Empathy: Difference between revisions
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There are several neural components that contribute to empathy. Indeed, one of them that received some notoriety is “mirror neurons”. Research on macaques showed that they are involved in reacting to emotions expressed by others and then reproducing them. These neurons are also present in humans and there have been some controversies in the fields of psychology, biology, and ethology over whether empathy is a uniquely human trait. Besides this, there is also the debate of whether empathy is an emotional or cognitive construct - sensing another’s feelings versus understanding another’s perspective. <ref name=”1”></ref> <ref name=”2”></ref> <ref name=”6”>Elliott, R., Bohart, A.C., Watson, J.C., and Greenberg, L.S. (2011). Empathy. In J. Norcross (ed.), Psychotherapy relationships that work (2nd ed.) (pp. 132-152). New York, Oxford University Press</ref> | There are several neural components that contribute to empathy. Indeed, one of them that received some notoriety is “mirror neurons”. Research on macaques showed that they are involved in reacting to emotions expressed by others and then reproducing them. These neurons are also present in humans and there have been some controversies in the fields of psychology, biology, and ethology over whether empathy is a uniquely human trait. Besides this, there is also the debate of whether empathy is an emotional or cognitive construct - sensing another’s feelings versus understanding another’s perspective. <ref name=”1”></ref> <ref name=”2”></ref> <ref name=”6”>Elliott, R., Bohart, A.C., Watson, J.C., and Greenberg, L.S. (2011). Empathy. In J. Norcross (ed.), Psychotherapy relationships that work (2nd ed.) (pp. 132-152). New York, Oxford University Press</ref> | ||
The lowest common denominator of all emphatic processes is that one individual is affected by another’s emotional or arousal state. <ref name=”7”>de Waal,F.B.M. (2008). Putting the altruism back into altruism: the evolution of empathy. Annual Reviews of Psychology, 59: | The lowest common denominator of all emphatic processes is that one individual is affected by another’s emotional or arousal state. <ref name=”7”>de Waal,F.B.M. (2008). Putting the altruism back into altruism: the evolution of empathy. Annual Reviews of Psychology, 59: 279-300</ref> Shamay-Tsoory (2011) states that evidence supports a model with two distinct systems for empathy - an emotional system and a cognitive system. Emotional empathy has been described as “the capacity to experience affective reactions to the observed experiences of others or share a ‘fellow feeling’”, and cognitive empathy “as a cognitive role-taking ability, or the capacity to engage in the cognitive process of adopting another’s psychological point of view.” Emotional empathy can involve different related underlying processes such as emotional contagion, emotion recognition, and shared pain. Cognitive empathy, on the other side, involves making inferences regarding the other’s affective and cognitive mental states. According to Shamay-Tsoory (2011), while the two systems can work together, “they may be behaviorally, developmentally, neurochemically, and neuroanatomically dissociable.” <ref name=”1”></ref> | ||
Some researchers consider that empathy is not unique to humans since many of the same biological mechanisms are shared with other mammalian species. Yet, since humans possess high-level cognitive abilities like language, executive function, and theory of mind on top of older social and emotional capabilities, they are considered a special case. These evolutionary newer cognitive features expand the possible range of behaviors that can result from, or lack of, empathy. These can range from positive behaviors like caring for others - even towards individuals from different species - to negative behavior such as cruelty and dehumanization when there is a lack of empathy. Deficits in empathy are characteristic of several psychopathologies. Therefore, a better knowledge of the neural circuits that relate to empathy is essential to advance the understanding of interpersonal sensitivity, basic neural and cognitive mechanisms of emotion processing, the relation of these mechanisms with cognition and motivation, individual differences in personality traits, and mental health. <ref name=”5”></ref> | Some researchers consider that empathy is not unique to humans since many of the same biological mechanisms are shared with other mammalian species. Yet, since humans possess high-level cognitive abilities like language, executive function, and theory of mind on top of older social and emotional capabilities, they are considered a special case. These evolutionary newer cognitive features expand the possible range of behaviors that can result from, or lack of, empathy. These can range from positive behaviors like caring for others - even towards individuals from different species - to negative behavior such as cruelty and dehumanization when there is a lack of empathy. Deficits in empathy are characteristic of several psychopathologies. Therefore, a better knowledge of the neural circuits that relate to empathy is essential to advance the understanding of interpersonal sensitivity, basic neural and cognitive mechanisms of emotion processing, the relation of these mechanisms with cognition and motivation, individual differences in personality traits, and mental health. <ref name=”5”></ref> | ||
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Altruism refers to the unselfish concern for the welfare of others and not only sharing emotions with another person. <ref name=”3”></ref> | Altruism refers to the unselfish concern for the welfare of others and not only sharing emotions with another person. <ref name=”3”></ref> | ||
== | ==In virtual reality== | ||
Virtual reality (VR) has a myriad of other possible applications beyond gaming. It is possible to use it as a sort of virtual reality empathy machine. There have been some experiments that use VR to generate empathy in someone by exposing them to specific situations like seeing through the eyes of a child, a woman, a stranger, a close friend, or a disabled man. <ref name=”9”>Alsever, J. Is virtual reality the ultimate empathy machine? Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2015/11/is-virtual-reality-the-ultimate-empathy-machine/</ref> | Virtual reality (VR) has a myriad of other possible applications beyond gaming. It is possible to use it as a sort of virtual reality empathy machine. There have been some experiments that use VR to generate empathy in someone by exposing them to specific situations like seeing through the eyes of a child, a woman, a stranger, a close friend, or a disabled man. <ref name=”9”>Alsever, J. Is virtual reality the ultimate empathy machine? Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2015/11/is-virtual-reality-the-ultimate-empathy-machine/</ref> |