Perspective-taking Research Articles

The cognitive mechanisms underlying perspective taking between conversational partners: Evidence from speakers with Alzheimer׳s disease

Successful communication requires speakers to consider their listeners׳ perspectives. Little is known about how this ability changes in Alzheimer׳s Disease (AD) although such knowledge could reveal the cognitive mechanisms fundamental to perspective-taking ability, and reveal which cognitive deficits are fundamental to communication disorders in AD. Patients with mild to moderate AD and age and education matched controls were tested in a communicative perspective-taking task, and on measures of executive control, general cognitive functioning, and lexical retrieval. Patients׳ ability to perform the perspective-taking task was significantly correlated with performance on measures of general cognitive functioning, visual scanning and construction, response conflict and attention. Measures of lexical retrieval tended not to be correlated with performance on the communication task with one exception: semantic but not letter fluency predicted a derived score of perspective-taking ability. These findings broaden our understanding of the cognitive mechanisms underlying perspective taking, and suggest that impairments in perspective taking in AD occur during utterance planning, and at a relatively early processing stage which involves rapid visual scanning and problem solving, rather than during retrieval of lexical items needed to speak. More broadly, these data reveal executive function and semantic deficits, but not problems with lexical retrieval, as more fundamental to the basis of cognitive changes associated with AD.

To be or not to be empathic: the combined role of empathic concern and perspective taking in understanding burnout in general practice

BackgroundGeneral practice is stressful and burnout is common among family physicians. A growing body of evidence suggests that the way physicians relate to their patients could be linked to burnout. The goal of this study was to examine how patterns of empathy explained physicians’ burnout.MethodsWe surveyed 294 French general practitioners (response rate 39%), measured burnout, empathic concern (EC) and perspective taking (PT) using self-reported questionnaires, and modeled burnout levels and frequencies with EC, PT and their interaction in linear and logistic regression analyses.ResultsMultivariate linear models for burnout prediction were associated with lower PT (β = −0.21, p < 0.001) and lower EC (β = −0.17, p < 0.05). Interestingly, the interaction (EC x PT) also predicted burnout levels (β = 0.11, p < 0.05). The investigation of interactions revealed that high scores on PT predicted lower levels of burnout independent from EC (odd ratios (OR) 0.37; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.21–0.65 p < 0.001), and high scores on both EC and PT were protective against burnout: OR 0.31; 95% CI 0.15–0.63, p < 0.001).ConclusionsDeficits in PT alone might be a risk factor for burnout, whereas higher PT and EC might be protective. Educators should take into account how the various components of empathy are potentially associated with emotional outcomes in physicians.

The Intervention Strategies of Implicit Racial Prejudice

Implicit prejudice is often distinct from explicit prejudice when social norms are at work.With the rise of the research on implicit cognition,researchers begin to inspect the implicit part of racial prejudice.Intervention strategies of implicit racial prejudice have become a hot topic of racial prejudice research.The intervention strategies that reduce prejudice formation include evaluative conditioning,attribution training,intergroup contact,boundary reconstruction and the guidance of moral conviction.The intervention strategies that reduce prejudice expressing include providing counter-stereotypical exemplars,interference of egalitarian goals,improving perspective taking ability,mimicry of the discriminated and inducing positive affect.In the future,the research on motivation to control prejudice needs to be enhanced.Efforts should be made to improve the effectiveness of implicit racial prejudice intervention and ecological validity of experimental paradigm need to be emphasized.

Effect of empathy, forgiveness on urban residents’ life satisfaction

Objective To explore the effect of empathy and forgiveness on urban residents’ life satisfaction. Methods Interpersonal Reactivity Index(IRI), Trait Forgivingness Scale(TFS) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale(SWLS) were administrated to 3537 participants living in several provinces in China. Results ①The variable of perspective-taking had significant main effect on both forgiveness and life satisfaction(β=0.409, P<0.01; β=0.145, P<0.01), and particularly personal distress had significant negative effect on both forgiveness and life satisfaction(β=-0.291, P<0.01; β=-0.181, P<0.01)②Forgiveness had significant main effect on life satisfaction(β=0.142, P<0.01). ③The relationship between perspective-taking and life satisfaction was partially mediated by forgiveness(P<0.01). The relationship between personal distress and life satisfaction was also partially mediated by forgiveness(P<0.01). Conclusion Perspective-taking and personal distress has different predicting effect on life satisfaction, and forgiveness plays an important mediating role in the relationship between them. Key words: Empathy; Forgiveness; Life satisfaction; Mediating effects

