-term, place-based investigation of the natural world. While activities primarily focus on ecological research, arts and humanities inquiry emerged in 2002 and since then, a substantial body of creative work has been produced at LTER-affiliated sites. These art-humanities-science collaborations parallel a wider trend in universities and non-profits. However, there is little empirical work on the value and effectiveness of this work. After launching a survey in 2013 to assess the values and challenges associated with arts and humanities in the LTER Network (Goralnik et al. 2015), which identified empathy as a meaningful potential outcome of this creative work, we conducted a follow-up analysis to understand the following: the relevance of empathy in the LTER Network; the role of empathy in bridging arts, humanities, and science collaborations; and the capacity of empathy to connect wider audiences both to LTER science and to the natural world. Our research included phone interviews with representatives from 15 LTER sites and an audience perception survey at an LTER-hosted art show. We found that arts-humanities-science collaborations have great potential to catalyze relationships between scholars, the public, and the natural world; cultivate inspiration and empathy for the natural world; and spark awareness shifts that can enable pro-environmental behavior. Our research demonstrates the potential for art-humanities-science collaborations to facilitate conservation attitudes and action in the Network and beyond.

Are humans by birth as wicked as the Heidelberg Catechism (3-11) holds? A dialogue between theology and modern sciences

While the introduction compares the Heidelberg Catechism’s theologically framed concept of sin with similar and opposing secular views of the past (e.g., Plautus, Quintilian, Hobbes), the main part uses contemporary scientific studies to challenge the Catechism’s view that (after alienation from God in the Fall) all human individuals by birth are wicked: incapable of loving others. Studies discovered remarkable capacities of empathy and altruism already in young children of different cultures as well as in primates, suggesting that altruism is deep-rooted in common ancestors of humans and primates. However, humans encounter limits of their capacity for altruism especially when dealing with outsiders not belonging to their own group. Culture, especially religion, is needed to advance a systematic, and not just spontaneous, altruism reaching beyond one’s group boundaries. Concluding remarks, using Paul, roughly sketch what a modern harmatiology would have to emphasize if it is not moral corruptness.

Disability] Justice Dictated by the Surfeit of Love: Simone Weil in Nigeria

How is Nigeria’s failure to fulfil its obligations as a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to be appreciated or even resolved? Answers to this are sought through a seminal criticism of human rights, namely, Simone Weil’s 1942 essay Human Personality. Weil questioned the ability of human rights concepts to cause the powerful to develop the emotional dispositions of empathy for those who suffer. Weil’s insights provide a convincing explanation that the indifference of Nigerian authorities towards the Convention may be accounted for by the weakness of human rights discourse to foster human capacity for empathy and care for those who suffer. Weil’s criticisms will serve as a point of departure for a particular way to circumvent this inadequacy of human rights discourse to achieve disability justice in Nigeria through other means. I argue that Weil, through her concept of attention, grappled with and offers a consciousness of suffering and vulnerability that is not only uncommon to existing juridical human rights approaches, but is achievable through the active participation in the very forms of suffering and vulnerability in which amelioration is sought. To provide empirical content to this argument, I turn to a short-lived initiative of the Nigerian disability movement, which if ethico-politically refined and widely applied, can supply an action-theoretical grounding for and be combined with Weil’s work to elevate agitations for disability justice above human rights to the realm of human obligations.

Children’s attachment-related narratives following US Gulf Coast hurricanes: Linkages with understanding and teacher stress

The central focus of this study was the perceptions of emotional security among 64 elementary school-aged children exposed to the hurricanes that affected the US Gulf Coast in 2005. Specifically, we examined the representational qualities of attachment, exploration, and caregiving as assessed with a narrative story-stem task in relation to parental reports of children’s exposure to the hurricanes, their knowledge of hurricanes, and their teacher’s exposure to the hurricanes. Knowledge of hurricanes was assessed with a new narrative method representing hurricane conditions wherein children were asked to tell stories about what hurricanes are and what damage they could do. Children’s narrative representations of attachment, exploration, and caregiving were unrelated to parental reports of their children’s exposure to the hurricanes but were significantly related to their knowledge of hurricanes, specifically the effects of hurricanes on people, and to teachers’ reported loss of property related to the hurricanes. The findings suggest that a core component of children’s representational models is the capacity for empathy for the experience of others.

