From negative reactivity to empathic responding: Infants high in negative reactivity express more empathy later in development,with the help of regulation

Empathy has great effect on human well‐being, promoting healthy relationships and social competence. Although it is increasingly acknowledged that infants show empathy toward others, individual differences in infants’ empathy from the first year of life have rarely been investigated longitudinally. Here we examined how negative reactivity and regulation, two temperament traits that predict empathic responses in older children and adults, relate to infants’ empathy. Infants were studied at the ages of nine (N = 275) and 18 (N = 301) months (194 infants were studied at both ages). Empathic responses were assessed by infants’ observed reactions to an experimenter's simulated distress. Negative reactivity (fear, sadness, and distress to limitations) and regulation (soothability and effortful control) were assessed by parental reports. Negative reactivity was also examined by infants’ observed reactions to an adult stranger (fear) and during interaction with their mothers (displays of sadness/distress). When examined cross‐sectionally, infants’ fear and distress to limitations associated with self‐distress in response to others’ distress. In contrast, when examined longitudinally, early sadness and distress to limitations, but not fear, associated with later empathic concern and inquisitiveness. Moreover, this longitudinal relation was moderated by infants’ soothability and was evident only for children that had high soothability by the later time‐point. Our findings suggest that infants who at an earlier age show negative reactivity, react later in development with more empathy if they achieve sufficient regulation abilities. By that, the findings stress the developmental nature of temperament–empathy relations during infancy.     

第三方惩罚的演化与认知机制

第三方惩罚一般是指当违反社会规范的行为与自身利益无关时,个体牺牲自我利益来惩罚违规者的行为。最近的研究发现,对于个体而言,第三方惩罚是一种具有适应性的信号,包括建立良好的声誉以及威慑违规者。不同情境下第三方惩罚的功能有所差异,它是一种特殊的利他行为。第三方惩罚依赖于多个系统,涉及情绪反应、共情等社会认知能力以及认知控制等中央执行能力。探讨该行为的演化和认知机制也能贡献于个体、群体和人际层面的社会心理服务工作。     

Using Expressive Arts in Online Education to Identify Feelings

The authors of this article present two creative teaching activities to illustrate how online counselor education can use expressive arts to promote awareness of how one feels. Included is a discussion of this awareness of feelings, the downside of expressing feelings, creative arts in counselor education, and how counselor education can promote feeling experiences. Two examples of expressive arts are offered with a brief discussion.     

Xujing (Emptiness and Stillness) in Daoism,Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature,and Environmental Ethics

In this article,I will examine the concept of xujing虛靜 (emptiness and stillness) in Daoism and its relationship with the aesthetic appreciation of nature and environmental ethics.Firstly,I will examine the Chinese philosophical understanding of nature through the concept of qi.I point out that qi is characterized by four interrelated features,which are emptiness,creativity,vitality,and stillness.Xujing are also aesthetically appreciated as the objective features of qi.Secondly,I will discuss why,as the objective features of qi,xujing are considered to be features that have aesthetic value.I argue that empathy is the reason why emptiness as the objective feature of qi is regarded as having aesthetic value.Thirdly,I will discuss how the aesthetic concept of emptiness helps contribute to the construction of place-based environmental ethics.     

The emergence of the ecological mind in Hua‐Yen/Kegon Buddhism and Jungian psychology

