Empathic Concern Research Articles

An investigation of the modulatory effects of empathic and autistic traits on emotional and facial motor responses during live social interactions.

A close relationship between emotional contagion and spontaneous facial mimicry has been theoretically proposed and is supported by empirical data. Facial expressions are essential in terms of both emotional and motor synchrony. Previous studies have demonstrated that trait emotional empathy enhanced spontaneous facial mimicry, but the relationship between autistic traits and spontaneous mimicry remained controversial. Moreover, previous studies presented faces that were static or videotaped, which may lack the "liveliness" of real-life social interactions. We addressed this limitation by using an image relay system to present live performances and pre-recorded videos of smiling or frowning dynamic facial expressions to 94 healthy female participants. We assessed their subjective experiential valence and arousal ratings to infer the amplitude of emotional contagion. We measured the electromyographic activities of the zygomaticus major and corrugator supercilii muscles to estimate spontaneous facial mimicry. Individual differences measures included trait emotional empathy (empathic concern) and the autism-spectrum quotient. We did not find that live performances enhanced the modulatory effect of trait differences on emotional contagion or spontaneous facial mimicry. However, we found that a high trait empathic concern was associated with stronger emotional contagion and corrugator mimicry. We found no two-way interaction between the autism spectrum quotient and emotional condition, suggesting that autistic traits did not modulate emotional contagion or spontaneous facial mimicry. Our findings imply that previous findings regarding the relationship between emotional empathy and emotional contagion/spontaneous facial mimicry using videos and photos could be generalized to real-life interactions.

Impact of student attributes on empathy during a dementia simulation: a mixed methods study

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between trait and situational empathy, and the effect of educational activities on empathy of nursing students towards people living with dementia.Design/methodology/approachThis embedded mixed-methods study compared trait and situational empathy examined situational empathy pre/post didactic and experiential activities with nursing students and used qualitative data from focus group discussions to corroborate the quantitative data.FindingsThere was no significant difference between trait and situational empathy. Post intervention scores (situational) demonstrated improvements on empathic concern, shared affect, empathic imagination, helping motivation and cognitive empathy. Focus group discussions supported quantitative findings and also included distress.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include lack of generalizability, single group threats and exclusion of stakeholder input. Single group threats include absence of a control group, familiarity with the CSES from pre-test to post-test and reactive measurements, as the students were observed by faculty while completing the Dementia Live activity. The perspective of stakeholders would strengthen the impact of the results on implementation.Practical implicationsInformation gleaned from this study can help inform administrators in education and in practice. CliftonStrengths assessment and Dementia Live simulation activities can be used for administrators, faculty and students in schools of nursing as well as administrators and health-care workers.Social implicationsInformation from this study can impact those living with dementia as well as their caregivers.Originality/valueMost studies involving health-care students and empathy do not delineate between trait and situational empathy. This study is unique in that it measured both and sought a relationship between the two. Determining one's personal attributes such as trait empathy, can help students capitalize on their strengths and ultimately enhance patient care.

The Impact of Touch Screen Tablet Caring Games on Empathic Concern and Compassion in Young Children

Tablet apps that simulate caring for virtual characters have gained considerable popularity among preschoolers. These games involve taking care of virtual pets, babies, or distressed characters on touch screens. Although there are claims that these games enhance empathy and prosocial behavior, there is little research on their impact. The two experiments here explored whether playing touch screen tablet games that involve caring for virtual characters had an influence on preschoolers’ compassion and how young children’s emerging theory-of-mind and developing emotional regulation abilities moderate the relationship between these caring games and compassion towards real others. In both experiments, 3 to 6-year-olds were randomly assigned to one of three game conditions (caring, violent, or neutral). Children’s empathic concern and prosocial behavior towards distressed characters were assessed on laboratory tasks and on vignettes after playing the game. Experiment 1 (N = 192) showed that playing a caring game led to higher levels of empathic concern and helping behavior towards a distressed experimenter than violent or neutral games. In Experiment 2 (N = 188), playing a caring game resulted in higher levels of empathy and prosocial behavior towards hypothetical same-aged peers in need, as compared to the violent or neutral game conditions. Compassion after playing the caring game increased the most in children who scored low on theory-of-mind, or who scored high on emotional regulation abilities. These results suggest that playing caring touch screen games lend weight to the assumption that they may promote empathic concern and compassionate behavior towards distressed others in early childhood.

