Children's Perception of Parental Empathy as a Precursor of Children's Empathy in Middle and Late Childhood

The present study investigated the relationship between children's self-concepts and evaluations of parent figures. The subjects were elementary school children (352 males and 280 females; Grades 5 through 10) who came from intact families, divorced families, or families in which one or both parents had died. Significant relationships were obtained between children's self-concept ratings and their evaluations of their natural father and mother for both intact and divorced families. This relationship was not significant, however, for families in which a parent had died. Furthermore, children's self-ratings were not significantly correlated with their evaluations of stepparents.     

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.     

The Portuguese version of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES): Dimensionality and measurement invariance in a community adolescent sample

Empathy is the heightened ability to cognitively perceive and/or affectively share the emotions of others, which has been consistently associated with desirable social interactions. This paper aimed to test the bi-factorial structure of a Portuguese version of the Basic Empathy Scale and examine its variation by gender and age using a large community sample (n = 1029) of adolescents. The two-factor model, originally developed and supported by other cross-cultural validations, presented good fit indicators which was similar across genders and adolescent age groups. Girls were more empathic than boys and younger adolescents were more empathic than the older ones. Further support for the validity of the new scale comes from its relations to measures of social skills and aggression which were similar to theoretical predictions. In conclusion, the Portuguese version of the BES is a consistent and valid instrument for the assessment of empathy in samples of adolescents aged 12–18 years old in Portugal, which can now be used in cross-cultural studies of this important psychological construct.     

Psychological Aspects of Genetic Counseling: XIII. Empathy and Decency

The issues confronting genetic counselees, the demands of the new genetics and other factors suggest strongly the need for greater attention to counseling procedures which convey understanding of clients and help them feel more hopeful and more capable of dealing with their life problems. This should include interventions to help them feel more effective in their coping efforts as well as such ego-bolstering techniques as the expression of kindness, the provision of appropriate rewards, and other attempts to raise the client's self-esteem. These attempts should be a standard part of all genetic counseling. The traditional arguments of potential harm and time limitations often used to avoid counseling efforts are viewed through the lens of countertransference.     

Empathy and evaluation: Understanding the private meanings of behavior

This paper makes three points. First, empathy cannot be considered an epistemic basis for qualitative research and evaluation. Second, it is, however, a valuable method for understanding the private meanings of words and deeds. Third, this method is not completely reliable for purposes of what Popper called refutation, but is useful in what he dubbed scientific conjecture or the generation of theory. Basic researchers will need to take the necessary steps to subject empathetic hunches to critical examination. However, owing to the exigencies of action settings and decision-making, disciplined conjectures are sometimes the most that evaluators can hope to record.An earlier version of this paper was printed in the Proceedings of the Far Western Philosophy of Education Society, 1989. This version is published with permission of the Far Western Philosophy of Education society. The author is grateful for helpful comments and critisism made by members of the California Association for Philosophy Education. Remaining errors, of course, are the authors responsibility alone.     

论Empathy的翻译及其内涵

"共情"(Empathy)是十分重要的心理现象,影响着人们的社会认知和实际的人际交往;共情更是临床心理学中的专业术语,直接关系到医患关系的建立以及治疗和治愈的效果。针对目前国内心理学界对于Empathy的不同理解乃至使用上的混乱,文章从该术语的起源和本义,以及其专业内涵和翻译的意义等方面,提出了独到的见解和主张。     

Children's Understanding and Experience of Mixed Emotions: The Roles of Age,Gender, and Empathy

ABSTRACT. The present study examined the development of children's ability report understanding and experiencing allocentric mixed emotions, and explored the relation of gender and empathic ability to these skills. Participants (128 elementary school-aged children [63 boys, 65 girls]) were shown a movie clip with bittersweet themes to elicit mixed emotions. Findings from this study are consistent with prior research (Larsen, To, & Fireman, 2007), supporting a developmental progression in children's ability to both understand and report experiencing mixed emotions, with the two as distinct skills and children reporting understanding earlier than experiencing of emotions. Consistent with previous research, girls performed significantly better on the emotion experience task. Finally, results provided evidence that empathy partially mediates the relationship between age and reports of mixed emotion experience, but no evidence that empathy plays a role in mixed emotional understanding.     

自恋与攻击行为的关系:观点采择和共情关注的调节作用

为考察自恋对攻击行为的影响以及观点采择和共情关注在其中的调节效应,采用自恋人格问卷、人际反应指针量表和简版Buss-Perry攻击问卷,对562名大学生进行调查。结果发现:(1)自恋显著正向预测攻击行为;(2)观点采择和共情关注均可负向调节自恋与攻击行为的关系,两者都能显著抑制高自恋者的攻击行为,却无法影响低自恋者的攻击行为。因此,提高观点采择和增强共情关注是减少高自恋者攻击行为的重要途径。     

The Clown's Use of Empathy: An Interview with Bob Berky

Excerpts from an interview with Bob Berky reveal the clown's keen understanding of empathic attunement, what psychotherapists, pastoral counselors, and persons in pastoral care maintain is a vital correspondence toward authentic interpersonal presence. Berky discusses the use of silence and movement to free the individual with whom he invites to his stage from rigid personas and limiting preconceptions. He underscores the life-giving possibilities of the laugh of recognition—the realization that we share a kindred experience of being human, and can release our unique potentials toward creative connection and difference.     

