共情的神经生物基础

共情指个体感知或想象他人的情感, 并部分体验到他人感受的心理过程。共情包括情感共情和认知共情两个独立成分。情感共情的神经网络包括前脑岛(AI)、前扣带回(ACC)以及镜像神经系统(MNS), 认知共情的核心脑区是腹内侧前额叶(vmPFC)。共情的神经网络在个体发展中逐渐成熟并受到认知评价的调节。另外, 催产素和催产素受体基因多态性与共情密切联系。未来应该深入研究躯体感觉皮质在疼痛共情中的作用, 共情和亲身情感体验的神经网络的区别, 开展催产素改善共情缺陷个体的干预研究, 采用脑成像基因技术研究基因多态性与共情神经网络的关系以及提高共情研究范式的生态效度。     

认知共情和情绪共情的发展差异:元分析初探

共情的毕生发展模型表明认知共情和情绪共情两维度可能存在发展差异,本研究借助元分析技术考察个体认知共情和情绪共情的毕生发展特点。通过文献检索和筛查,获取了136项研究和178个独立效应量,共计50606名被试。发表偏差检验表明文献选取不存在发表偏差,异质性检验表明应选取随机效应模型进行分析。随机效应模型分析的结果表明,总体而言个体的共情反应以认知共情为主（Z=5.39,p<0.001）。进一步的调节效应分析表明,不同发展阶段个体的共情反应受认知共情和情绪共情的影响存在差异（Q_b=73.99,p<0.001）。具体而言,学前期儿童主要以情绪共情为主,儿童中期至成年早期主要以认知共情为主,成年中期至成年晚期主要以情绪共情为主。     

认知共情和情绪共情的发展差异:元分析初探

共情的毕生发展模型表明认知共情和情绪共情两维度可能存在发展差异,本研究借助元分析技术考察个体认知共情和情绪共情的毕生发展特点。通过文献检索和筛查,获取了136项研究和178个独立效应量,共计50606名被试。发表偏差检验表明文献选取不存在发表偏差,异质性检验表明应选取随机效应模型进行分析。随机效应模型分析的结果表明,总体而言个体的共情反应以认知共情为主（Z=5.39,p<0.001）。进一步的调节效应分析表明,不同发展阶段个体的共情反应受认知共情和情绪共情的影响存在差异（Q_b=73.99,p<0.001）。具体而言,学前期儿童主要以情绪共情为主,儿童中期至成年早期主要以认知共情为主,成年中期至成年晚期主要以情绪共情为主。     

共情的毕生发展:一个双过程的视角

共情中包含情绪和认知两种加工过程,二者有着不同的发展轨迹和机制。其中情绪共情是一种与生俱来的能力,从婴儿期直到成年期呈现下降趋势,到老年阶段有所上升,呈现出U形发展轨迹。其发展可能是由于镜像神经元储存的共享表征日益丰富和精细。认知共情发展相对较晚,从出生直到成年期呈现上升趋势,在老年阶段逐渐下降,呈现倒U形的发展轨迹。其发展是随着颞顶联合区和前额叶皮层成熟、个体区分自我他人和抑制自我中心能力增强而逐渐发展的。只有分别考察两个成分的发展才能了解共情发展的本质和机制。     

情境对共情的影响

共情指的是个体在与人交往的过程中共享并理解他人的情绪状态的倾向, 包括认知共情和情绪共情两种成分。现实生活中的共情总是发生在一定的具体情境中, 受到情境因素的影响。其中, 情境的公开性或私密性、意义性等均在不同程度上影响了共情的产生或共情反应的强烈程度。共情对象在特定情境中与共情主体之间的群际关系、人际关系等也是重要的情境因素, 共情主体对于和自己属于同一群体或拥有较亲密人际关系的他人更容易产生共情。情境对共情的影响通过自上而下和自下而上两种方式实现。有关情境对共情的影响研究虽然取得了一定的成果, 但仍然有进一步拓展的空间, 未来的研究需要在情境因素的内涵上进行深入挖掘, 从认知加工的角度对情境影响共情的机制做更为细致、微观地解析, 还可以从共情主体的视角明确个体差异如何调节了情境对共情的影响作用。     

儒家文化中的共情观

共情是个体设身处地地共享并理解他人的情绪情感的心理现象,是道德与利他行为的动机源泉。儒家文化作为中国传统文化的主体,蕴含着具有深远理论意义和生动实践意义的共情观。本文将共情的情绪与认知两种成分作为视角,对儒家经典文本中的共情观进行梳理、分析与比较,发现儒家文化中的"恻隐之心"、"一体之仁"、"忠恕之道"、"絜矩之道"等思想观点在作为人们日常生活中接物待人道德伦理观的同时,在社会交往、理解他人等方面与共情具有相同的心理机制以及心理学原理。基于此发现,未来在继续探究儒家核心观念"仁"等文本与共情的联系与区别的同时,还可以针对儒式文化中的共情观,进一步尝试实证性研究。     