Non-thermal transitions in a model inspired by moral decisions

This work introduces a model in which agents of a network act upon one another according to three different kinds of moral decisions. These decisions are based on an increasing level of sophistication in the empathy capacity of the agent, a hierarchy which we name Piaget’s ladder. The decision strategy of the agents is non-rational, in the sense they are arbitrarily fixed, and the model presents quenched disorder given by the distribution of its defining parameters. An analytical solution for this model is obtained in the large system limit as well as a leading order correction for finite-size systems which shows that typical realisations of the model develop a phase structure with both continuous and discontinuous non-thermal transitions.

Various Sides of Empathy Literature Evokes in Medical Students

Most studies show that medical students’ capacity for empathy decreases during their studies. Personal distress, burnout and lowered quality of life are suspected causes. Doctors’ empathy is an important tool in gaining anamnestic information and adherence to recommendations resulting in better clinical outcomes. Empathy is taught by a variety of methods, but utilizing literature has been rare. Quantitative methods have been used in assessing the level of and change in empathy as far as measuring the effect of interventions. Aim of this study is to gather qualitative information about the nature of emotions and reactions difficult patient encounter simulations evoke. In this case study, a group of medical students were asked about their feelings after reading autobiographies about depression or bipolar disorder. It became clear that encountering difficult patients in literature evokes conflicting emotions in students. In order to maintain empathy during medical studies, students need ways to practice different domains of it. Handling emotional reactions is as important as cognitive recognition of patients’ feelings and conveying empathy to them.

Citizen Artists and Human Becomings

This article is an investigation into the claims made for the transformative power of theater in the educational process. Grounded in Freirean notions of learner-centerd pedagogy, it sees theater as an ideal process through which to rehearse encounters between the lived experience of learners and their negotiations with the wider world. As such, it has the potential to be a key contributor to any educational aim related to an ambition to develop active citizens among young people. However, the vested interests of neoliberalism have caused this potential to be neglected or marginalized throughout the formal educational contexts of the Western world. A utilitarian model of education as training for a job market finds no use or value in the development of capacities for empathy and criticality that are at the core of these theatrical processes. The article attempts to clarify the aesthetic dimensions that are important in the achievement of transformational goals for students. The type of theater experience envisaged is, therefore, an encounter between reality as experienced by participants and their capacity to imagine alternatives, before taking collective action to achieve them in their personal and social lives.

A precarious ecstasy: beyond temporality in self and other

ABSTRACTThis article explores Levinas’s [1961/1969. Totality and infinity. (A. Lingis, Trans.). Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press; 1981/1997. Otherwise than being or beyond essence. (A. Lingis, Trans.). Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press] ideas on relational proximity in the face of the Other and, through meeting, the potential for intimate experiencing of being-with, on occasion seeming as if to transcend the co-sensed temporal ‘now’. This potential is considered alongside Butler’s [2004. Precarious life. In J. Butler (Ed.), Precarious life: The powers of mourning and violence (Chap. 5, pp. 128–151). New York, NY: Verso] reflections on Levinas’s ethical relation in the context of ‘post 9-11’ conflicts, where she offers perspectives on the act of killing ‘self’ in suicide and living-with self in the act, and aftermath, of killing an ‘other’ – the act of killing ‘other’ would entail killing one’s own human meaning, destroying ‘self’ and the consequent capacity for empathy towards others. There is a paradoxical link between these notions of killing ‘other’, living-with/killing self, and Levinas’s notion of the sensed fear of annihilating ‘other’ and/or annihilation of self when in ethical relational with the face of the intimate Other (Autrui). At its most spiritual this is described by Levinas (1961/1969) as if touching ‘totality’ within and either side of now; in mutual intimacy through the ‘saying’ in the ethical relation that is beyond self and Other, stretching towards timeless ‘infinity’, the Universe and/or God who is (in) the Other.