Replication of Changing Hearts and Minds? Why Media Messages Designed to Foster Empathy Often Fail (Gubler et al., 2022)

This paper focuses on computational reproducibility and robustness replicability of Gubler et al.’s(2022) studies which examine the effect of media messages on empathic concern, dissonance, and out-group policy attitudes. The original paper tests four hypotheses using two online experiments with large samples from one US state (N1=5,800; N2=2,200). Regarding the first experiment, we successfully reproduced the effect that initial antipathy weakens the effect of humanizing treatment on empathic concern (H1). However, we show that the moderating effect is negligible and has little practical significance. Moreover, the individual effect estimates in our analyses slightly differed from the original paper due to different procedure of data cleaning and minor coding errors in the original paper. The most relevant difference was the opposite effect of gender than reported in the original paper. We also show that empathic concern might mediate the effect of humanizing treatment on attitudes toward immigrants (H3). The original study rejected the mediation hypothesis due to not finding a total effect of humanizing treatment on attitudes. In contrast, we found that humanization treatment has a positive indirect effect on attitudes through empathic concern. At the same time, it also has a direct negative effect on attitudes. For the second experiment (H1, H2a, H2b, H3), we attempted to reproduce the results using a different software. We partially succeeded once receiving support from the authors of the original study. We note throughout the report issues we have encountered. Reproduction, Replication, Research Transparency, Open Science, Economics, Political Science, Persuasion, Political Communication, Empathic Concern

Association of Vedic Personality Traits and Empathy among Medical Students: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Medical students are expected to provide compassionate and empathic care to their patients. Empathy is a crucial component of the doctor-patient relationship. The Triguna theory is a fundamental concept in Hindu philosophy that describes three inherent qualities of nature: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. Each individual has a unique combination of these qualities, which shapes their personality and behaviour. However, the relationship between Triguna personality and empathy in medical students has not been explored in depth. Aim: To examine the association between Triguna personality and empathy in medical students. Materials and Methods: The present study was a crosssectional questionnaire-based survey conducted among firstphase medical undergraduates in the Department of Physiology, Rama Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India from July 2024 to August 2024. A total of 122 medical students participated in the study. The Vedic Personality Inventory (VPI) was used for assessing personality, and the Brief form of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (B-IRI) was used for assessing empathy. Correlational analysis and an unpaired student’s t-test were performed. Results: There were 122 subjects; the proportion of male and female students was 52 (42.6%) and 70 (57.4%), respectively. The mean± Standard Deviation (SD) age was 20.43±1.23 years. Sattva score was positively correlated with Perspective-taking (PT) (r=0.193, p<0.05) and negatively correlated with Personal Distress (PD) scores (r=-0.322, p<0.01). Tamas scores were positively correlated with Fantasy (FT) (r=0.251, p<0.01) and PD scores (r=0.401, p<0.01). Female participants demonstrated significantly higher mean scores as compared to males in Empathic Concern (EC) (16.9±2.681 vs. 14.730±2.951), PT (15.442±2.618 vs. 14.038±2.779), and PD (13.552±2.776 vs. 12.288±3.291) in the present study. There was no significant difference in Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas scores between males and females. Conclusion: The study explores the association between the VPI traits, such as Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, and empathy measures. Sattva shows a positive correlation with Perspective Taking (PT) and a negative correlation with PD, indicating that individuals with higher Sattva scores are likely to exhibit better social competence and emotional stability. Additionally, gender differences were observed in empathy scores, with females scoring higher than males in PT, EC, and PD, emphasising the relevance of considering personality traits in medical education to foster empathic skills among healthcare professionals.

Inducing sad recognition bias: A novel emotional probabilistic reward task and its affective consequences.

Recognition of sadness from facial expressions is associated with empathic responses. In this study, we devised an emotional probabilistic reward task (PRT) to facilitate sadness recognition and tested its effects on attentional and empathic responses to others in distress. During the emotional PRT, healthy participants were asked to discriminate between facial expressions subtly expressing sadness or anger. Reward feedback for correct sadness and anger recognition was provided, with different probabilities between the training (70% vs. 30%) and control groups (50% vs. 50%). Subsequently, participants performed a visual dot-probe task involving facial expressions of sadness, anger, fear, and happiness. They also completed an empathy rating task while viewing short video clips depicting people experiencing distressing or neutral events. The results showed that the training group developed greater recognition bias for sadness than the control group. Within the training group, sad recognition bias was positively associated with subsequent attentional orienting to sad faces and empathic concern towards distressed others. These findings suggest that the emotional PRT holds promise for modifying cognitive and emotional processes that are associated with empathy for others.