Empathy and values as predictors of care development

Juujärvi, S., Myyry, L. & Pesso, K. (2012). Empathy and values as predictors of care development. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 413–420. This study investigates values and affective empathy as predictors for care‐based moral development. Fifty‐three students from a university of applied sciences were interviewed with Skoe’s Ethic of Care Interview at the beginning of their studies and two years later. Value priorities were measured by Schwartz et al.’s Portrait Value Questionnaire, empathy variables by Davis’ Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and feelings of sympathy were rated using a real‐life moral conflict. The results showed that students in care‐oriented fields progressed in care reasoning. Real‐life sympathy and the value of self‐direction positively predicted development in care reasoning, whereas personal distress was a negative predictor. The results indicate that care‐based moral development is more closely connected with affective empathy than personal values. Individuals who feel empathy for others, and who prefer independent thinking and action, achieve the greatest gains in care development. In conclusion, educators should encourage students’ empathy and moral reasoning in authentic moral conflicts.     

Some Personality Predictors of Tolerance to Human Diversity: The Roles of Openness,Agreeableness, and Empathy

The aim of this study was to determine the most salient predictors of tolerance to human diversity. A total of 118 individuals (M = 32.93 years, standard deviation = 13.80) responded to dilemma‐like stories involving holding prejudicial beliefs (beliefs), talking about them (speech) and acting on them (acts). Participants also completed the openness and agreeableness scales from the Big Five Inventory and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Differences in tolerance judgements were found to be related to differences in personality characteristics. Results showed that openness and agreeableness were predictors of tolerance in the belief dimension, whereas the most salient predictor of tolerance in the speech and act dimensions was empathic concern, which also mediated the relationships between agreeableness and tolerance for these dimensions. These findings are not unexpected because holding intolerant beliefs is inconsistent with having an open mind, and intolerant speech and actions are inconsistent with pro‐social behaviour, of which tolerance is arguably one form.     

临床共情与护理技术结合:人性化的护理

临床共情是一种能体验患者内心世界的能力,通过患者的言语和非言语表达,觉察和认识患者情感和情绪需求,并对其做出恰当的回应.临床共情具有科学的理论和实践基础,具有缓解患者心理上的痛苦,改善护患关系,促进患者康复等作用.在当今复杂的医疗环境下,务必要重视共情培养,适时运用临床共情.然而,我们强调临床共情的重要作用,并不能忽视护理技术的根本作用,根除躯体上的病变仍有赖于护理技术的有效性.在临床护理实践中,坚持共情与护理技术的有机结合,推进人性化的护理构建.     

Empathy, guilt, and gender: a comparison of two measures of guilt

The relations of empathy with two measures of guilt were examined in a sample of 13- to 16-year-olds (N= 113). Empathy was measured using Davis's IRI and guilt by Tangney's TOSCA and Hoffman's semi-projective story completion method that includes two different scenarios, guilt over cheating and guilt over inaction. Empathy correlated more strongly with both measures of guilt than the two measures correlated with each other. For boys, cognitive perspective-taking was a stronger predictor for guilt than for girls. Hoffman's guilt over inaction was more strongly associated with empathy measures in girls than in boys, whereas for guilt over cheating the pattern was the opposite. The results indicate that boys and girls may emphasize different aspects of morality.     

Adolescent Empathy and Prosocial Behavior in the Multidimensional Context of School Culture

The authors investigated whether students' positive perceptions of their high school's culture were associated with higher levels of empathy and prosocial behavior. The authors collected information from 2 samples to ensure a wide range of school culture perceptions. As expected, empathy and prosocial behavior were correlated. As evidence of the validity of the measure of school culture, students in a small alternative school perceived their school culture as more positive than did students in the companion large, traditional high school. More positive perceptions of school culture were associated with higher levels of empathy but not with prosocial behavior. Results were moderated by gender but not by age. Male students with higher levels of emotional concern (one aspect of empathy) perceived peer relationships (one aspect of school culture) to be more positive than did those with lower levels of emotional concern. This study highlights the importance of using multidimensional constructs for school culture and empathy to understand the effects of schooling on youth.     

Assessing a New Dimension of Empathy: Empathic Anger as a Predictor of Helping and Punishing Desires

The present research addressed the question of whether empathy can be experienced in terms of anger on behalf of a victimized person (i.e., empathic anger). The present research also tested whether empathic anger motivates desires intended to help a victim, or desires intended to punish a transgressor, or both. Four studies were conducted. Studies 1–3 developed and validated a measure of trait empathic anger. Study 4 validated a measure of state empathic anger and tested whether participants' empathic anger has an effect on their desire to engage in helping and punishing behaviors. State empathic anger had direct, positive effects on both helping and punishing desires, and trait empathic anger had positive mediated effects (via state empathic anger) on both desires. The effects of trait and state empathic anger were unique from the effects of existing measures of empathy-as-sadness. Implications for future empathy and prosocial behavior research are discussed.     

