Empathy: Conceptualization,measurement, and relation to prosocial behavior

Empathy, sympathy, and related vicarious emotional responses are important concepts in developmental, social, and clinical psychology. The purpose of this paper is to examine conceptual and methodological issues concerning the assessment of vicarious emotional responding and to present data from a series of multimethod studies on the assessment of empathy-related reactions and their association with prosocial behavior. The findings presented are consistent with several conclusions: (a) In some contexts, physiological, facial, and self-report indexes can be useful markers of vicarious emotional responses, (b) other-oriented sympathetic responding is positively related to prosocial behavior (particularly altruism) whereas personal distress reactions sometimes are associated with low levels of helping, and (c) physiological arousal is higher for personal distress than sympathetic reactions.This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (BNS8807784) to the first two authors and a Career Development Award from the National Institute of Child Health and Development (K04 HD00717) to Nancy Eisenberg. A version of this paper was presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in New Orleans, February 1990.     

Food and amphetamine self-administration by baboons: effects of alternatives.

The effects of the availability of an alternative reinforcer on responding maintained by food pellets or fluid solutions were examined in 6 adult male baboons (Papio cynocephalus anubis). During daily 23-hr experimental sessions, baboons had concurrent access to both food pellets and fluid, with responding maintained under fixed-ratio schedules of reinforcement that varied between the two commodities. The fixed-ratio requirement, or cost, for pellets was increased when (a) no fluid, (b) a dilute dextrose vehicle, (c) 0.002 mg/kg d-amphetamine, or (d) 0.004 mg/kg d-amphetamine was available. When given nonrestricted concurrent access to food pellets and amphetamine at minimal cost (FR 2), baboons self-administered sufficient amphetamine to decrease pellet intake. Increasing the response requirement for pellets decreased pellet intake at a similar rate regardless of the available fluid and increased fluid intake in a variable manner among baboons such that there were no statistically significant increases in fluid intake. In contrast, when access to pellets was restricted to 70% of maximal intake under nonrestricted conditions, increasing pellet cost decreased pellet intake and increased fluid intake more rapidly when the high amphetamine dose was available. Thus, amphetamine was more effective as an economic substitute for pellets when access to pellets was restricted. The response cost for vehicle and both amphetamine concentrations was increased when baboons had nonrestricted and restricted access to pellets. Increasing the response requirement for fluid delivery decreased intake of all three fluids similarly under both pellet-access conditions. The results indicate that substitution between commodities with minimal commonalities can be studied under controlled laboratory conditions and is dependent upon reinforcement schedule and commodity restrictions.     

Glucocorticoids, the hippocampus, and behavior: interactive relation between task activation and steroid hormone binding specificity

A previous investigation established a modulatory effect of adrenal glucocorticoids on a behavior generally believed to require participation of the hippocampus for normal expression. For further delineation of whether the observed effects on appetitive extinction are consistent with a glucocorticoid action on hippocampus, adrenalectomized rats were administered either corticosterone or dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid that is accumulated much less intensively by the hippocampus than is corticosterone. While corticosterone normalized extinction, dexamethasone did not. In two other hippocampal-dependent behaviors, alternation and exploration, there was no glucocorticoid modulation of behavior, which may indicate that factors such as the level of activation of the type of learning determine whether a glucocorticoid effect will occur. These findings of a glucocorticoid action on one of three tasks that involve hippocampal function reinforce the notion that in addition to their well-studied actions in protein and carbohydrate metabolism, the adrenal glucocorticoids may also be subtle modulators of behavior.     

The effects of stereotype activation on behavior: a review of possible mechanisms.

Considerable recent research has examined the effects that activated stereotypes have on behavior. Research on both self-stereotype activation and other-stereotype activation has tended to show that people behave in ways consistent with the stereotype (e.g., walking more slowly if the elderly stereotype is activated). Interestingly, however, the dominant account for the behavioral effects of self-stereotype activation involves a hot motivational factor (i.e., stereotype threat), whereas the dominant account for the behavioral effects of other-stereotype activation focuses on a rather cold cognitive explanation (i.e., ideomotor processes). The current review compares and contrasts the behavioral research on self- and other-stereotype activation and concludes that both motivational and cognitive explanations might account for effects in each domain.     