Prior exposure to extreme pain alters neural response to pain in others.

In the extant literature examining the brain mechanisms implicated in pain perception, researchers have theorized that the overlapping responses to pain in the self and in others mark the human capacity for empathy. Here we investigated how prior exposure to extreme pain affects pain perception, by assessing the dynamics of pain processing in veterans who were previously exposed to severe injury. Forty-three participants (28 pain-exposed and 15 controls) underwent whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) while viewing photographs of limbs in painful and nonpainful (neutral) conditions. Among controls, an early (0-220ms) "pain effect" in the posterior cingulate and sensorimotor cortices, and a later (760-900ms) "pain effect" in the posterior cingulate cortex, superior temporal gyrus/insula, and fusiform gyrus were found, indicated by enhanced alpha suppression to the pain versus nonpain conditions. Importantly, pain-exposed participants exhibited an atypical pain response in the posterior cingulate cortex, indicated by a normative response to pain, but no pain-to-no-pain differentiation. This may suggest that individuals exposed to extreme pain may perceive neutral stimuli as potentially threatening. Our findings demonstrate alterations in pain perception following extreme pain exposure, chart the sequence from automatic to evaluative pain processing, and emphasize the importance of considering past experiences in studying the neural response to others' states.

Empathy in adolescent suicidal behaviors: Perspectives from the adolescents, their parents and their healthcare professionals

Introduction Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15–25years, and the rate of suicide attempts is 10–20 times higher than that of completed suicides. Past research improved the knowledge on risk and protective factors, and resulted in large-scale campaigns of prevention and reduction of deaths by suicide. However, their effect seems to decline, and the prevalence rates of suicidal attempts have stopped decreasing (either becoming stable or increasing again). Method Qualitative synthesis on adolescents' suicidal behaviors, from the perspectives of 900 participants (adolescents presenting suicidal behaviors, their parents, and their healthcare professionals), including 44 studies (1990–2014, having good quality according to CASP evaluation) systematically found on five databases (Medline, PsycINFO, EMBASE, CINAHL, SSCI). Results The suicidal experience is organized around three superordinate themes: the individual experience (the individual burden and suffering related to suicide attempts); the relational experience (the importance of relationships with others at all stages of the process of suicidal behavior); and the social and cultural experience (how cultural groups and society accept/reject youths in distress and their families, and how this affects the suicidal process and its management). Conclusions The violence of the message of a suicidal act and the fears associated with death lead to incomprehension and interfere with the capacity for empathy of both family and professionals. How can we treat someone when our capacity of empathy is dumbfounded? Exploring the concept of intersubjectivity, we found a possible viable answer. Especially, the need of a third place in the suicidal patient care is discussed.

Erotomania and mood disorder: A case report and literature review

IntroductionErotomania is a rare delusional disorder. De Clerambault, a French psychiatrist, was the first who advanced the concept of pure erotomania, one of the “passionate psychosis”, as a distinct disorder. However, some authors tend to consider this syndrome as related to other psychiatric disorders.ObjectivesTo describe the case of a female patient with erotomanic delusion with no remission under an antipsychotic and to review the links between erotomania and other psychiatric disorders.MethodsLiterature review and a case report.ResultsWe report the case of a 32 year-old epileptic woman, hospitalized for a delusional erotomanic disorder. Initially, the patient was treated with an antipsychotic, with partial effectiveness. In fact, it appeared that the conviction of being loved began while she was depressed. After one month of combined antipsychotic and antidepressive medication, she became euthymic and her erotomanic delusions disappeared. Major depressive disorder with psychotic symptoms was diagnosed. After reviewing the literature we found that erotomanic symptoms frequently appear secondarily in other psychiatric disorders. Several publications indicate a frequent association between erotomania and mood disorder, especially bipolar affective disorder and major depression, and describe the efficacy of antidepressant and mood stabilizers. Numerous theories may explain the link between erotomania and mood disorder: from narcissistic needs, to the capacity of empathy and emotional processing. Further studies are needed to clarify the nature of this link.ConclusionIn clinical practice, a mood disorder must systematically be searched for and treated in a patient with erotomanic delusions.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Cognitive bias salience in patients with schizophrenia in relation to social functioning: A four‐case observation study

