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The Social Neuroscience of Empathy The Social Neuroscience of Empathy edited by Jean Decety and William Ickes A Bradford Book The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2009 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechani- cal means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. For information about special quantity discounts, please e-mail special_sales@mitpress.mit.edu This book was set in Stone Sans and Stone Serif by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The social neuroscience of empathy / edited by Jean Decety and William Ickes. p. cm.—(Social neuroscience) “A Bradford book.” Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-01297-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Empathy. 2. Neurosciences. 3. Social psychology. I. Decety, Jean. II. Ickes, William John. BF575.E55S63 2009 155.2′32—dc22 2008034814 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Subject Index Abstract reasoning, 132–133 Altruistic motivation, 9 Academic achievement, 87–88 Amygdala, 128, 141, 174, 228 teacher empathy and, 88–89 cognitive empathy and, 224 Accurate empathy, 57. See also Empathic conditioning and, 144 accuracy emotion representation and, 188 benefi ts and limitations of, 154–156 facial expressions and, 140, 141, 174, 201, 207 Acquaintanceship effect, 64 fear and, 140, 141, 204 Actualizing tendency, 102 and mediation of emotional experiences, 227 organismic infl uence of, 102–103 morality and, 144 Adolescent adjustment, empathic accuracy in pain and, 77 peer relations and, 63 selective sociality, neuropeptides, and, 178, Aesthetic empathy, 6, 7 179 Affective component of empathy, 153–154. sex differences and, 179 See also Empathy, components/dimensions simulation and, 226, 228 Affective empathy, 6, 215, 218–220, 226, 227. Analogical reasoning, 209 See also Emotional contagion; Emotional Anger, emotional empathic responses to empathy; Simulation and reasoning about conventions, 145–146 Affective mentalizing, 223. See also Mentalizing Anger-mediated aggressive behavior, 87 Affective resonance, 71, 77, 184, 185, 200, 201. Angry expressions, 141 See also Empathic resonance Animals. See also Evolution Affective responsiveness, 87 empathy and emotional contagion in, 25, 71, Affective sharing, 109, 185, 189 169 Affi nity continuum, 160–161 Anterior attention system, 74 Agency, sense of, 206 Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), 38, 77, 78, 127, Aggression, 86–87. See also Anger; Violent 186, 189, 201, 224–227 husbands Anterior insula, 38, 77, 186, 187, 189, 190, 201, regulation of, 86 225. See also Insula Alexithymia, 160 Anterior paracingulate cortex, 141 Altruistic behavior, 85, 203. See also Imitation, Anterior temporal cortex, 128 prosocial effects of being imitated Antisocial behavior, 143–144 Altruistic concern, 161 regulation of, 86 246 Subject Index Anxiety. See also Fear Caring, 86 social, 224, 225 (see also Social phobia) “Chameleon effect,” 184 Appeasement displays, empathic responses to, Cheek muscle region, 21 147–148 Cingulate cortex, 201, 226. See also Anterior Appraisal theory, 202 cingulate cortex Approach-avoidance reactions, 176, 177 Citizen Curriculum, 91 “As if” condition, 103, 125, 126 Classroom, empathy-stimulating experiences in, Asperger syndrome (AS), 219, 224, 225 90. See also Student empathy, fostering Attachment processes, 78–79 Client-centered therapy, 109–110. See also Attentional disengagement, 61 Psychotherapy; Rogerian empathy Attentional resources, 141 conditions of the therapeutic process, 102–104 Audience design hypothesis, 47, 52 empathy in, 103–104 Audition and social communication, 172 and activities of therapist, 104–105 Auditory communication, 172 theory, 101–102 Auditory mirror neuron systems, 131 therapeutic relationship, 105, 132 Autism, 26, 60, 146–147, 180, 190–192, 224, 225 Client empathic resonance. See Empathic Automatic imitation, 32 resonance, in psychotherapy Automatic mimicry, 200 Clinical empathy. See Psychotherapy, empathy Automatic/uncontrolled vs. deliberative/ in; Rogerian empathy refl ective/controlled empathic reactions, 157 Cognition Automatic vigilance, 113 embodied, 209 Autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity. social, 188, 191, 200, 216, 217 See also Evolving autonomic and social Cognitive-affective model of empathy, 85, 86, 91 nervous system Cognitive appraisal and reappraisal, 207 facial feedback and, 23 Cognitive-behavioral therapies, 120 Cognitive capacities related to empathy, Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES), 189 132–133 Basal ganglia, 205 Cognitive component of empathy, 153. Belief-reasoning errors, 220 See also Cognitive empathy; Empathy, Bilateral insulae, 77 components/dimensions Bilateral insular cortices, 