Intergroup attitudes and empathy: The mediating role of cosmopolitan orientation

This study delves into the intricate dynamics of empathy, cosmopolitan orientation, and attitudes towards Roma, Jews, and Muslims in the specific context of Hungary. Prioritizing cosmopolitan orientation's potential mediating role, it examines how empathic concern and perspective taking, key components of empathy, impact attitudes towards these minority groups via cosmopolitan orientation. The research, involving a representative sample (N = 1000) and employing structural equation modeling, supports the hypothesized mediating role of cosmopolitan orientation. It uncovers significant associations between empathy components and cosmopolitan orientation, and the latter's considerable influence on attitudes towards the minority groups. This work provides valuable insights into the understanding and cultivation of more harmonious intergroup relationships, foregrounding the importance of cosmopolitan orientation.

I like it because it hurts you: On the association of everyday sadism, sadistic pleasure, and victim blaming.

Past research on determinants of victim blaming mainly concentrated on individuals' just-world beliefs as motivational process underlying this harsh reaction to others' suffering. The present work provides novel insights regarding underlying affective processes by showing how individuals prone to derive pleasure from others' suffering-individuals high in everyday sadism-engage in victim blaming due to increased sadistic pleasure and reduced empathic concern they experience. Results of three cross-sectional studies and one ambulatory assessment study applying online experience sampling method (ESM; overall N = 2,653) document this association. Importantly, the relation emerged over and above the honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness personality model (Study 1a), and other so-called dark traits (Study 1b), across different cultural backgrounds (Study 1c), and also when sampling from a population of individuals frequently confronted with victim-perpetrator constellations: police officers (Study 1d). Studies 2 and 3 highlight a significant behavioral correlate of victim blaming. Everyday sadism is related to reduced willingness to engage in effortful cognitive activity as individuals high (vs. low) in everyday sadism recall less information regarding victim-perpetrator constellations of sexual assault. Results obtained in the ESM study (Study 4) indicate that the relation of everyday sadism, sadistic pleasure, and victim blaming holds in everyday life and is not significantly moderated by interpersonal closeness to the blamed victim or impactfulness of the incident. Overall, the present article extends our understanding of what determines innocent victims' derogation and highlights emotional mechanisms, societal relevance, and generalizability of the observed associations beyond the laboratory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The effect of simulation on attitudes and empathy related to persons experiencing homelessness among nursing students

BackgroundA lack of empathy can directly impact the quality of care provided to those who are unhoused. This quality improvement project aimed to increase the attitudes and empathy of nursing students toward people who are unhoused via a simulation experience, including the use of standardized patients and a computerized reality game. MethodsThis quality improvement project was a quasi-experimental, one-group pretest-posttest-posttest design evaluating changes in results of the Healthcare Providers Attitudes Towards Homeless Inventory and the Comprehensive State Empathy Scale surveys. ResultsDescriptive statistics were evaluated at each survey interval for both survey tools. All mean scores increased after the intervention with the exception of empathic concern in the immediate postintervention survey. ConclusionsClinical significance should be considered for this project. Simulation is a potentially effective way to improve nursing student attitudes and empathy toward the unhoused population. Due to project limitations, statistical significance cannot be evaluated. Future projects utilizing a larger sample size and refined simulation is recommended. Improving nursing students' attitudes and empathy can affect their ability to advocate for the unhoused population.

Psychometric properties of the SocioEmotional Skills Instrument for Teachers using network approach: English and Spanish version.

The importance of socioemotional teaching skills has been highlighted for its link with better academic, social, emotional, and behavioral results of students, as well as for its contribution to the work wellbeing, mental health, and prosperity of teachers. However, there are few instruments that measure these skills in teachers in the context of their professional practice. The purpose of this research was to analyze the psychometric properties of the socioemotional Skills Instrument for Teachers (SEMS-IT). An instrumental design and a sample of 853 Chilean secondary school teachers were used. To evaluate the dimensional structure of the instrument, a portion of the sample (n = 468) underwent a network estimation method with exploratory graph analysis (EGA) using a Gaussian GLASSO model. Then, in order to confirm the structural consistency and stability of the items, the analysis was replicated in a second sample (n = 385), where these results were additionally contrasted with those of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The EGA findings confirmed a structure of four dimensions and 19 items in total: (a) cognitive management of teacher emotion (four items), (b) teacher empathic concern (four items), (c) teacher-student relationship (four items), and (d) adverse classroom climate (seven items), with a 7-point Likert scale response format. The CFA showed good and acceptable fit indicators, X2 (171) = 354.546 (p < 0.001), Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.971, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.966, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.061, and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) = 0.062. In conclusion, a tool for the assessment of teachers' socioemotional skills, valid for school-based educational research, is provided. Implications of the findings at the theoretical and practical levels are discussed, as well as limitations and future projections for future research.

