Constructive and destructive aspects of empathy as a consequence of its multidimensional nature

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Open Access Open Access
Restricted Access Access granted
Restricted Access Subscription Access

Abstract

Research objective: to consider possible causes of psychological heterogeneity of empathy [its constructive and destructive manifestations]. The specifics of the functions of different components and different levels of empathy in relation to the characteristics of mental activity are analyzed. Constructive and destructive manifestations of empathy are described, which are expressed both at the pole of high empathy and at the pole of low empathy. The existence of the splitting effect of both high and low indicators of empathy with the allocation of its productive and unproductive components is substantiated. The criterion for splitting the poles of empathy is the measure of formation [and the measure of interaction] of conceptual and metacognitive abilities. Thus, the multidimensional nature of empathy is characterized by three aspects: firstly, the complexity of the composition, taking into account the specifics of the functions of different components, secondly, the multilevel [the presence of lower and higher levels of emotional response] and, thirdly, the effect of splitting high and low empathy.

Full Text

Restricted Access

About the authors

M. A. Kholodnaya

Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: kholod1949@yandex.ru

ScD (Psychology), Professor, Chief Scientific Officer of Laboratory of Psychology of Abilities and Mental Resources Named after V.N. Druzhinin

Russian Federation, 129366, Moscow, Yaroslavskaya str., 13, bldg. 1

E. V. Solovyeva

Demidov Yaroslavl State University

Email: solovyeva.ev205@gmail.com

Assistant of the chair of pedagogy and pedagogical psychology

Russian Federation, 150003, Yaroslavl, Matrosov Passage, 9

References

  1. Belousova A.I., Gejvandova M.Ya. Kognitivnaya i affektivnaya empatiya: aprobaciya oprosnika na rossijskoj vyborke. Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo oblastnogo universiteta. Seriya Psihologicheskie nauki. 2021. V. 31. № 2. P. 6–20. (In Russian)
  2. Berezhkovskaya E.L., Radinskaya N.G. Kul’turno-istoricheskaya i gumanisticheskaya psihologiya: vozmozhnye tochki skhoda (empatiya kak vysshaya psihicheskaya funkciya). Vestnik RGGU. 2006. № 1. P. 126–145. (In Russian)
  3. Bojko V.V. Energiya emocij v obshchenii: vzglyad na sebya i na drugih. Moscow: Informacionno-izdatel’skij dom “Filin”, 1996. (In Russian)
  4. Budagovskaya N.A., Dubrovskaya S.V., Karyagina T.D. Adaptaciya mnogofaktornogo oprosnika empatii M. Devisa. Konsul’tativnaya psihologiya i psihoterapiya. 2013. № 1. P. 202–227.
  5. Burkova V.N., Butovskaya M.L., Dronova D.A., Apal’kova Yu.I. Empatiya, trevozhnost’ i agressiya u moskovskih studentov. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie. 2019. № 5. P. 169–188. (In Russian)
  6. Valieva F.I. Reziliantnost’ kak faktor social’no-professional’noj adaptacii, Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Sociologiya. 2014. № 2. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/reziliantnost-kak-faktor-sotsialno-professionalnoy-adaptatsii (date of access: 03.03.2023). (In Russian)
  7. Kapranov K.S., Levin V.I., Zvezdina G.P. Psihologicheskie osobennosti pedagogov s razlichnym urovnem empatii. Nauchnyj al’manah (Psihologichskie nauki). 2021. № 7–1 (81). P. 142–145. (In Russian)
  8. Karyagina T.D., Kuhtova N.V. Test empatii M. Devisa: soderzhatel’naya validnost’ i adaptaciya v mezhkul’turnom kontekste. Konsul’tativnaya psihologiya i psihoterapiya. 2016. V. 24. № 4. P. 33–61. (In Russian)
  9. Kashapov M.M., Smirnov A.A., Solov’eva E.V., Serafimovich I.V. Empatiya kak resurs zhiznestojkosti studentov pri adaptacii k vuzu. Sibirskij Psikhologicheskii zhurnal. 2022. № 86. P. 119–138. (In Russian)
  10. Klimenkova E.N. Razvitie mentalizacii i empatii v ontogeneze: obzor empiricheskih issledovanij. Konsul’tativnaya psihologiya i psihoterapiya. 2016. V. 24. № 4. P. 126–137. (In Russian)
  11. Kornilova T.V. Empatiya v strukturah intellektual’no-lichnostnogo potenciala: Edinstvo intellekta i affekta. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal. 2022. V. 43. № 3. P. 57–68. (In Russian)
