Cognitive empathy contributes to poor social functioning in schizophrenia: Evidence from a new self-report measure of cognitive and affective empathy

The potential of literature to increase empathy was investigated in an experiment. Participants (N = 100, 69 women) completed a package of questionnaires that measured lifelong exposure to fiction and nonfiction, personality traits, and affective and cognitive empathy. They read either an essay or a short story that were equivalent in length and complexity, were tested again for cognitive and affective empathy, and were finally given a non-self-report measure of empathy. Participants who read a short story who were also low in Openness experienced significant increases in self-reported cognitive empathy (p .05). No increases in affective empathy were found. Participants who were frequent fiction-readers had higher scores on the non-self-report measure of empathy. Our results suggest a role for fictional literature in facilitating development of empathy.

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Vagal Tone Differences in Empathy Level Elicited by Different Emotions and a Co-Viewer

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s20113136 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (11) ◽

pp. 3136

Author(s):

Suhhee Yoo ◽

Mincheol Whang

Keyword(s):

Positive Emotions ◽

Vagal Tone ◽

Cognitive Empathy ◽

Self Report ◽

Affective Empathy ◽

Emotional Intensity ◽

Factor Level ◽

Positive Valence ◽

Valence And Arousal ◽

Different Levels

Empathy can bring different benefits depending on what kind of emotions people empathize with. For example, empathy with negative emotions can raise donations to charity while empathy with positive emotions can increase participation during remote education. However, few studies have focused on the physiological differences depending on what kind of emotions people empathize with. Furthermore, co-viewer can influence the elicitation of different levels of empathy, but this has been less discussed. Therefore, this study investigated vagal response differences according to each empathy factor level elicited by different emotions and co-viewer. Fifty-nine participants were asked to watch 4 videos and to evaluate subjective valence, arousal scores, and undertake an empathy questionnaire, which included cognitive, affective and identification empathy. Half of the participants watched the videos alone and the other half watched the videos with a co-viewer. Valence and arousal scores were categorized into three levels to figure out what kind of emotions they empathized with. Empathy level (high vs. low) was determined based on the self-report scores. Two-way MANOVA revealed an interaction effect of empathy level and emotions. High affective empathy level is associated with higher vagal response regardless of what kind of emotions they empathized with. However, vagal response differences in other empathy factor level showed a different pattern depending on what kind of emotions that participant empathized with. A high cognitive empathy level showed lower vagal responses when participants felt negative or positive valence. High identification level also showed increased cognitive burden when participants empathized with negative and neutral valence. The results implied that emotions and types of empathy should be considered when measuring empathic responses using vagal tone. Two-way MANOVA revealed empathic response differences between co-viewer condition and emotion. Participants with a co-viewer felt higher vagal responses and self-reporting empathy scores only when participants empathized with arousal. This implied that the effect of a co-viewer may impact on empathic responses only when participants felt higher emotional intensity.

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Impaired empathy and increased anger following social exclusion in non-intoxicated opioid users

Psychopharmacology ◽

10.1007/s00213-019-05378-x ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 237 (2) ◽

pp. 419-430

Author(s):

Molly Carlyle ◽

Megan Rowley ◽

Tobias Stevens ◽

Anke Karl ◽

Celia J. A. Morgan

Keyword(s):

Social Functioning ◽

Social Exclusion ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Physiological Responses ◽