The Protective Effects of Empathic Concern and Optimism on Emotional Exhaustion

The Protective Effects of Empathic Concern and Optimism on Emotional Exhaustion

Human-animal interaction and One Health: establishment and validation of the Brazilian version of the Animal Empathy Scale.

To design and validate a Brazilian version of the Animal Empathy Scale, based on the existing Portuguese version. Content validity assessment was performed by expert judges, and the adapted scale was administered to a sample of 386 participants. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. The bifactorial profile of the scale remained consistent, comprising Empathic Concern for Animals (Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients: 0.75) and Emotional Attachment with Animals (Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients: 0.79). Considering the One Health framework, collaborative, multidisciplinary, and intersectoral approaches are essential for achieving optimal health conditions for people, animals, and the environment given their intricate interconnections. Empathy plays a crucial role in promoting proximity between humans and animals, fostering positive connections that encourage biodiversity conservation. The 13 statements were retained, confirming the validity of the animal empathy scale for use in Brazil, and a Brazilian version of the Animal Empathy Scale was established.

Longitudinal associations between parents' prosocial behavior and media use and young children's prosocial development: The mediating role of children's media use.

Research has found that media is associated with children's prosocial behavior (PB) from an early age, and that parents play a key role in children's media use and behavior. However, few studies explore these relations as early as infancy while also controlling for well-established predictors of PB (e.g., empathic concern). Thus, the present study examined longitudinal associations between parents' PB and media use, and prosocial development during early childhood, mediated by children's own media use. Participants were 519 children (M age at Time 1=17.77months) and parents who participated in three timepoints of an ongoing, longitudinal study. A longitudinal path model suggested that children's media use was still significantly associated with PB 1year later after accounting for factors such as parents' PB, media use, and empathy. These findings have important implications for the early development of behaviors that serve as a foundation for social and moral development.

Neural correlates of empathy in mild cognitive impairment.

The occurrence of clinically significant changes in empathy is a matter of debate in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Altered empathic mechanisms observed in AD may be a consequence of cognitive impairment, more specifically of reduced mental flexibility and self-regulation. The present study explored possible changes in empathy for subjects in the prodromal phase of AD, namely mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD, and of their neural substrates. Eighteen MCI patients and 20 healthy controls (HC) were included in the study. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) questionnaire was administered to each participant. The IRI encompasses four factors: Perspective Taking; Fantasy; Empathic Concern; Personal Distress. MCI patients underwent a magnetic resonance imaging structural examination and were compared to 30 healthy controls (HC-MRI). A limited number of cortical and subcortical regions involved in social cognition was selected as regions of interest (ROIs). MCI individuals obtained lower scores than HC in the Perspective Taking and Fantasy subscales of the IRI, whereas they obtained higher scores on Empathic Concern. Regarding neuroimaging data, a significant correlation emerged between IRI scores and the neural measurements of different regions involved in empathy, especially covering the temporoparietal junction, which is a critical region engaged in both affective and cognitive dimensions of empathy. The results of the present study suggest that a subtle impairment in regulatory mechanisms of empathy may occur very early during the course of AD, possibly as a consequence of neuropathological changes occurring in brain regions involved in social cognition.

Pengaruh Iklim Etika terhadap Kinerja Karyawan

Purpose: This study aims to determine the effect of the ethical climate, which consists of collective moral sensitivity (moral awareness and empathic concern), collective moral judgment (self-focused and focus on others), and collective moral motivation on employee performance in private tertiary institutions in Bandar Lampung. Methodology/approach: This study uses primary data from the results of a questionnaire with a Likert scale. This quantitative research distributed questionnaires to 245 respondents from private universities in Bandar Lampung. The data analysis tool used was linear regression analysis with SPSS 25. Results/findings: The study's results show that collective moral sensitivity (moral awareness and empathic concern) does not affect performance, while collective moral judgment (focus on oneself and focus on others) and collective moral motivation affect performance. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it is hoped that the leaders of private higher education can provide leadership and ethics training, build organizational member trust, build a culture of inclusiveness and proactivity, and improve a sense of belonging among organizational members.

