• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRSTPROOFS, Wed Apr 18 2018, NEWGEN 2 37 Afterword237 reactions, albeit not on a conceptual level (Condon even flourish in the face of the consequences of & Feldman Barrett, 2013). This suggests that this caring. accessing the positive core of compassion might require some degree of conditioning and training CONCLUSION in order to successfully employ it in daily life. Social emotions such as empathy and com- Several research groups have begun passion are a central aspect of our social lives. investigating how compassion can be trained Through the shared embodiment of emotional through the utilization of meditation techniques states such as in the phenomena of emotion adapted from the Buddhist tradition to a secular contagion and empathy, we gain access to and setting in meditation- naïve participants (e.g., communicate core aspects of our emotional Fredrickson, Cohn, Coffey, Pek, & Finkel, 2008; experiences. However, many barriers exist to this Jazaieri et al., 2013; Klimecki et al., 2013; Klimecki, empathic resonance, including other core social Leiberg, Ricard, & Singer, 2014; Mascaro, Rilling, mechanisms such as our tendency to discrimi- Negi, & Raison, 2013; Weng et al., 2013). In nate in- groups from out- groups. Even when we addition to showing that compassion training is do achieve empathic connection with someone, possible outside of the strict regimes of Buddhist this can become a source of stress, because, un- practice, these results show that such training deniably, sharing affective states with others can has a number of beneficial effects. For instance, be costly. However, as we hope to have shown, in our laboratory, we have found that compas- we are not incurably bound by our biases, but sion training increased positive affect when can actively modulate the occurrence, strength, participants were exposed to highly distressing and type of empathic connection we share with videos depicting people suffering, and that this others. We can do this either by engaging in increase was associated with increased activation mentalizing processes or by transforming an ini- of a neuronal network involved in affiliation and tial empathic response into a compassionate one, reward (Klimecki et al., 2013). Underlining the and in so doing, changing our personal and so- difference between compassion and empathic cial worlds for the better. distress, the activation pattern associated with compassion- training differed markedly from 9.7 AFTERWORD that observed in the same individual after em- pathy training; the latter leading to an increase How Are Emotions Embodied in the in negative affect associated with the well- known Social World? empathy for pain network including anterior in- Andrew S. Fox and sula and mid- anterior cingulate cortex (mACC) (Klimecki et al., 2014). Given the similarity of Alexander J. Shackman these results to the previously discussed findings on expert practitioners (Engen & Singer, 2015), ll of the contributors agree that emotions are this suggests that compassion can be trained Aprofoundly social. At home and at work, so- in a targeted manner. The importance of such cial cues, interactions, and relationships dominate training is borne out by studies showing that the landscape of our emotional lives. The associ- compassion training is associated with enhanced ation between the social and the emotional is bi- empathic accuracy (Lutz, Greischar, Perlman, & directional: emotional signals influence the social Davidson, 2009; Mascaro et al., 2013), reduced environment, and shared feelings are critical for physiological stress responses (Pace et al., 2009), understanding and constructively interacting with and overall improved well-being (Fredrickson others. Here, the authors describe socio-emotional et al., 2008). Importantly, this type of training interactions from multiple perspectives, ranging has been shown not only to have beneficial effects from emotional expressions to emotional conta- for the individual, but also to increase prosocial gion, from guilt to compassion, and from strategic behaviors (Leiberg, Klimecki, & Singer, 2011; cooperation to friendship. Weng et al., 2013). Many contributors highlighted evidence that Overall, these results suggest that compassion social contexts play an important role in regulating can be learned, and that this learning has substan- the expression and experience of emotion. tial benefits both for the learner and for society Eisenberg and Hernández underscore the impor- at large. Importantly, it offers a means by which tance of emotion display rules— culture- specific one can volitionally overcome barriers to caring, norms for when, where, and how emotions can be while at the same time being able to endure and expressed (cf. Blanchard and Pearson’s