  12. Mihalkina S.A., Anisimova K.S. Issledovanie vzaimosvyazi empatii i zhiznestojkosti studentov pedagogicheskogo vuza. Problemy sovremennogo pedagogicheskogo obrazovaniya. 2022. № 75 (2). (In Russian)
  13. Nurkova V.V. Kul’turnoe razvitie empatii-otozhdestvleniya i empatii-modelirovaniya. Nacional’nyj Psikhologicheskii zhurnal. 2020. № 4 (40). P. 3–17. (In Russian)
  14. Obozov N.N. Psihologiya mezhlichnostnyh otnoshenij. Kiev: Lybid’, 1990. (In Russian)
  15. Ozhiganova G.V. Duhovno-nravstvennye kachestva lichnosti i empatiya kak komponenty vysshih moral’nyh sposobnostej: verifikaciya vzaimosvyazi na rossijskoj vyborke. Vestnik Rossijskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya Psihologiya i pedagogika. 2020. V. 17. № 4. P. 637–655. (In Russian)
  16. Sergienko E.A., Ulanova A.Yu., Lebedeva E.I. Model’ psihicheskogo: Struktura i dinamika. Moscow: Izd-vo “Institut psihologii RAN”, 2020. (In Russian)
  17. Smirnov A.A., Solov’eva E.V. Vzaimosvyaz’ podverzhennosti fashizmu i kanalov empatii u studentov. Vestnik Kostromskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya Pedagogika. Psihologiya. Sociokinetika, 2021. V. 27. № 1. P. 71–76. (In Russian)
  18. Smirnov A.A., Solov’eva E.V. Refleksivnost’ i variativnost’ povedeniya na raznyh urovnyah empatii pri adaptacii studentov. Yaroslavskij psihologicheskij vestnik. 2022. № 2 (53). P. 37–44.
  19. Solov’eva E.V. Vyrazhennost’ parametrov empatii pri urovnyah avtoritarnoj agressii. Metodologiya sovremennoj psihologii. № 14. M.-YAroslavl’: YarGU, LKIISI RAN, MAPN, 2021. P. 123–127. (In Russian)
  20. Holodnaya M.A. Cognitivnye stili: o svoeobrazii individual’nogo uma. SPb.: Piter, 2004.
  21. Holodnaya M.A. Mnogomernaya priroda pokazatelej intellekta i kreativnosti: teoreticheskie i metodicheskie sledstviya. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal. 2020. V. 41. № 3. P. 18–31. (In Russian)
  22. Holodnaya M.A. Ponyatijnye sposobnosti i effektivnost’ sovladayushchego povedeniya. Sposobnosti i mental’nye resursy cheloveka v mire global’nyh peremen. Eds. A.L. Zhuravlyov, M.A. Holodnaya, P.A. Sabadosh. Moscow: Izd-vo “Institut psihologii RAN”, 2020. P. 141–149. (In Russian)
  23. Holodnaya M.A. Svetlye i temnye storony refleksii i arefleksii: effekt rasshchepleniya. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal. 2022. V. 43. № 4. P. 15–26. (In Russian)
  24. Shadrikov V.D. Sistemogenez mental’nyh kachestv cheloveka. Moscow: Izd-vo “Institut psihologii RAN”, 2022. 287 p. (In Russian)
  25. Yudina T.O. Empatiya i moral’: mesto vstrechi (obzor zarubezhnyh issledovanij. Shagi. Steps. 2017. V. 3 (1). P. 28–39. (In Russian)
  26. Yusupov I.M. Psihologiya empatii (teoreticheskie i prikladnye aspekty): Dis. … d-ra psihol. nauk. St. Petersburg: S-Peterb. gos. un-t, 1995. (In Russian)
  27. Yashkova A.N., Milaeva K.A. Agressiya i empatiya podrostkov. Aktual’nye problemy i perspektivy razvitiya sovremennoj psihologii. 2020. № 1. P. 82–87. (In Russian)
  28. Bloom R. Empathy and Its Discontents. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2017. V. 21. № 1. R. 24–31.
  29. Bošnjaković J., Radionov T. Empathy: Concepts, Theories and Neuroscientific Basis. Alcoholism and Psychiatry Research. 2018. № 54. P. 123–150.
  30. Cameron C.D., Hutcherson C.A., Ferguson A.M., Scheffer J.A., Hadjiandreou E., Inzlicht M. Empathy is hard work: People choose to avoid empathy because of its cognitive costs. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 2019. V. 148 (6). P. 962–976.
  31. Coplan A. Understanding Empathy: Its Features and Effects. Coplan A., Goldie P. (eds). Empathy. Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. P. 3–18.
  32. Davis M.H. Measuring Individual Differences in Empathy: Evidence for a Multidimensional Approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1983. V. 44. № 1. P. 113–126.
  33. Decety J., Jackson Ph.L. The Functional Architecture of Human Empathy. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews. 2004. V. 3 (2). R. 71–100.
  34. Decety J., Cowell J. The complex relation between morality and empathy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2014. V. 18. № 7. P. 337–339.
