The effects of dispositional empathy on emotional reactions and helping: A multidimensional approach

TLDR

Empathic emotion, a state of sympathy and compassion, is linked to altruistic helping, especially when escape is easy, whereas personal distress reduces help. The study tested whether individual differences in empathy influence empathic emotion and personal distress beyond situational factors, and whether this effect is driven by emotional rather than cognitive empathy. Results confirmed both hypotheses, showing that individual differences—particularly emotional empathy—account for more variance in emotional reactions and that cognitive empathy is unrelated, supporting a multidimensional view of empathy.

Abstract

Abstract Recent research indicates that an affective state termed empathic emotion , and characterized by feelings of sympathy and compassion for another, is associated with altruistic responding. That is, persons experiencing high levels of empathic emotion offer help to another even when escape from the situation is easy. Persons experiencing high levels of another emotional state—personal distress—help much less when escape from the situation is easy. A study was conducted to test two related hypotheses. The first was that individual differences in empathy can influence empathic emotion and personal distress, above and beyond the influence of situational factors. The second hypothesis was that this effect of individual differences is due to variation in emotional and not cognitive empathy. The results provide support for both hypotheses. Regarding hypothesis 1, a significantly greater proportion of the variance in emotional reactions was accounted for when individual difference factors were included as predictors. Hypothesis 2 was also supported: It was found that a dispositional measure of emotional empathy was clearly related, and a dispositional measure of cognitive empathy was clearly unrelated, to these emotional reactions. The results provide support for a multidimensional view of empathy.