response 9780190612573_Book.indb 237 19-Apr-18 5:37:19 PM OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRSTPROOFS, Wed Apr 18 2018, NEWGEN 238 238 How are emotions embodied in the social world? to Question 7; e.g., Ekman, 1972; Safdar et al., variance in reward-related neural activity (i.e. 2009). Lemay reminds us that individuals often ventral striatal Blood Oxygen Level Dependent attempt to deliberately regulate outward signs of [BOLD] response). Fareri and Delgado go on emotion, such as anger, in order to preserve or to suggest this social-value signal contributes cultivate desired social relationships. He joins to the development and maintenance of social withwith Eisenberg and Hernández in emphasizing relationships. Parkinson picks up this argument that emotions such as guilt, shame, and pride by emphasizing how humans develop uniquely are inherently social, and these “self-conscious” intense affiliative bonds with people who are emotions are shaped by our social environment. neither kin nor mates— our friends. Lemay goes as far as to provide a general model Several contributors emphasize the impor- by which social contexts can influence our emo- tance of feelings for motivating social beha- tional state by motivating or interrupting emo- vior. Parkinson argues that feelings of loneliness tional goals. Several authors note that reflexive motivate individuals to seek out new social social appraisals (e.g., perceived closeness, trust- connections and to evaluate potential partners worthiness, or group identity) can govern the more favorably. Engen and Singer, Fareri and intensity of emotional experience (Engen and Delgado, and Parkinson tell us that feelings of Singer, Fareri and Delgado, Fox, and Parkinson). empathy and, even more so, compassion can For example, Parkinson highlights evidence motivate prosocial behavior, facilitate social un- that mothers experience lower levels of disgust derstanding, and strengthen social cohesion. in response to diapers soiled by their own baby Eisenberg and Hernández, Fox, and Parkinson compared to unrelated babies, and Engen and point out that the reverse is also true and em- Singer tell us that sports fans experience lower phasize the importance of social forms of emo- levels of empathy and show reduced altruism tion regulation, noting that the presence of in response to the physical suffering of fans of friends, family members, and other forms of a rival team. Finally, adopting a developmental social support reduces distress (Shackman et al., perspective, Eisenberg and Hernández remind in press). Fox and Engen and Singer go on to us that social contexts (e.g., familial and cul- suggest that deliberate mental training, such as tural norms, social isolation) can also have pro- cultivating feelings of compassion, can motivate found consequences for emotional development feelings of kindness and prosocial actions. (e.g., McLaughlin, Sheridan, & Lambert, 2014; As Engen and Singer, Fareri and Delgado, and McLaughlin et al., 2015). Fox note, the deep connection between the social Just as the social environment can influence and the emotional is evident in the high degree of emotions, emotions can alter social interactions overlap between the social and emotional brain. (Eisenberg and Hernández, Fareri and Delgado,g In addition to the role for social- valuation signals Lemay, and Parkinson; see also SShackmanhackman et al., outlined here, Fareri and Delgado and Fox empha- 2016)2016). The expression of anger, for example, size the amygdala’s role in basic social processes, tends to promote avoidance and conflict. In such as perception, trust, and proximity aversion. contrast, positive expressions (e.g., a smiling Engen and Singer highlight evidence that percep- baby, laughter) encourage social approach, en- tion and action often engage overlapping substrates, gagement, and bonding. As Fox and Fareri and that some of the same neural systems that un- and Delgado note, such stimuli are highly derlie emotion processing seem to enable emotion motivating to observers and engage the same perception and empathy for others. In fact, many neural circuits recruited by other rewards, in- of these same systems are those that are thought to cluding food and money. Engen and Singer, change with explicit prosocial training. Fareri and Delgado, and Parkinson all highlight Finally, many of the contributors agree that, evidence that this reward-relevant circuitry is once elicited, moods and emotions can leapfrog also sensitive to reward delivered to others. For from person- to- person via empathic distress and example, seeing another person receive a reward facial mimicry and spread across larger groups via can activate one’s own reward circuitry, and, emotional contagion (Eisenberg and Hernández,

Load more

  157

Copy Link