Changes in empathy among first year medical students before and after a medical humanities module

Introduction : A medical humanities (MH) module is conducted for all first year students at at KIST Medical College, Lalitpur, Nepal. Objective : The present study was conducted to measure empathy among students before and after a Medical Humanities (MH) module using Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) a validated measure of empathy at KIST Medical College, Lalitpur, Nepal from February to May 2009. Method : IRI was administered to students before and on conclusion of the module. IRI measures four aspects of empathy: Perspective-taking (PT), Fantasy (FS), Empathic concern (EC) and Personal distress (PD). Students were invited to participate in the study. Demographic information (gender, method of financing of medical education, area of residence and occupations of parents) was collected. The pre-module and post-module scores were compared among different subgroups of respondents using appropriate non-parametric tests (p<0.05). Result : Sixty-four of the 75 students (85.3%) participated in the survey pre-module and 57 students (76%) post-module. Most were self-financing and from urban areas. Before the module the median (interquartile range) FS, PT, EC and PD scores were 20, 18 (15-20), 21 (18.25-24) and 15 (10-18) respectively (maximum score 28 for each subscale). The PD score was significantly higher among females (p<0.001) and students whose father was not a doctor (p=0.049). After the module the median (interquartile range) FS, PT, EC and PD scores were 20 (15-24), 20 (17.5-22), 21 (17.5-23) and 16 (13-19) respectively. The PT score was significantly higher after the module (p=0.023). Conclusion : The module increased PT scores (cognitive empathy) in first year students. Follow up studies and studies in larger populations are required.

The Effect of Embodied Experiences on Self-Other Merging, Attitude, and Helping Behavior

Immersive virtual environment technology (IVET) provides users with vivid sensory information that allow them to embody another person's perceptual experiences. Three experiments explored whether embodied experiences via IVET would elicit greater self-other merging, favorable attitudes, and helping toward persons with disabilities compared to traditional perspective taking, which relies on imagination to put the self in another person's shoes. Trait dispositions to feel concern for others was tested as a moderating variable. Participants in the embodied experiences (EE) condition were exposed to a red-green colorblind simulation using IVET while participants in the perspective taking (PT) condition were exposed to a normal colored IVET world and instructed to imagine being colorblind. Experiment 1 compared EE against PT and found that EE was effective for participants with lower tendencies to feel concern for others 24 hours after treatment. Experiment 2 delved further into the underlying process of EE and confirmed that a heightened sense of realism during the EE led to greater self-other merging compared to PT. Finally, Experiment 3 demonstrated that the effect of EE transferred into the physical world, leading participants to voluntarily spend twice as much effort to help persons with colorblindness compared to participants who had only imagined being colorblind.

Own Group Oppression, Other Group Oppression, and Perspective Taking

This survey research examined the relationship of awareness of own versus awareness of other group oppression across sexism, racism, and homonegativity, by including perspective taking (PT) as a moderator. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that awareness of sexism (own group oppression) predicted awareness of racism (other group oppression) in a sample of 116 European American females (Study 1), whereas awareness of racism (own group oppression) did not predict awareness of homonegativity (other group oppression) in a sample of 113 U.S. racial minorities (Study 2). High PT, compared to low PT, did not predict a stronger relationship between awareness of own and awareness of other group oppression. Post-hoc speculation on the role of PT in intergroup relations and implications for research and counseling are discussed.

Which spatial abilities and strategies predict males’ and females’ performance in the object perspective test?

The present study aimed to investigate whether different spatial abilities and strategies sustain perspective-taking (PT) performance in males and females. The PT task used was the Object Perspective Test (OPT, Kozhevnikov and Hegarty in Mem Cogn 29:745-756, 2001; Hegarty and Waller in Intelligence 32:175-191, 2004). A sample of 40 males and 40 females completed the OPT and several other visuo-spatial tasks and questionnaires. Multiple regression analysis showed that OPT performance was predicted positively by a spatial imagery preference and negatively by the specific use of mental rotation strategy (i.e. turning the sheet of paper). Gender interacted with the Embedded Figure Test (EFT), a spatial visualization task, since high EFT scores only positively predicted the OPT results in males. Overall, our results show that OPT performance is sustained by specific spatial abilities and strategies modulated, at least in part, by gender.