204 Cognitive-emotional empathy, 133 Bipolar disorder, 145, 224, 225 Cognitive empathy, 4, 7, 33, 218, 224. Body-oriented perspective. See Embodied See also Projection; Theory of mind empathy defi ned, 141 Borderline personality disorder (BPD), 61, 224, and moral and conventional reasoning, 225 146–147 Brain damage and empathic abilities, 217–219. nature of, 215 See also specifi c regions of brain and other types of empathy, 133, 139, 215, Brow muscle region, 21 218–220 “Burnout,” 156 Cognitive fl exibility, 132, 133, 217–219 Cognitive mentalizing, 223. See also Mentalizing Canonical neurons, 24 Cognitive perspective taking. See Perspective Caregiving, interest in, 153 taking Subject Index 247 Cognitive (processing) style, 36–37 Dialogue, empathic, 116 and interpersonal behavior, 37 Domain-specifi c modules, 186 Cognitive psychology and empathic accuracy, 62 Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, 77 Common ground, 47 Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLC), 218, 219, Common-ground assumptions, 44 225 in communication, 47–48 Common knowledge, 48, 52 Effortful control, 71, 74–76, 79 Compassion, 8, 86, 117, 153, 161 Egocentrism, 203 Comprehension, 47–48 overprojection as, 49 Concept, empathy of. See Aesthetic empathy Egoistic motivation, 9 Conceptualizing skills, 119 Einfühlung, 6, 31, 38, 183 Concern, empathic/other-oriented, 131, 183, Electromyography (EMG), 20 188, 189, 199, 202, 208. See also Sympathy Embarrassment, 147, 148 Confl ict monitoring, 38 Embodied cognition, 209 Congruence in psychotherapy, 102, 103 Embodied empathy, 113–114, 116–117, 120. Congruence with other person’s welfare, 8 See also Resonating, bodily; Somatic Conscientiousness, 76 resonance Contact refl ections, 116 Emotion, 19 Contagion, 24–26 Emotional arousal, 11 Context/contextual factors, 129–130. See also Emotional competence, 86 Relationship between empathizer and target Emotional contagion, 6, 19, 24–26. See also of empathy Affective empathy Cooperation, 86, 170, 173 in animals, 25, 169 Cooperative learning curriculum, 90 defi ned, 19 Corrugator supercilii (brow) muscle region, 21 facial expression and, 32, 225 Corticobasal degeneration, 223 implications of existing research regarding, 26 Corticospinal motor representations, 201 in infants and toddlers, 185 Counterempathic responding, 208 mechanisms and stages in the process of, 20–26 Countertransference (psychotherapy), 119, 132 merging and, 131 Cross-target consistency, 59 mimicry and, 32 Curriculum Transformation Project, 92–94 vs. other types of empathy, 73, 206 pain and, 78, 155 Decentering, 7, 131 primitive, 19, 20, 27 Defensiveness, 178 questions regarding, 26–27 Deliberate/intentional empathic responses, 157 shared affect and, 184 Development, moral, 139. See also Moral Emotional Contagion Scale, 20, 189 reasoning Emotional countercontagion, 61 Developmental approaches to empathy, 185 Emotional empathy, 133, 139–141, 189, 228. Developmental issues, 76–77 See also Affective empathy; Simulation Developmental psychology and empathic Emotional intelligence, 67, 88 accuracy, 62–63 Emotional Regulation Scale, 189 Dialogical perspective, 113, 114, 120. See also Emotional resonance. See Affective resonance Psychotherapy Emotional responding, 139 248 Subject Index Emotion “catching,” 5, 6, 20. See also Emotional Empathic processing, 215, 227–228. contagion See also specifi c topics ways emotions can be caught, 20–26 Empathic resonance, 134. See also Affective Emotion matching, 5, 6 resonance; Resonating Emotion regulation, 73, 115, 119, 189, 206–207, in psychotherapy, 114–118, 125 216. See also Self-regulation Empathic responding, modulation of, 206–209 Emotions, primary vs. secondary, 132 Empathic understanding, 102–104, 109, 119, Empathic ability, 60, 65. See also Empathic 134, 155 accuracy Empathic Understanding Responses, 101 Empathic accuracy, 4, 57, 67–68, 115, 156. Empathy See also Pain assessment, accuracy in as answer to two different questions, 3–4, 8–11 in clinical psychology, 59–62 components/dimensions of, 91, 103, 117–118, cognitive psychology and, 62 133, 153–154 (see also Cognitive-affective contributions of different information channels model of empathy) to, 62 conditions for (see under Psychotherapy) defi ned, 57 consequences of showing, 33–34 developmental psychology and, 62–63 (see also Imitation) individual differences in perceivers’, 59 defi nitions/uses of the term, 19, 31, 43, 71, 85, physiological psychology and, 65–66 103, 104, 125, 126, 139, 183–185 social psychology and, 64–65 concept 1: knowing another’s internal state, Empathic accuracy construct, “theory neutral” 4, 8–11 nature of, 67 concept 2: adopting the posture/expression of Empathic accuracy measures, 58–59, 155. an observed other, 4, 8–10 See
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