The complexity associated with deep interconnectedness in nature is beginning to be articulated and elaborated in the field of ecological studies. While some parallels to the psyche have been made and the field of Eco‐psychology has been developing, Jung's explicit contribution by way of the image of rhizomes has not been considered in detail. Philosopher Gilles Deleuze acknowledges borrowing the term from Jung, though he disagreed with Jung's Empedoclean use of the term. The paper presents some fundamental properties of rhizomes along with contemporary scientific research on mycorrhizal (fungal) networks. Comparisons are made, first with classical symbolic forms, demonstrating some overlap but also some differences. Then comparison of rhizomal networks is made to those found both in mammalian brains and in recent images of the ‘cosmic web’. While no hard conclusions can be drawn from these images, their remarkable similarities are suggestive of a need to reconsider what is meant by ‘intelligence’. The cosmic web is one of the largest structures in the known universe (clusters of galaxies which form into filaments and walls) with empty spaces in between. Exploration of the structure of this web leads to a discussion of dark matter and dark energy, current hot topics in science, probing into the mysteries of our ‘Big‐Bang’ cosmology. An additional comparison of the emerging image of the universe as a whole with the ancient Chinese Buddhist cosmological vision from the Hua‐Yen School (Kegon in Japan) again reveals profound parallels. The potential convergence of aspects of subjective, or meditative, explorations with objective scientific constructions is striking and offers links between East and West, as well as potential confirmation of the objective aspects of empathy.     

Domain‐Specific Creativity in Relation to the Level of Empathy and Systemizing

This study aimed to explore self‐reported domain‐specific creativity in relation to the level of empathy, systemizing, and the Big Five personality dimensions. The research sample consisted of 1112 college students to whom the Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale (K‐DOCS ), the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ ), Baron‐Cohen's empathy and systemizing quotients (EQ and SQ ), and NEO ‐FFI were administered. The results suggest that the systemizing quotient (SQ ) significantly correlated positively with the K‐DOCS Mechanical/Science, and Scholarly scales, as well as with the CAQ Invention and Scientific Discovery scales. The empathy quotient (EQ ) significantly correlated in a positive direction with the K‐DOCS Self/Everyday creativity. In spite of the fact that the EQ and SQ overlap to a considerable extent with the five general personality dimensions and are closely linked to gender, the results confirm their incremental validity beyond the framework of these variables. The EQ and SQ explain the considerable amount of variability, particularly in the case of the scales connected with scientific and technical creativity: the SQ is a relevant predictor of the K‐DOCS Mechanical/Science scale and the CAQ Invention and Scientific Discovery scale. By contrast, the EQ represents a significant predictor of Self/Everyday creativity.     

Empathic Skills and Cyberbullying: Relationship of Different Measures of Empathy to Cyberbullying in Comparison to Offline Bullying Among Young Adults

ABSTRACT

Empathy, as the ability to understand and feel the emotions of others, is related to less bullying behavior. However, the link of bullying behavior with self-reports of empathy seems to be stronger than with behavioral measures of empathy (e.g., empathic accuracy). Few studies have analyzed the relationship of affective and cognitive empathy to cyberbullying behavior, especially among young adults. In a quasiexperimental dyadic interaction paradigm with 72 young adults, empathic accuracy was operationalized as the match of other- and self-reported emotions for the target, and emotional congruence as the match of the target's and the perceiver's self-reported emotions. Affective and cognitive empathy, offline bullying behavior, and cyberbullying behavior were measured using self-reports. Empathic accuracy and cognitive empathy were found to be negatively linked. Emotional congruence, self-reported affective and cognitive empathy did not correlate with offline bullying behavior or cyberbullying behavior. Only empathic accuracy was significantly negatively linked to offline bullying behavior. In group tests, higher empathic accuracy (but not emotional congruence) was connected to less offline bullying behavior. In a multiple regression analysis only emotional congruence was a predictor of cyberbullying behavior. Thus, while empathic accuracy might diminish offline bullying behavior, emotional congruence might diminish cyberbullying behavior.     

Perceived Parenting,Self‐Conscious Emotions,and Forgiveness in College Students

The relations of parental warmth, self‐conscious emotions, and forgiveness were investigated. University students completed self‐report questionnaires online through the university‐sponsored website. The questionnaires contained measures of five constructs: parental warmth, empathy, shame, self‐forgiveness, and interpersonal forgiveness. From the results, the authors concluded that interpersonal forgiveness and self‐forgiveness were predicted by parental warmth, empathy, and shame. Empathy mediated the relation of parental warmth with interpersonal forgiveness and self‐forgiveness. Parental warmth and self‐conscious emotions were important in the prediction of both interpersonal forgiveness and self‐forgiveness.