Method matters: effects of explicit versus implicit social comparisons on activation, behavior, and self-views

The authors investigated the impact of explicit versus implicit social comparisons. Simply being primed with a superior or inferior standard (implicit comparison) produced contrast as evidenced by accessibility of self-knowledge (Study 2), intellectual performance (Study 3), and self-ratings (Study 4), inconsistent with the standard. However, when participants were explicitly asked to compare, increased accessibility of a similarity focus (Study 1) and self-knowledge, behavioral performance, and self-ratings congruent with the standard were obtained more easily, indicative of assimilation. Explicit comparisons produced assimilation when the self was seen as mutable (rather than immutable; Study 4), when behavioral consequences were measured immediately after the comparison (rather than later; Study 3), and when the participants described (rather than ranked) their intelligence (Study 5). These findings support the interpretation comparison model. Implications for resolution of empirical inconsistencies in the social comparison literature are discussed.     

Transfer of therapeutic effects from institution to home: faith, hope, and behavior modification.

Effective transfer of therapeutic results from institutional to home settings is a demanding problem facing family therapists. The issues involved and one approach to their solution are examined through the case of a 10-year-old boy hospitalized for severe antisocial behavior. Once results were obtained in an institutional setting, the therapeutic program there was faded out and concurrently faded into the home. Three- and 12-month follow-ups revealed continued improvement.     

Involuntary subordination and its relation to personality, mood, and submissive behavior

According to social rank theory, involuntary subordination may be adaptive in species that compete for resources as a mechanism to switch off fighting behaviors when loss is imminent (thus saving an organism from injury). In humans, major depression is thought to occur when involuntary subordination becomes prolonged. The present study sought to operationalize involuntary subordination. Study 1 involved a reanalysis of a Gilbert and Allan (1998) study, with the hypothesis that social comparison (i.e., perceived status), submissive behavior, feelings of defeat, and entrapment would load on a common factor (interpreted as involuntary subordination). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported this model. In Study 2 measures of these same variables were administered to a group of undergraduate students. Eight items were selected from each measure (on the basis of item-total correlations) to form the Involuntary Subordination Questionnaire (ISQ). In Study 3 scores on the ISQ showed high levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability in a sample of undergraduate students. Scores on the ISQ were significantly positively correlated with various neurotic personality styles and negatively correlated with variables indicating dominance or mastery. Involuntary subordination scores also significantly predicted change in social anxiety symptoms over 9 weeks. In Study 4 scores on the ISQ were examined in relation to nonverbal behaviors. In men, the ISQ was correlated with behaviors indicating a lack of confidence and submissiveness. Involuntary subordination appears to be a relatively stable trait with implications for personality, mood, and real-world behavior.     

Locomotor, avoidance,and maze behavior in rats with selective disruption of hippocampal output.

Behavioral correlates of selective disruption of hippocampal output were investigated in a series of five experiments. In two experiments an attempt was made through behavioral investigation to determine whether the CA1 neurons project to the fimbria or to the subiculum. The results supported recent views that the subiculum is the recipient of CA1 axons. Disruption of the CA1 output in the dorsal hippocampus of rats produced increased open-field activity, whereas passive avoidance and spontaneous alternation behaviors remained unchanged. No differentiation was obtained between CA1 damage and neocortical lesions in maze learning. Blocking of the fimbrial CA3 output from the dorsal hippocampus improved passive avoidance performance and impaired active avoidance performance, whereas open-field and spontaneous alternation behaviors were unaffected. Interruption of the CA3 output from the ventral hippocampus improved active avoidance performance and reduced spontaneous alternation behavior. Open-field behavior and passive avoidance performance remained unchanged. Total fimbrial sections increased open-field activity, improved passive and active avoidance, and reduced spontaneous alternation. The results are discussed in terms of functional differentiation between the CA1 and CA3 of the dorsal hippocampus and in terms of functional differences in the fimbrial CA3 output from the dorsal and ventral hippocampus.     

Trait perfectionism, self-determination, and self-presentation processes in relation to exercise behavior

Objectives

Motivational and self-presentational processes pervade all aspects of our lives including exercise behaviors. Furthermore, trait perfectionism has been shown to heighten self-presentational tendencies and energize achievement striving ( [Flett and Hewitt, 2002] and [Hewitt et?al., 2003]). How maladaptive and adaptive perfectionism traits relate to these cognitive and behavioral processes specific to the exercise context remains to be determined. This study employed structural equation modeling to examine the associations between maladaptive and adaptive perfectionism, self-determination of exercise behavior, self-presentation in exercise, and exercise behavior.