Examining the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) Among Early and Late Adolescents and Their Mothers

We examined whether the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; Davis, 1980), consisting of Perspective Taking (PT), Empathic Concern (EC), Personal Distress (PD), and Fantasy (FN), is a psychometrically invariant empathy measure for early and late adolescents and their mothers. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated adequate properties and psychometric invariance across 2 Dutch samples (269 early adolescents, 232 late adolescents). Females scored higher than males on each subscale. Early adolescents scored lower than late adolescents on PT and FN, and higher on PD. The different groups showed similar subscale associations with psychosocial health indexes, and similar subscale contributions to a higher order empathy dimension. Most dimensions showed positive correlations between adolescents and mothers. The IRI appears adequate for examining empathy across the span of adolescence, as well as patterns between youths and mothers.

Cultural Perspective Taking in Cross-Cultural Negotiation

This study introduces the construct cultural perspective taking in negotiation, the active consideration of the other party’s culturally-normative negotiation behaviors prior to negotiation, and compares the effect of cultural perspective taking (CPT) versus alternative-focused perspective taking (PT) in cross-cultural negotiations. 160 undergraduate students of North American and East Asian ethnicity in the United States and Canada participated in a simulated cross-cultural buyer-seller negotiation in a laboratory study. Participants were randomly assigned to CPT or PT condition. Results show that negotiators who engaged in CPT claimed more value than those who engaged in PT. And when both East Asian and North American negotiators engaged in CPT, East Asian negotiators claimed more value. CPT had no effect on value creation. This study highlights that learning about the other culture before a cross-cultural encounter benefits value claiming, but not necessarily value creation.

Perspective Taking Through Narratives

This study investigated the use of a narrative-based language intervention program for teaching perspective-taking skills to students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The participants consisted of 18 students between the ages of 9 years 7 months and 12 years 2 months ( M = 10:8) who had a diagnosis of an ASD. Students received 500 minutes of either a narrative-based intervention that focused on teaching perspective taking (PTI) or a traditional narrative-based language intervention (NBLI) that focused on story elements and semantics. Intervention was provided in small groups consisting of five students and one speech-language pathologist. The participants who received the PTI demonstrated greater growth in their ability to retell the story from the perspective of different characters compared to those who participated in the NBLI. Clinical implications are included.

New perspectives on perspective-taking mechanisms and the out-of-body experience

New perspectives on perspective-taking mechanisms and the out-of-body experience

Empathic Correlates of Witnessing the Inhumane Killing of an Animal: An Investigation of Single and Multiple Exposures

AbstractSeventy-five adults who reported witnessing at least 1 animal being killed inhumanely participated in a study of 5 measures of empathy from the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) (Davis, 1980) and the Animal Attitude Scale (AAS) (Herzog, Betchart, &amp; Pittman, 1991): Perspective Taking (PT), Fantasy (FS), Emotional Concern (EC), Personal Distress (PD), and Animal Attitudes (AA). Females showed greater sensitivity (4 of 5 scales) on a 2-way MANOVA with Sex (male, female) and Witnessing Killing (never, once, multiple) as independent variables. Individuals who witnessed multiple killings were higher on PT and lower on PD scales. Lower PD for those who witnessed multiple killings suggests hardening or habituation related to exposure. Alternatively, they may lack resistance to involvement in situations leading to animal violence. Higher PT scores related to multiple killings may indicate a natural leaning toward the cognitive—rather than affective—or dissociation between cognitive and affective. A shift to the cognitive, as a defense mechanism, suggests a dissociation hypothesis. Implications extend to the need for refined research in the developmental sequence of animal abuse and empathy, and humane education.

Measuring Empathic Tendencies: Reliability And Validity of the Dutch Version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index

The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; Davis, 1980) is a commonly used self-report instrument designed to assess empathic tendencies. The IRI consists of four separate subscales: Perspective Taking (PT), Fantasy (FS), Empathic Concern (EC), and Personal Distress (PD). The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a Dutch version of the IRI. The IRI was administered to a Dutch sample of 651 normal functioning adults. The factor structure of the IRI was examined by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The results of the CFA revealed that there is room for improvement and modification of the original theoretical model. The validity of the IRI was tested using internal criteria (i. e., scale intercorrelations) and external criteria (i. e., correlations with subscales of the EQ-i (Bar-On, 1997), the NEO-FFI (Hoekstra, Ormel, & De Fruyt, 1996), Mach-IV (Van Kenhove, Vermeir, & Verniers, 2001), Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), and the WAIS-III (Wechsler, 2000)). Overall, the internal consistency, construct validity, and factor structure of scores from the Dutch version of the IRI suggest that it is a useful instrument to measure people's self-reported empathic tendencies.