Neurocognition and social cognition are the core deficits influencing social outcomes in patients with schizophrenia. These deficits are present in the prodromal phase, throughout the illness and in first-degree relatives. They are considered in the framework of neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative models as well as candidates for endophenotypes of schizophrenia. Four clinical cases with patients reflecting different cognitive profiles were chosen to demonstrate heterogeneity of cognitive biases and their influence on social function in vivo. The patients had undergone a number of neurocognitive and social cognitive measures. Better functioning was observed in patients with less affected domains of emotional processing and theory of mind, while neurocognitive statuses were incongruent to levels of social functioning. Further investigation on large samples concerning capacity for empathy and its role in social functioning is needed.

From clinical cases to clinical research: Neurocognition and social cognition in schizophrenia

IntroductionNeurocognition and social cognition are the core deficits influencing social outcomes in patients with schizophrenia. These deficits are present in prodromal phase and throughout the illness, in first-degree relatives and are considered in the framework of neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative models.MethodFour clinical cases with patients reflecting different cognitive profiles were chosen to demonstrate heterogeneity of cognitive biases and their influence on the social function en vivo. The patients have undergone a number of neurocognitive and social cognitive measures.ResultsIn these four patients, we would like to highlight the dissociation of neurocognitive deficits, clinical manifestations and social functioning. Social cognitive measures revealed heterogeneity of biases in different domains. As a result of our observation, we can hypothesize that better social functioning was achieved by patients with better abilities to discriminate negative emotions and states of mind in others.ConclusionDespite certain limitations of case-report studies, it is hard not to point out heterogeneity and incoherence of social and neurocognition. We assume that intact domains of Processing of Emotions and Theory of Mind predispose to better social functioning, while it's hard to trace this connection to neurocognition. This result needs to be challenged on large samples in future research, concerning emotionality in Theory of Mind and capacity for empathy and its’ role in social functioning.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

How do social cognition dimensions relate to DSM-5 dimensions of psychosis?

IntroductionExisting research shows that individuals with schizophrenia (SCZ) show substantial deficits in social cognitive domains, including facial emotion recognition (FER), empathy, and Theory of Mind (ToM). Their exact relationship with the different dimensions included in the “Clinician- Rated Dimensions of Psychosis Symptom Severity” of the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) remains unexplored.ObjectivesTo investigate the relationship between different social cognition dimensions and the dimensions of psychosis included in the DSM-5.MethodsFifty-eight outpatients with stable SCZ completed the Intention-Inferencing Task (IIT), a non-verbal ToM task and the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE). They also completed a newly developed and validated FER task constructed from photographs of the face of a famous Tunisian actress and evaluating the ability to correctly identify Ekman's six basic facial emotions. The clinician-rated dimensions of psychosis symptom severity was used to evaluate 8 dimensions of psychosis.ResultsThe patients presenting higher cognitive empathy capacities had less present abnormal psychomotor behaviour scores (P = 0.05). Higher levels of affective empathy were correlated to lower present delusions score (P = 0.037). Better scores in the IIT were correlated to less present negative scores (P = 0.013) and less impaired cognition scores (P = 0.009). FER task score didn’t correlated with any clinical dimension.ConclusionsOur results suggest the existence of specific relationships between social cognition dimensions and psychosis dimensions. Further studies are needed to confirm these relationships.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.