神经科学视角下的共情研究热点

共情是指个体对他人情绪和想法的感受及理解。近年来关于共情神经机制的研究日益增多,但多集中在情感共情、认知共情、生理性疼痛共情等方面,而对社会痛共情、积极共情和不对称共情反应的研究相对较少。且由于研究范式及个体差异等原因,研究结果之间也充满着争议。未来研究可以设计更具生态效度的共情研究范式、进一步深化和细化共情的神经机制研究、从神经机制角度探讨不同共情能力个体的特点及共情反应的调节因素。     

疼痛共情的影响因素及其认知机制

疼痛共情是指个体对他人疼痛的感知、判断和情绪反应。它受到疼痛者因素、观察者因素和二者之间关系的影响。疼痛共情的认知模型主要有知觉-动作模型、疼痛共情认知模型、早期评估模型与后期评估模型。未来研究的方向在于进一步深入探讨疼痛共情的认知机制, 探索情绪因素对疼痛共情的影响和扩展研究方法。     

共情对亲社会行为的影响及神经基础

亲社会行为是指那些使他人获益的行为,这类行为具有重要的进化意义和现实意义。作为影响亲社会行为的重要因素,共情在认知神经科学领域得到了广泛研究。脑岛等脑区的激活与消极情绪体验有关,是情绪共情的神经基础,利于产生亲社会行为动机;颞顶联合区等脑区参与对他人意图的理解,是认知共情的神经基础,利于个体选择有效方式帮助别人。女性在共情时激活额下回等与情绪有关的脑区,而男性在共情时激活颞顶联合区等与认知有关的脑区,这为男女个体在亲社会行为表现上的差异提供了新证据。未来研究应完善与亲社会行为有关的脑区功能的解释,综合多种影响因素,结合病理学研究考察共情对亲社会行为的影响及神经基础。     

催产素对共情反应的影响及其作用机制

催产素是一种亲社会激素, 对人类的共情反应有重要的影响作用, 主要表现为可以促进情绪识别率, 增强对他人不幸的共情关注, 并弱化自身的个体忧伤水平等。从作用机制上来看, 催产素可能是通过促进具身模仿能力, 弱化自我中心主义倾向及调节情感表征过程来影响人类的共情反应的。未来研究可以进一步关注催产素对不同类型共情反应的影响及其催产素影响共情反应的性别差异问题, 并积极将催产素应用于共情缺陷的临床干预中。     

From face to face: the contribution of facial mimicry to cognitive and emotional empathy

ABSTRACT

Despite advances in the conceptualisation of facial mimicry, its role in the processing of social information is a matter of debate. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between mimicry and cognitive and emotional empathy. To assess mimicry, facial electromyography was recorded for 70 participants while they completed the Multifaceted Empathy Test, which presents complex context-embedded emotional expressions. As predicted, inter-individual differences in emotional and cognitive empathy were associated with the level of facial mimicry. For positive emotions, the intensity of the mimicry response scaled with the level of state emotional empathy. Mimicry was stronger for the emotional empathy task compared to the cognitive empathy task. The specific empathy condition could be successfully detected from facial muscle activity at the level of single individuals using machine learning techniques. These results support the view that mimicry occurs depending on the social context as a tool to affiliate and it is involved in cognitive as well as emotional empathy.     

Peer acceptance among Chinese adolescents: The role of emotional empathy,cognitive empathy and gender

Previous studies have found mixed results on the relationship between empathy and peer acceptance. Emotional and cognitive components of empathy were hypothesised to play different roles in peer acceptance, and the relationship between empathy and peer acceptance differed across genders. In this study, 375 Chinese adolescents completed self‐report measures of emotional and cognitive empathy. They also provided peer nominations that allowed for the determination of social preference and social impact scores. The results showed that a boy's cognitive empathy positively correlated with the extent to which he was liked by his male classmates, whereas a girl's cognitive empathy positively correlated with her social impact among her female classmates. This study suggests that empathy does not affect peer acceptance among adolescents uniformly; instead, gender plays a determinative role in the dialectics between social acceptance and empathy.     