Romantic Attachment,Empathy, and the Broader Autism Phenotype among College Students

Recent research suggests that mild autistic-like characteristics can be measured among relatives of individuals with autism and in the general population. These characteristics have been referred to as the broader autism phenotype (BAP), and include pragmatic language difficulties, aloofness, and rigidity. Evidence is growing to suggest that individuals with BAP encounter difficulties in their social interactions. Recent work demonstrates that college students scoring high on the BAP report more loneliness (Jobe & Williams White, 2007) and more interpersonal problems (Wainer, Ingersoll, & Hopwood, 2012). Because intimate relationships are important in development and are very salient in emerging adulthood, the authors examined the relation of the BAP to romantic attachment and empathy among young adults. Higher BAP scores were associated with lower empathy and higher attachment anxiety and avoidance. Specifically, pragmatic language difficulties were related to higher rates of avoidant attachment and this relationship was mediated by empathy. In contrast, pragmatic language deficits were directly related to anxious attachment.     

移情对亲社会行为决策的两种功能

移情对亲社会行为决策具有动机功能和信息功能。霍夫曼认为,移情忧伤不仅能够作为亲社会道德动机促进亲社会行为的产生,而且能够激活观察者的道德原则,进而引发亲社会行为。巴特森强调移情不仅能够增强解除他人困境的动机,而且带有重视他人福利和想使他人困境得到解除的程度的信息。移情的动机功能依赖于诱发移情的情境,而信息功能具有稳定的倾向性,比动机功能更持久,两种功能共同作用使移情在亲社会行为决策中具有更强的适应性。移情功能理论对道德教育具有启示作用。     

The Moral Contours of Empathy

Morally contoured empathy is a form of reasonable partiality essential to the healthy care of dependents. It is critical as an epistemic aid in determining proper moral responsiveness; it is also, within certain richly normative roles and relationships, itself a crucial constitutive mode of moral connection. Yet the achievement of empathy is no easy feat. Patterns of incuriosity imperil connection, impeding empathic engagement; inappropriate empathic engagement, on the other hand, can result in self-effacement. Impartial moral principles and constraints offer at best meager protection against these perils, and hence serve poorly in securing morally contoured empathy. More nuanced and practical guidance should be sought in normatively substantive conceptions of our roles and relationships and their defining moral stakes. These, joined with more abstract moral tools, can facilitate rich, narratively textured interpretations of moralitys demands. While the content of our normative conceptions must be continually debated, engaging in this debate is vital to the achievement of proper empathy, and thus to effective, respectful, morally healthy care of dependents.This paper was originally presented at the conference on Reasonable Partiality at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, October 22–24, 2003. I wish to thank all those present for stimulating discussion. Special thanks go to Bert Musschenga, who organized the conference, and who has provided insightful feedback on this paper. Warm thanks as well to Brenda Almond and Bernie Rollin for lively exchanges on the issues addressed here and to Nancy Sherman for sharing with me an ongoing fascination with, and her own fantastic work on, empathy. Comments from an anonymous reviewer for the journal were challenging and helpful. Finally, I wish to express gratitude beyond normal bounds to Maggie Little both for her generosity, keen insight, and artful intervention at key points in this essays evolution and for her ground-breaking work on deontic pluralism that deeply influences the position I frame here.     

The Influence of Perceived Deservingness on Policy Decisions Regarding Aid to the Poor

In the current climate of welfare reform, it is important to understand how perceptions of the poor affect policy decisions. This paper examines how people distinguish between the undeserving poor and the deserving poor, and how this differentiation affects policy decisions. Survey respondents rated each policy in a set of hypothetical policies on a liberal-conservative continuum. Analyses were then conducted to explore differences in the respondents' likelihood of recommending the most liberal and the most conservative of these policies. Study 1 demonstrated that liberal policies were more likely to be recommended and conservative policies were less likely to be recommended when the target group was perceived to be deserving rather than undeserving. Study 2 replicated this effect of perceived deservingness and demonstrated an effect of attribution of responsibility. That is, liberal policies were more likely to be recommended and conservative policies were less likely to be recommended when the responsibility for the target's poverty was attributed to society rather than to the individual.     

The Scandal of Reason: A Critical Theory of Political Judgment

Abstract

Carruthers argues that knowledge of our own propositional attitudes is achieved by the same mechanism used to attain knowledge of other people’s minds. This seems incompatible with ‘privileged access’ – the idea that we have more reliable beliefs about our own mental states, regardless of the mechanism. At one point Carruthers seems to suggest he may be able to maintain privileged access, because we have additional sensory information in our own case. We raise a number of worries for this suggestion, concluding that Carruthers’s new theory cannot clearly preserve the superior reliability of our beliefs about our own attitudes.