Cognitive Empathy ◽

Self Report ◽

Opioid Use ◽

Endogenous Opioid System ◽

Endogenous Opioid ◽

Opioid Users

Abstract Rationale Social functioning is modulated by the endogenous opioid system. In opioid use disorder, social functioning appears disrupted, but little research has delineated the nature of these deficits and their relationship to acute opioid use. Objectives The current study aimed to assess both emotional and cognitive empathy, along with subjective and physiological responses to social exclusion in opioid users who were either acutely intoxicated or non-intoxicated from using opioids. Methods Individuals on an opioid substitution medication (OSM) were divided into ‘intoxicated users’ (had taken their OSM the same day as testing, n = 20) and ‘non-intoxicated users’ (had taken their OSM > 12 h ago, n = 20) and compared with opioid-naïve controls (n = 24). Empathy was assessed using the multifaceted empathy test and self-report questionnaire. Participants also underwent a period of social exclusion (Cyberball Game) and completed measures of mood and physiological responses (salivary cortisol and heart rate). Results Non-intoxicated users had significantly lower emotional empathy (the ability to experience others’ emotions), as well as greater anger after social exclusion when compared with the intoxicated users and controls. Anger did not change with social exclusion in the intoxicated user group and cortisol levels were lower overall. Conclusions Reduced ability to spontaneously share the emotions of others was reported in non-intoxicated users, particularly regarding positive emotions. There was some support for the idea of hyperalgesia to social pain, but this was restricted to an enhanced anger response in non-intoxicated users. Equivalent rates of empathy between the intoxicated users and controls could indicate some remediating effects of acute opioids.

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Bullying and Cyberbullying in Adolescents from Disadvantaged Areas: Validation of Questionnaires; Prevalence Rates; and Relationship to Self-Esteem, Empathy and Social Skills

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17176199 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (17) ◽

pp. 6199 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jacinto Martínez ◽

Antonio J. Rodríguez-Hidalgo ◽

Izabela Zych

Keyword(s):

Social Skills ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Cognitive Empathy ◽

Self Report ◽

Affective Empathy ◽

Prevalence Rates ◽

Measurement Instruments ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Validated Questionnaire ◽

Peruvian Amazonia

Although bullying and cyberbullying have been widely studied in diverse geographical areas, the number of studies in isolated regions, located in rainforests such as the Peruvian Amazonia, is low. Most research has been conducted in wealthy, Western countries, although disadvantaged areas are usually the most affected by various problems. Thus, the aims of this study were to validate bullying and cyberbullying measurement instruments among adolescents in the Peruvian Amazonia, to determine the prevalence rates of bullying and cyberbullying among this population, and to examine how bullying and cyberbullying relate to self-esteem, empathy, and social skills. The sample included 607 students from the region of Loreto (Peruvian Amazonia) who completed self-report questionnaires. Both questionnaires used in the sample were found to have good psychometric properties. Results showed that bullying and cyberbullying are prevalent among teenagers in the Amazonia. Low self-esteem and high affective empathy predicted bullying victimization. Being a bully was related to high assertiveness. Being a bully-victim was related to low self-esteem and low assertiveness. Cybervictims showed higher cognitive empathy. Cyberbullies showed higher affective empathy in comparison to uninvolved adolescents. Having low self-esteem and higher affective empathy were related to being a cyberbully/victim. This study provides a validated questionnaire that can be used for research and practice in the Amazonia. Based on the current results, tailored anti-bullying and anti-cyberbullying interventions with components focused on self-esteem, empathy, and social skills should be implemented in Peruvian secondary schools.

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An Investigation of Behavioural and Self-Reported Cognitive Empathy Deficits in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders and Adolescents With Behavioural Difficulties

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.717877 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Sara P. Vilas ◽

Renate L. E. P. Reniers ◽

Amanda K. Ludlow

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽

Antisocial Behaviour ◽

Cognitive Empathy ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Empathic Accuracy ◽

Self Report ◽

Behavioural Difficulties ◽

Spectrum Disorders ◽

Report Measure ◽

Adolescents With Asd

Deficits in empathy have been considered hallmarks in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) but are also considered to underlie antisocial behaviour associated with individuals with callous unemotional traits (CU). Research has suggested that individuals with autism spectrum disorders show more difficulties with cognitive empathy, and that individuals diagnosed with behaviours difficulties, characterised by CU traits and antisocial behaviour, demonstrate low affective empathy. In the current manuscript we present findings of two studies. The first study describes the validation of a new stimulus set developed for the empathic accuracy task, focused on its cognitive component. The second study compares the performance of 27 adolescents with ASD, 27 age matched typically developing adolescents and 17 adolescents with behavioural difficulties on the empathic accuracy task and a self-report measure of empathy. While, no differences were observed between the three groups across the empathy accuracy task, the adolescents with ASD and CD showed deficits in their cognitive empathy across the self-report measure. Adolescents with ASD showed lower scores in particularly their perspective taking abilities, whereas the adolescences with behavioural difficulties showed more difficulties with their online simulation. No differences in self-reported affective empathy across the three groups were observed. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

