Empathy Is Contagious, May Change Depending on the Reaction of Others [Study]
Empathy can be learned, and the surroundings can influence it. So, if empathetic individuals surround you, you will likely be one of them. However, it works both ways.
Empathy Is Contagious
A new study from an international team of researchers used the actions of over 50 participants in four different trials to test changes in empathy. According to participant assessments, empathy levels based on brain scans and self-reporting tended to shift after witnessing other people's reactions.
This suggests that compassion and empathy could spread throughout communities if sufficient individuals exhibit it. It appears that a lack of empathy can also be "contagious," based on the study.
"Depending on whether empathic or non-empathic reactions were observed, empathy ratings increased or decreased," per neuroscientist Grit Hein from the University of Würzburg in Germany.
Individual empathy levels were initially assessed in each of the four trials following the viewing of a movie demonstrating painful stimulation of the hand to establish a baseline. Their empathy was considered once more when they saw other people reacting to the same videos.
Participants' displays of empathy tended to rise when they observed others reacting sympathetically, but they tended to fall when they observed ambivalence. Put another way, our empathy seems erratic and subject to the people and circumstances in our immediate surroundings.
In one test, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to gauge the neuronal activity in particular brain regions. The anterior insula, a region traditionally connected to empathy, showed changes.
The team demonstrated that empathy changes, as opposed to imitation or people-pleasing, probably have a basis in real learning with certain mathematical models.
"The good news from our studies is that we have the means to shape empathetic ability in adults through appropriate measures in both directions," Hein said.
Long-term empathy needs a respectful environment to flourish, Hein added. It is possible to respect someone without feeling empathy for them, but it is challenging to grow empathy when that person is not treated with dignity or when disrespect is socially tolerated.
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What Is Empathy?
Empathy is the capacity to identify, comprehend, and experience another person's, animal's, or fictional character's thoughts and feelings. Building relationships and exhibiting compassion need the development of empathy.
It allows prosocial or helpful acts to emerge naturally rather than through coercion and entails experiencing another person's perspective in addition to one's own. Additionally, it aids in our ability to work together, form friendships, make moral decisions, and step in to stop bullying of others.
Empathy is a quality that humans exhibit from birth and continues to grow throughout childhood and adolescence. Nonetheless, most people are probably more empathetic toward those similar to them than those not members of their family, community, race, or culture.
However, according to some surveys, empathy is declining domestically and internationally. These results should encourage communities, schools, and parents to fund initiatives that assist individuals of all ages develop and preserve their capacity to put themselves in each other's shoes.
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