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Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach

DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113
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Mark H. Davis at Eckerd College
Mark H. Davis
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Abstract

Describes the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and its relationships with measures of social functioning, self-esteem, emotionality, and sensitivity to others. 677 male and 667 female undergraduates served as Ss. Each of the 4 IRI subscales displayed a distinctive and predictable pattern of relationships with these measures, as well as with previous unidimensional empathy measures. Findings provide evidence for a multidimensional approach to empathy. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
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... Este componente puede ser incorporado al proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje cuando el claustro de profesores está formado por docentes que reciben una misma formación pedagógica, sin que la distancia geográfica pueda ser relevante. No sucede los mismo con el componente emocional, y se plantea que este componente se desarrolla fundamentalmente en todo el proceso de ontogenia de la persona (6,17,18,19,20), luego parece que los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje en la educación superior podrían dificultarse en la consecución de la actividad pedagógica de la empatía, debido a la naturaleza del componente emocional (6,17,18,19,20). ...
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  • Nov 2023
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... This not only defies the first part of the second hypothesis (H2-i) but also indicates that perfectionists were more likely to show signs of more engagement (via engaging more empathically and prosocially) with the human-centred design initiative. Supporting these surprising findings, are the findings of Gilman et al. (2014) and Gilman et al. (2010) on perfectionists having higher social perspective taking (which is a form of empathy (Davis 1983)) and are perceived as more prosocial amongst their peers, respectively. However, contradicting these findings, are of Hewitt et al. (2006; and Ruiz-Esteban et al. (2021) on perfectionists' positive associations with interpersonal hostility and social disconnection, and aggression behavior, respectively. ...
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The Influence of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Malevolent Creativity in Young Adulthood
Article
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  • Nov 2023
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Responding to the emotions of the people around us is a phenomenon traversing human lives; however, research has only recently started exploring the predictors of interpersonal emotion regulation (IER). In two ecological momentary assessment studies conducted in 2021 and 2022, we tested whether facets of empathy (i.e., mentalizing, experience sharing, empathic concern, and personal distress) are associated with other-focused IER goals and their attainment in everyday life (Ns = 125 and 204). Study 1 examined associations between mentalizing, experience sharing, and global hedonic and counter-hedonic IER goals (i.e., making others feel better or worse) using a relatively young and predominantly female student sample in Germany. Study 2 expanded these findings to empathic concern, personal distress, and specific types of hedonic and counter-hedonic IER goals (i.e., increasing, decreasing, and/or maintaining others’ positive and/or negative emotions) in a more diverse US community sample. Participants primarily endorsed hedonic IER goals, which were associated with higher mentalizing and experience sharing in both studies and higher empathic concern and lower personal distress in Study 2. Counter-hedonic IER goals were positively associated with experience sharing and personal distress in Study 2. Conversely, empathic concern and mentalizing were negatively related to counter-hedonic IER goals. We also found differential associations for empathy with IER goals on the state and trait levels. All empathy facets except personal distress were positively associated with goal attainment in Study 2. These findings address a major gap in our knowledge about everyday IER and offer a novel perspective on empathy in social emotion regulation processes.
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Introduction While substantial shifts in political and social values typically evolve over generational timescales, exceptional disruptive events can occasionally prompt swift changes in societal attitudes. This article investigates the extent to which the Covid-19 pandemic has influenced the level of democratic support among Brazilian citizens. Materials and methods Our research employed a three-wave online longitudinal panel study (N = 1,301) to assess the attitudes of Brazilian citizens towards democracy at three distinct intervals throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Our research tool gauged various dimensions of democratic attitudes and inquired about the respondents' experiences with Covid-19 as well as of their close social circles. Utilizing a combination of propensity score matching and a difference-in-differences design, we estimated the causal effect of the Covid-19 experience on both “diffuse” and “specific” support for democracy. Findings Our analysis revealed that exposure to the virus had limited overall impact on our measures of democratic support. However, we did identify some evidence indicating that severe exposure to Covid-19 had a negative effect on one dimension of democratic support, specifically, diffuse support. Discussion Our findings underscore the resilience of deeply ingrained ideological beliefs and values. Despite being one of the most disruptive global events in recent history, the Covid-19 pandemic displayed only a modest influence on the foundations of democratic culture. While this suggests that concerns about the pandemic's impact on democratic attitudes may have been overstated, it remains crucial for social and political leaders to remain mindful of actively reinforcing and upholding democratic governance during the post-pandemic recovery phase. Keywords support for democracy; political culture; impact assessment; Covid-19; panel survey
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... Empathy is a desirable capacity of humans to place themselves in another's position to show understanding of his/her experience and feelings and respond appropriately. Empathy involves both cognitive and affective aspects (Davis, 1983), including the ability to perceive the user's situation and express appropriate emotions. ...
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Using shared experiences to recruit committed human intelligence sources: Exploring the shared attention mechanism and the role of social connection
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