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Cognitive and affective empathy relate differentially to emotion regulation

10.31234/osf.io/ckq26 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nicholas M Thompson ◽

Carien M. van Reekum ◽

Bhismadev Chakrabarti

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Emotion Dysregulation ◽

Cognitive Empathy ◽

Self Report ◽

Affective Empathy ◽

Interference Effects ◽

Emotional Interference ◽

Difficulties In Emotion Regulation ◽

Component Processes ◽

The Relationship

The constructs of empathy (i.e. understanding/sharing another’s emotion) and emotion regulation (i.e. the processes by which one manages emotions) have largely been studied in relative isolation of one another. To better understand the interrelationships between their various component processes, this manuscript reports two studies that examined the relationship between empathy and emotion regulation using a combination of self-report and task measures. In study 1 (N=137), trait cognitive and affective empathy were found to share divergent relationships with self-reported emotion dysregulation. Emotion dysregulation was negatively related to cognitive empathy but showed no relationship with affective empathy. In the second study (N=92), the magnitude of emotion interference effects (i.e. the extent to which inhibitory control was impacted by emotional relative to neutral stimuli) in variants of a Go/NoGo and Stroop task were used as proxy measures of implicit emotion regulation abilities. Trait cognitive and affective empathy were found to share different relationships with both task metrics. Higher affective empathy was associated with increased emotional interference in the Emotional Go/NoGo; no such relationship was observed for trait cognitive empathy. In the Emotional Stroop, higher cognitive empathy was associated with reduced emotional interference, but no such relationship was observed for affective empathy. Together, these studies demonstrate that greater cognitive empathy was broadly associated with improved emotion regulation abilities, while greater affective empathy was typically associated with increased difficulties with emotion regulation. This finding points to the need for assessing the different components of empathy in psychopathological conditions marked by difficulties in emotion regulation.

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Cognitive and Affective Empathy Relate Differentially to Emotion Regulation

Affective Science ◽

10.1007/s42761-021-00062-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nicholas M. Thompson ◽

Carien M. van Reekum ◽

Bhismadev Chakrabarti

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Stroop Task ◽

Emotion Dysregulation ◽

Cognitive Empathy ◽

Self Report ◽

Affective Empathy ◽

Emotional Stroop Task ◽

Emotional Interference ◽

Difficulties In Emotion Regulation ◽

Component Processes

AbstractThe constructs of empathy (i.e., understanding and/or sharing another’s emotion) and emotion regulation (i.e., the processes by which one manages emotions) have largely been studied in relative isolation of one another. To better understand the interrelationships between their various component processes, this manuscript reports two studies that examined the relationship between empathy and emotion regulation using a combination of self-report and task measures. In study 1 (N = 137), trait cognitive empathy and affective empathy were found to share divergent relationships with self-reported emotion dysregulation. Trait emotion dysregulation was negatively related to cognitive empathy but did not show a significant relationship with affective empathy. In the second study (N = 92), the magnitude of emotion interference effects (i.e., the extent to which inhibitory control was impacted by emotional relative to neutral stimuli) in variants of a Go/NoGo and Stroop task were used as proxy measures of implicit emotion regulation abilities. Trait cognitive and affective empathy were differentially related to both task metrics. Higher affective empathy was associated with increased emotional interference in the Emotional Go/NoGo task; no such relationship was observed for trait cognitive empathy. In the Emotional Stroop task, higher cognitive empathy was associated with reduced emotional interference; no such relationship was observed for affective empathy. Together, these studies demonstrate that greater cognitive empathy was broadly associated with improved emotion regulation abilities, while greater affective empathy was typically associated with increased difficulties with emotion regulation. These findings point to the need for assessing the different components of empathy in psychopathological conditions marked by difficulties in emotion regulation.