Method

Two hundred and fifty-four undergraduate students completed items assessing frequency, intensity, and duration of aerobic exercise behavior, along with measures of Multidimensional Perfectionism (Cox, Enns, & Clara, 2002), Self-Presentation in Exercise ( [Conroy et?al., 2000] and [Gammage et?al., 2004]), and self-determination of exercise behavior utilizing the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-2; Markland & Tobin, 2004).

Results

Results supported a structural model in which the associations between perfectionism dimensions and aerobic exercise behavior were mediated by opposing relationships with relative autonomy (RAI; Markland & Tobin, 2004) and self-presentation processes. Distinctively, maladaptive perfectionism demonstrated an inverse direct effect on the RAI and positive direct effects on self-presentation processes. In contrast, adaptive perfectionism exerted a positive direct effect on the RAI and inverse direct effects on self-presentation processes.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the importance of both maladaptive and adaptive dimensions of perfectionism in the study of exercise outcomes and within the broader social context linking perfectionism and motivation.     

Motivated decision making: effects of activation and self-centrality of values on choices and behavior

Six studies examined the value-behavior relation and focused on motivational properties of values, the self, and value activation. Priming environmental values enhanced attention to and the weight of information related to those values, which resulted in environmentally friendly consumer choices. This only occurred if these values were central to the self-concept. Value-congruent choices were also found in response to countervalue behavior in an unrelated context. Donating behavior congruent with central altruistic values was found as a result of enhanced self-focus, thus demonstrating the importance of the self in the value-behavior relation. The external validity of the value-centrality measure and its distinction from attitudes were demonstrated in the prediction of voting. Values were thus found to give meaning to, energize, and regulate value-congruent behavior, but only if values were cognitively activated and central to the self.     

Radial arm maze performance of mice: acquisition and atropine effects

CD-1 mice were successfully trained in a six-arm radial maze in which half of the arms were baited, a procedure which had been used to differentiate between reference and working memory. Stable performance was achieved following eight daily training sessions, as measured by decreasing running time and number of errors. This finding strengthens the foraging hypothesis as a basis for the performance of rodents in the radial maze. Acute subcutaneous administration of the cholinergic antagonist atropine sulfate (1-6 mg/kg) to trained mice produced dose-related increases in running time and working memory errors, with a slight decrease in reference memory errors. This is in agreement with other studies on the role of the cholinergic system in memory processes. The peripheral cholinergic blocker, atropine methyl nitrate (4 mg/kg), somewhat increased running time without decreasing performance accuracy. In contrast to the prolonged pharmacological and physiological effects of atropine, behavioral decrements disappeared within 3 hr. It is concluded that mice trained in the radial arm maze may be used for screening of the effects of drugs on cognitive function.     

Alexithymia, verbal intellectual deficit, and neurological dysfunction in relation to risk-taking behavior

This study explored relationships between alexithymia (measured through the Toronto Alexithymia Scale), probable neurological dysfunction (Stroop Color Word Test), and “Verbal” and “Abstraction” IQ scores (Hartford-Shipley Institute for Living Scale) in relation to risk-taking behavior. Subjects were “anti-social” risk-takers (criminal offenders undergoing court-related residential drug treatment), “adventurous” risktakers (college students who regularly engage in such sports as rock-climbing and spelunking), or “normals” (college students who were neither adventurous risk-takers nor criminal offenders). Principal findings reveal that clinically relevant alexithymia is observed among risk-takers of either anti-social or adventurous variety less frequently, but among “normals” more frequently, than chance would predict; that the “verbal deficit pattern” in intellectual functioning is observed more frequently among adventurous risk-takers, less frequently among “normals,” and no more frequently among anti-social risk-takers than chance would predict; and that probable neurological dysfunction is observed more frequently among anti-social risk-takers but less frequently among adventurous risk-takers or “normals” than chance would predict. Results support only in part the Pallone-Hennessy (1999) conceptual model of the genesis and correlates of risk-taking in respect of anti-social, but not in respect of adventurous risk-takers. This study was supported by grants from the Henry Rutgers Scholars Program, Rutgers College, and the Fund for Correctional Psychology, Center of Alcohol Studies. Deep gratitude is expressed to Eric Workowski, Charles Rouse, and Joni Lepore for their invaluable assistance.