  35. Gleichgerrcht E., Young L. Low levels of empathic concern predict utilitarian moral judgment. PLoS One. 2013. V. 8. № 4.
  36. Goldman A.I. Two routes to empathy: Insights from cognitive neuroscience. Coplan A., Goldie P. (eds). Empathy. Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
  37. Goodhew S.C., Edwards M. Attentional control both helps and harms empathy. Cognition. 2021. 206. Art. 104505.
  38. Goodhew S.C., Edwards M. The relation between cognitive failures and empathy // Personality and Individuals Differences. 2022. 186. Art. 111384.
  39. Hakansson Eklund J., Summer Meranius M. Toward a consensus on the nature of empathy: A review of reviews. Patient Education and Counseling. 2020. V. 104 (2). P. 300–307.
  40. Hall J.A., Schwartz R. Empathy present and future. The Journal of Social Psychology. 2018. P. 1–19.
  41. Hengartner M.P., Ajdacic-Gross V., Rodgers S., Muller M., Haker H., Rossler W. Fluid intelligence and empathy in association with personality disorder traitscores: exploring the link. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience. 2014. V. 264. P. 441–448.
  42. Heym N., Kibowski F., Bloxsom C., Blanchard A., Harper A., Wallace L., Firth J., Sumich A. The Dark Empath: Characterising dark traits in the presence of empathy. Personality and Individual Differences. 2020. 169. Art. 110172.
  43. Hodges S.D., Biswas-Diener R. Balancing the empathy expense account: Strategies for regulating empathic response. T.F.D. Farrow, P.W.R. Woodruff (eds). Empathy in mental illness. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007. P. 389–407.
  44. Jonason P.K., Kroll Ch.H. A Multidimensional View of the Relationship Between Empathy and the Dark Triad. J. of Individual Differences. 2015. V. 36 (3). P. 150–157.
  45. Jordan M.R., Amir D., Bloom P. Are Empathy and Concern Psychologically Distinct? Emotion. Advance online publication. 2016.
  46. Kanske P., Bockler A., Trautwein F.M., Parianen Lesemann F.H., Singer T. Are strong empathizers better mentalizers? Evidence for independence and interaction between the routes of social cognition. Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 2016. V. 11 (9). P. 1383–1392.
  47. Kaukiainen A., Björkqvist K., Lagerspetz K., Österman K., Salmivalli Ch., Rothberg S., Ahlbom A. The relationship between social intelligence, empathy, and three types of aggression. Aggressive Behavior. 1999. V. 25. P. 81–89.
  48. Lovett B.J., Sheffield R.A. Affective empathy deficits in aggressive children and adolescents: A critical review. Clinical Psychology Review. 2007. V. 27. P. 1–13.
  49. McFarland D.C., Malone A.K., Roth A. Acute empathy decline among resident physician trainees on a hematology-oncology ward: an exploratory analysis of house staff empathy, distress, and patient death exposure. Psycho‐Oncology. 2017. V. 26. № 5. P. 698–703.
  50. Merle-Marie P., Marije R., Lea Jasmin S.F., Annelieke M.R. Social Anxiety and Empathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Journal of Anxiety Disorders. 2021. V. 78.
  51. Miller P.A., Eisenberg N. The relation of empathy to aggressive and externalizing/antisocial behavior. Psychological Bulletin. 1988. V. 103. P. 324–344.
  52. Salavera C., Usan P., Teruel P., Urbon E., Murillo V. School Bullying: Empathy among Perpetrators and Victims. Sustainability. 2021. V. 13. Art. 1548.
  53. Vachon D.D., Lynam D.R., Johnson J.A. The (non)relation between empathy and aggression: surprising results from a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin. 2014. V. 140. № 3. P. 751–773.
  54. Van Lissa C.J., Skyler T.H., Susan B., Koot H.M., Wim H.J. Common and unique associations of adolescents’ affective and cognitive empathy development with conflict behavior towards parents. Journal of Adolescence. 2016. V. 47. P. 60–70. 53.
  55. Walter H. Social Cognitive Neuroscience of Empathy: Concepts, Circuits, and Genes. Emotion Review. 2012. V. 4. № 1. P. 9–17.

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
Download
2. Fig. 1. The effect of splitting high and low empathy scores

Download (111KB)
Indexing metadata

Copyright (c) 2024 Russian Academy of Sciences

This website uses cookies

You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website.

About Cookies