- An international team of researchers conducted four separate experiments designed to measure changes in empathy, involving more than 50 volunteers.
- As a result of the research, it was understood that empathy, which is a highly variable state, can be affected by the people and environments around it.
Empathy is a name given to the ability to feel another person’s emotions and understand how they feel. This extremely important skill is unfortunately scarce in most of today’s world. But we can spread empathy and compassion through social interaction.
An international team of researchers conducted four separate experiments to measure changes in empathy states based on the actions of more than 50 volunteers. Participants’ assessments showed that their empathy levels, based on both self-reports and brain scans, tended to change after observing the reactions of others. This means that if enough people empathize, care and concern for others can spread.
Individual empathy levels were measured in all four experiments. First, participants were shown an emotional video and their reactions were measured. Then, different individuals were shown reacting to the same videos and their empathy levels were measured again. Seeing others react empathetically increased participants’ empathy symptoms, while seeing an ambivalent situation decreased empathy. So, in this case, we can say that empathy is a highly variable situation.
Another of the tests was functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measured the neural activity of specific areas of the participants’ brains. Changes were noticed in the anterior insula part of the brain, which has previously been associated with empathy. With the help of some mathematical models, the team showed that changes in empathy were actually related to real learning rather than imitation or people-pleasing.
Empathy, which facilitates altruistic bonds, can help us establish social bonds and potentially give us an advantage over those around us. Some researchers argue that being able to understand others’ perspectives even stems from the foundations of modern civilization.
Grit Hein, a neuroscientist at the University of Würzburg in Germany, said: “For empathy to develop in the long term, respect is required between individuals. “A person can be respected without actually having empathy, but if the other person is not respected as a human being, it can be difficult to develop empathy.” said.
Research, PNAS It was published in the magazine.
Compiled by: Davut Bulut