Analysis of Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward the Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Latent Profile Methods

Background: Nursing students' attitudes toward older adults was considered as one of the main reasons of willingness to provide elderly care. Previous studies could not consider the heterogeneity characteristics of nursing students' attitudes towards older adults. This study was to identify nursing students' attitude towards the elderly using Latent Profle Analysis (LPA) and discussed the influence factors of different potential attitudes. Methods: 622 participants were included. Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz, Kogan's Attitude Toward Older People Scale and Interpersonal Reactivity Index were completed. LPA and Logistic regression were used to categorize participants into distinct KAOP subgroups and identify predictors of KAOP subgroup classification, respectively. Results: Latent Profles Analysis produced two profiles: Positive attitude (60.1%, n = 373), negative attitude (39.9%, n = 249). Positive attitude towards the elderly was decreased from 95.8% to 60.1% based on the population heterogeneity. Logistic regression analysis revealed that multiple-child family, the relationship with older adults, knowledge of aging, perspective-taking and empathic concern affect nursing students' attitude towards the elderly. Conclusions: Targeted interventions to improve attitudes might focus on those subgroups from person-oriented approach through helping them to build good relationship with older adults, strengthening knowledge of aging and cultivating empathy.

Empathy Trends in American Youth Between 1979 and 2018: An Update

Previous research has found declining dispositional empathy among American youth from 1979 to 2009. We update these trends until 2018, using three datasets. Study 1 presents a cross-temporal meta-analysis of undergraduates’ empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index), finding significant cubic trends over time: perspective taking (PT) and empathic concern (EC) both increased since 2009. Study 2 conceptually replicated these findings using nationally representative datasets, also showing increasing PT (Study 2a: American Freshman Survey) and EC (Study 2b: Monitoring the Future Survey) since 2009. We include economic, interpersonal, and worldview covariates to test for potential explanations, finding evidence that empathy trends may be related to recent changes in interpersonal dynamics.

Parental Burnout and Prosocial Behavior among Chinese Adolescents: The Role of Empathy.

Parental burnout refers to exhaustion caused by the parenting role. This devastating negative emotion can have repercussions for adolescent social development. Nevertheless, much remains unclear about the association between parental burnout and adolescent prosocial behavior and the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship. Based on theoretical and empirical evidence, the current study examined the relationship between parental burnout and adolescent prosocial behavior by using a sequential mediation model that included both parental empathy and adolescent empathy as potential mediators. A total of 488 parent-adolescent dyads (for adolescents: 45.7% men, 54.3% women, Mage = 15.28 ± 1.67 years; for parents: 36.5% fathers, 63.5% mothers, Mage = 41.30 ± 3.79 years) completed questionnaires regarding demographics, social desirability, parental burnout, parental empathy, adolescent empathy, and adolescent prosocial behavior. After controlling for demographic covariates and social desirability, the results showed that parental burnout had a negative effect on adolescent-reported prosocial behavior through parental cognitive empathy and adolescent other-oriented empathy (adolescent cognitive empathy and empathic concern) sequentially. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of parental burnout as a family environmental factor detrimental to the positive functioning of adolescents through parental reactions to their children's emotions and children's own social competence.

Moderate similarity leads to empathic concern, but high similarity can also induce personal distress towards others' pain.

Empathic concern and personal distress are common vicarious emotional responses that arise when witnessing someone else's pain. However, the influence of perceived similarity on these responses remains unclear. In this study, we examined how perceived similarity with an injured target impacts vicarious emotional responses. A total of 87 participants watched a video of an athlete in pain preceded by a clip describing the athlete's trajectory, which indicated either high, moderate, or low similarity to the participants. Emotional self-reports, facial expressions, gaze behavior, and pupil diameter were measured as indicators of the participants' emotional responses. Participants in the moderate- and high-similarity groups exhibited greater empathic concern, as evidenced by their display of more sadness compared with those in the low-similarity group. Furthermore, those in the moderate-similarity group exhibited less avoidance by displaying reduced disgust, indicating lower personal distress compared with those in the low-similarity condition. Nevertheless, the high-similarity group displayed just as much disgust as the low-similarity group. These findings suggest that perceived similarity enhances empathic concern to others' suffering, but that high similarity can also lead to personal distress. Future studies on empathy should explore distinct vicarious states using multimodal measurements to further advance our understanding of these processes.

Trust in government moderates the association between fear of COVID-19 as well as empathic concern and preventive behaviour

With the COVID-19 pandemic, behavioural scientists aimed to illuminate reasons why people comply with (or not) large-scale cooperative activities. Here we investigated the motives that underlie support for COVID-19 preventive behaviours in a sample of 12,758 individuals from 34 countries. We hypothesized that the associations of empathic prosocial concern and fear of disease with support towards preventive COVID-19 behaviours would be moderated by trust in the government. Results suggest that the association between fear of disease and support for COVID-19 preventive behaviours was strongest when trust in the government was weak (both at individual- and country-level). Conversely, the association with empathic prosocial concern was strongest when trust in the government was high, but this moderation was only found at individual-level scores of governmental trust. We discuss how motivations may be shaped by socio-cultural context, and outline how findings may contribute to a better understanding of collective action during global crises.