看護師はどのようにして患者の立場に立って考えているのか？

看護師はどのようにして患者の立場に立って考えているのか？

Relationship between increased personal well-being and enhanced empathy among internal medicine residents.

While resident distress and its potential to negatively effect patient care have been well documented, little is known bout resident well-being or its potential to enhance care. We measured resident well-being and explored its relationship with empathy. Anonymous, cross-sectional survey. Internal medicine residents at Mayo Clinic Rochester (n=165, summer 2003). Well-being was measured using the previously validated Medical Outcomes Study 8-item Short Form (SF-8). Empathy was measured using the previously validated Perspective Taking (PT) and Empathetic Concerns (EC) Sub-scales of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Eighty-three (50%) residents responded to the survey. Mean scores for well-being as measured by the SF-8 were comparable to the general population, and empathy scores on the IRI were similar to other resident samples. Resident empathy on both the cognitive (PT) and emotive (EC) sub-scales of the IRI was higher for residents with higher mental well-being on the SF-8; however, this difference was statistically significant only for the cognitive sub-scale. The importance of a number of personal wellness promotion strategies differed for residents with higher mental well-being on the SF-8. High mental well-being was associated with enhanced resident empathy in this cross-sectional survey. Future studies need to explore the potential for high resident well-being to enhance medical care and competency in addition to exploring the negative consequences of resident distress. Studies investigating how to promote resident well-being are needed.

Valuing empathy and emotional intelligence in health leadership: a study of empathy, leadership behaviour and outcome effectiveness

This article examines the relationship between health managers' self-assessed empathy, their leadership behaviours as rated by their staff, and staff's personal ratings on a range of work satisfaction and related outcome measures. Empathy was conceived of as four distinct but related individual dispositions, namely empathic concern (EC), perspective taking (PT), personal distress (PD) and empathic matching (EM). Results showed three empathy scales (EC, PT and EM) were, as postulated, positively related to transformational behaviour (inspiring followers to achieve more than expected). The same three measures, also as expected, showed no relationship to transactional behaviour (motivating followers to achieve expected results) and were negatively associated with laissez-faire leadership (an absence of leadership style). Relationships between empathy scales and outcome measures were selective and moderate in size. Strongest empathy association was evident between the PT scale and most outcome measures. Conversely, the extra effort outcome appeared most sensitive to the range of empathy scales. Where significant relationships did exist between empathy and outcome, leadership behaviour was in all cases a perfect mediator. Whilst not denying the smaller dispositional effects on leadership outcomes, leadership behaviour itself, rather than individual traits such as empathy, appear to be major influencing factors in leadership effectiveness.

Attribution-Emotion Processes in White's Realistic Empathy Approach to Conflict and Negotiation.

Emotions and the cognition-emotion linkage in conflict-related behaviors are examined in relation to White's (1985, 1986, 1991) realistic empathy approach to conflict and negotiation. An attribution-empathy model of prosocial behavior (e.g., Betancourt, 1990) and an attribution-emotion model of violence in conflict environments (e.g., Betancourt & Blair, 1992) provide the conceptual frame for articulating proposed relations among the various psychological aspects thought to be associated in realistic empathy. Research testing the structure of relations among perspective taking (PT), attribution processes, empathic emotions (EE), and anger as determinants of conflict-related behaviors provided evidence concerning the role of realistic empathy in conflict resolution and negotiations. Although realistic empathy is not actually measured in these studies, the procedure by which it is induced was manipulated and behaviors theoretically associated with it were measured. Results show that PT influences EE, anger,...

Perspective-taking humor and authoritarianism as predictors of anthropocentrism

Perspective-taking humor and authoritarianism as predictors of anthropocentrism

Qualitative reasoning about physical systems with multiple perspectives

To study commonsense reasoning and to write programs that reason effectively about the physical world, we must understand the nature of perspective-taking in qualitative reasoning--which perspectives to take, how to represent them, and when to shift from one perspective to another. This dissertation defines a task-driven approach to perspective-taking for automated qualitative reasoning. Central to our approach is the notion that model formulation and selection is an integral part of reasoning about complex physical systems. Given a task, models can be created that reflect different configurations of the system topology, at various structural granularities, and in distinct language forms. This dissertation describes a computational framework that integrates three perspective-taking dimensions in reasoning about electronic circuits: topological configuration, structural aggregation, and ontological choice. The research shows that by using a task-driven, perspective-taking approach, we can extend the range of automated qualitative causal reasoning about complex physical systems.