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Higher Social Anxiety Severity Predicts Better Cognitive Empathy Performance in Women but Not Men

Psychological Reports ◽

10.1177/0033294120965496 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 003329412096549

Author(s):

Samantha K. Berg ◽

Jeffrey S. Bedwell ◽

Robert D. Dvorak ◽

Erin B. Tone

Keyword(s):

Social Anxiety ◽

Path Analysis ◽

Cognitive Empathy ◽

Self Report ◽

Behavioral Measure ◽

Affective Empathy ◽

Socially Anxious ◽

General Anxiety ◽

Biological Sex ◽

The Mind

Findings regarding relationships between social anxiety and subtypes of empathy have been mixed, and one study suggested that this may be due to moderation by biological sex. The present study examined whether accounting for general anxiety and biological sex clarifies these relationships. Undergraduates ( N = 701, 76% female) completed online self-report measures of cognitive and affective empathy, social and general anxiety severity, and a behavioral measure of cognitive empathy (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task; MIE). Path analysis examined relationships among social and general anxiety severity and affective and cognitive empathy. Model modification indices showed a significant influence of sex on the path from social anxiety severity to MIE accuracy. When the model was re-estimated with this path freed, more socially anxious women, but not men, showed greater MIE accuracy. Across both sexes, general anxiety severity related negatively to self-reported and behavioral (MIE) cognitive empathy. Affective empathy did not relate to either type of anxiety. The use of path analysis to simultaneously account for overlapping variance among measures of anxiety and empathy helps clarify earlier mixed findings on relationships between social anxiety and empathy subtypes.

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The Factorial Structure of a 15-Item Version of the Italian Empathy Quotient Scale

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000348 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 34 (5) ◽

pp. 344-351 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Vincenzo Paolo Senese ◽

Annunziata De Nicola ◽

Anna Passaro ◽

Gennaro Ruggiero

Keyword(s):

Emotional Reactivity ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Cognitive Empathy ◽

Self Report ◽

Factorial Structure ◽

Italian Version ◽

Validity Indices ◽

Empathy Quotient ◽

Order Factor ◽

Report Measure

Abstract. The Empathy Quotient (EQ) scale is a self-report measure designed to assess empathy in adults. Although the scale is widely used and has been validated into different languages, its dimensionality is still controversial, as well as it is not clear which scale version should be considered. The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the EQ scale. The Italian version of the EQ scale was administered to a sample of 633 adults. Results showed that the 15-item EQ scale version proposed by Muncer and Ling (2006) had excellent reliability and validity indices, with a gender invariant three-factor structure (Cognitive Empathy, Emotional Reactivity, and Social Skills) and a higher order factor of general empathy. The overall results confirmed that the 15-item EQ scale is an eligible and stable tool for the assessment of empathy.

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The relationships among psychopathy, empathy, and aggression

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.508 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 33 (S1) ◽

pp. S211-S211 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

J. Lee ◽

H.J. Lee

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Satisfaction With Life ◽

Recognition Task ◽

Cognitive Empathy ◽

Self Report ◽

Affective Empathy ◽

Two Factors ◽

Relevant Variables ◽

Competing Interest ◽

Scenario Task

IntroductionThe lack of empathy is often described as one of the core characteristics of psychopaths. However, prior studies on cognitive empathy in psychopaths have led to mixed conclusions, with some indicating that psychopaths have no impairments in cognitive empathy.ObjectivesThis study set out to resolve this inconsistency by distinguishing the two factors that constitute the construct of psychopathy: Factor 1 (e.g., emotional callousness, lack of guilt) and Factor 2 (e.g., irresponsible lifestyle, poor behavioral controls).AimsThe main aim of this study was to examine the differential relationship between these two factors and relevant variables including empathy, aggression, satisfaction with life.MethodsSelf-report questionnaires and two online experiments (facial affect recognition task, emotional scenario task) were administered to 306 undergraduate students to collect data about psychopathy, cognitive/affective empathy, aggression, satisfaction with life.ResultsCorrelation analysis revealed that both Factor 1 and Factor 2 had negative correlations with self-reported measures of cognitive/affective empathy, and only Factor 1 emerged as a significant predictor of both kinds of empathy. Aggression also showed a stronger positive correlation with Factor 1 than with Factor 2, regardless of subtypes (instrumental, reactive, relational, overt aggression). On the other hand, satisfaction with life was more negatively correlated with Factor 2 than Factor 1, and regression analysis revealed that only Factor 2 was a significant predictor.ConclusionsThis study showed Factor 1 is more important than Factor 2 in explaining both empathy and aggression in psychopath, while satisfaction with life is better explained by Factor 2 than by Factor 1.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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