Empathy in adolescence: Relations with emotion awareness and social roles

In this study, we aimed at gaining a better understanding of the individual differences contributing to feelings of empathy in adolescents. Therefore, we examined the extent to which emotion awareness (e.g., recognizing and appreciating one's own and the emotions of others) and a tendency for certain social roles (e.g., helping or teasing peers when being bullied) are related to adolescents’ levels of empathy. The sample was comprised of 182 adolescents aged between 11 and 16. Empathy and emotion awareness were assessed using self‐report measures. Peer reports were used to indicate adolescents’ different social roles: Bullying, defending the victim, and outsider behaviour. Outcomes demonstrated that evaluating one's own and the emotions of others, and more defending nominations were associated with both affective and cognitive empathy, whereas aspects of emotion awareness which are linked with internalizing symptoms were related to empathic distress, suggesting maladaptive emotion appraisal. Furthermore, outsider behaviour was associated with empathic distress, emphasizing a self‐focused orientation. In contrast, more bullying was negatively associated with cognitive empathy. Overall, these outcomes demonstrate that, besides social roles, emotion awareness is an important factor for adaptive empathic reactions, whereas emotion dysregulation might cause distress when witnessing the negative feelings of others.     

Comparison of Cognitive Empathy,Emotional Empathy,and Social Functioning in Different Age Groups

Empathic responses and optimum social functioning are associated with psychological and physical health benefits. The aim of this study was to compare emotional empathy, cognitive empathy, and social functioning among different age groups, including adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. One hundred and ninety‐six people (92 males, 104 females) with the age range of 14 to 85 assigned to four age groups (adolescents, young adults, middle adults, and older adults) participated in this study. Participants were asked to complete the Empathy Quotient, the Revised Eyes Test, and Social Functioning Scale. The results showed that there were significant differences between older adults and other groups. Emotional empathy increased in older people, but there were deficits in some aspects of cognitive empathy. Also, the findings showed an age‐related decline in social functioning. Due to deficits in cognitive empathy affected by ageing, older adults showed some impairment in their ability to interpret emotional cues. This age‐related decline in cognitive empathy might be a reason for weak social functioning in older adults. Therefore, considering these elements would be helpful to provide healthcare strategies for elderly people.     

心理理论对幼儿白谎行为的影响：认知移情的部分中介作用

采用失望礼物研究范式考察心理理论与幼儿白谎行为的关系,及认知移情和情绪移情在其中的中介作用。结果发现：（1）幼儿的白谎行为发生率、心理理论、认知移情和情绪移情能力随年龄的增长而提高;（2）控制年龄与言语能力后,幼儿的心理理论与认知移情呈显著正相关、与白谎行为也呈显著正相关,且认知移情与白谎行为呈显著正相关;（3）幼儿的认知移情在心理理论和白谎行为间起部分中介的作用。结果表明：幼儿的心理理论可直接影响其白谎行为,也可通过认知移情的中介作用间接影响其白谎行为。     

幼儿教师共情的负面效应：一个有调节的中介模型

为探讨共情负面效应的作用机制及条件,采用共情量表、Maslach职业倦怠问卷教育版、情绪劳动策略量表和领悟社会支持量表对253名幼儿教师进行调查。结果发现：(1)幼儿教师的情绪共情正向影响情绪枯竭,该影响作用可以通过情绪劳动这一中介实现;(2)幼儿教师的认知共情负向影响情绪枯竭;(3)社会支持调节了幼儿教师情绪劳动对情绪共情与情绪枯竭关系的中介过程的后半段路径。研究结果对幼儿教师心理健康有重要意义。     

共情与中国民族音乐情绪识别的关系：来自ERP的证据

音乐情绪识别能力是利用音乐开展情绪调节的基本条件。传统的以五声音阶为基础的具有独特韵味的中国民族音乐反映了中国人独有的情感和价值观念, 在情绪调节和音乐治疗方面具有积极的作用, 是研究音乐情绪识别的有效音乐刺激。本研究采用跨通道情绪启动范式, 通过人际反应指针问卷筛选出高、低共情组被试各36人参加脑电实验, 考察共情能力对中国民族音乐情绪识别的影响。脑电数据显示, 在进行中国民族音乐情绪内隐识别时, 将宫调和羽调音乐作为启动刺激, 诱发了中期的P2、N400以及晚期正成分LPC (Late Positive Component)。低共情组P2和N400成分的波幅大于高共情组, 高共情组LPC成分的波幅大于低共情组。本研究第一次从电生理层面考察了不同共情能力的个体在进行中国民族音乐情绪识别时的神经反应差异。高低共情组在中国民族音乐情绪识别不同阶段的注意投入可能影响了其对音乐刺激的感受, 进而影响音乐情绪识别。