Empathy, sympathy, and pity: 21st-century definitions and implications for practice and research

Journal of Social Service Research

Volumn 37, Issue 3, 2011, Pages 230-241

  Gerdes, Karen E ^a  

^a ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Emotion regulation; Empathy; Mirror neurons; Perspective taking; Pity; Self other awareness; Sympathy

Indexed keywords

EID: 79957565893     PISSN: 01488376     EISSN: 15407314     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/01488376.2011.564027     Document Type: Article

References (76)

1. Allport, G.W. (1954). The historical background of modern social psychology. In G.W. Allport (Ed.), Handbook of social psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 3-56). Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.
2. Barnes, H. E., & Becker, H. (1952). Social thought from lore to science (Vol. 2).Washington, DC: Harren Press.
3. Batson, C. D. (1987). Distress and empathy: Two qualitatively distinct, vicarious emotions with different motivational consequences. Journal of Personality, 55(1), 19-39.
4. Batson, C. D. (1991). The altruism question: Toward a social-psychological answer. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
5. Batson, C. D., Sager, K., Garst, E., Kange, M., Rubchinsky, K., & Dawson, K. (1997). Is empathy-induced helping due to self-other merging? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 495-509.
6. Black, D.M. (2004). Sympathy reconfigured: Some reflections on sympathy, empathy, and the discovery of values. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 85, 579-596.
7. Butters, R. P. (2010). A meta-analysis of empathy training programs for client populations. Dissertation Abstracts International, 71(4), 169. Retrieved from ProQuestDissertations& Theses: Full Text (UMI No. AAT 3398227)
8. Clark, A. J. (2010). Empathy and sympathy: Therapeutic distinctions in counseling. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 32(2), 95-101.
9. Coffey, K. A., & Hartman, M. (2008). Mechanisms of action in the inverse relationship between mindfulness and psychological distress. Complementary Health Practice Review, 13(2), 78-91.
10. Davis, M. H. (1980). A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 10, 85.
11. Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2004). The functional architecture of human empathy. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 3, 71-100.
12. Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2006). A social-neuroscience perspective on empathy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 54-58.
13. Decety, J., & Lamm, C. (2006). Human empathy through the lens of social neuroscience. The Scientific World Journal, 6, 1146-1163.
14. Decety, J., & Meyer, M. (2008). From emotion resonance to empathic understanding: A social developmental neuroscience account. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 1053-1080.
15. Decety, J., & Moriguchi, Y. (2007). The empathic brain and its dysfunction in psychiatric populations: Implications for interventions across clinical conditions. BioPyschoSocial Medicine, 1(22), 1-21.
16. de Vignemont, F., & Singer, T. (2006). The empathic brain: How, when, and why? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10, 435-441.
17. deWaal, F. B.M. (1996). Good natured: The origin of right and wrong in other animals. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
18. de Waal, F. B. M. (2009). Putting altruism back into altruism: The evolution of empathy. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 279-300.
19. Dinstein, I. (2008). Human cortex: Reflection of mirror neurons. Current Biology, 18, 956-959.
20. Eisenberg, N. (2000). Emotion, regulation, and moral development. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 665-697.
21. Eisenberg, N. (2007, October). Empathy-related responding and prosocial behavior. Paper presented at Empathy and Fairness Novartis Foundation Symposium, London, England (pp. 71-96).
22. Eisenberg, N., & Fabes, R. A. (1992). Emotion, regulation, and the development of social competence. In M. S. Clark (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology: Emotion and social behavior (pp. 119-150). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
23. Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Murphy, B. C., Karbon, M., Maszk, P., Smith, M., Suh, K. (1994). The relations of emotionality and regulation to disposition and situational empathy-related responding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 776-797.
24. Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Murphy, B. C., Karbon, M., Smith, M., & Maszk, P. (1996). The relations of children's dispositional empathy-related responding to their emotionality, regulation, and social functioning. Developmental Psychology, 32, 195-209.
25. Eisenberg, N., & Lennon, R. (1983). Sex differences in empathy and related capacities. Psychological Bulletin, 94(1), 100-131.
26. Eisenberg, N., & Morris, A. S. (2001). The origins and social significance of empathy-related responding. A review of empathy and moral development: Implications for caring and justice by M. L. Hoffman. Social Justice Research, 14(1), 95-126.
27. Escalas, J. E., & Stern, B. B. (2003). Sympathy and empathy: Emotional responses to advertising dramas. Journal of Consumer Research, 29, 566-578.
28. Forrester, D., Kershaw, S., Moss, H., & Hughes, L. (2007). Communication skills in child protection: Howdo social workers talk to parents? Child and Family Social Work, 13, 41-51.
29. Free Dictionary. (2010). Sympathy definition. Retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sympathy
30. Gallese, T., Fadiga, L., Fogassi, L., & Rizzolatti, G. (1996). Action recognition in the premotor cortex. Brain, 119, 593-609.
31. Gallese, V. (2001). The "shared manifold" hypothesis: From mirror neurons to empathy. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 8, 33-50.
32. Gallese, V. (2003a). The manifold nature of interpersonal relations: The quest for a common mechanism. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 358, 517-528.
33. Gallese, V. (2003b). The roots of empathy: The sharedmanifold hypothesis and the neural basis of intersubjectivity. Psychopathology, 36, 171-180.
34. Gallese, V. (2007). Commentary on "Toward a neuroscience of empathy: Integrating affective and cognitive perspectives". Neuro-Psychoanalysis, 9(2), 146-151.
35. Gallese, V., & Goldman, A. (1998).Mirror neurons and the simulation theory of mind reading. Trends in Cognitive Science, 12, 493-501.
36. Gallese, V., Keysers, C., & Rizzolatti, G. (2004).Aunifying viewof the basis of social cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8, 396-403.
37. Garnefski, N., Kraaji, V., & Spinhoven, P. (2001). Negative life events, cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depression. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 1311-1327.
38. Geller, J. D. (2006). Pity, suffering, and psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 60, 187-205.
39. Gerdes, K. E., Lietz, C. A., & Segal, E. A. (in press). Measuring empathy in the 21st century: The development of an empathy index rooted in socialcognitive neuroscience and social justice. Social Work Research.
40. Gerdes, K. E., & Segal, E. A. (2009). A social work model of empathy. Advances in Social Work Practice, 10(2), 114-127.
41. Gerdes, K. E., & Segal, E. A. (in press). The importance of empathy for social work practice: Integrating new science. Social Work.
42. Gerdes, K. E., Segal, E. A., Jackson, K. F., & Mullins, J. (2011). Teaching empathy: A model rooted in socialcognitive neuroscience and social justice. Journal of Social Work Education, 47(1), 109-119.
43. Gerdes, K. E., Segal, E. A., & Lietz, C. A. (2010). Conceptualizing and measuring empathy. British Journal of Social Work, 40, 2326-2343.
44. Hackney, H. (1978). The evolution of empathy. Personnel & Guidance Journal, 57, 35.
45. Haidt, J. (2006). The happiness hypothesis. NewYork, NY: Basic Books.
46. Hoffman, M. L. (1982). The measurement of empathy. In C. E. Izard (Ed.), Measuring emotions in infants and children (pp. 103-131). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
47. Hoffman, M. L. (2000). Empathy and moral development: Implications for caring and justice. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
48. Hume, D. (2000). A treatise on human nature. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. (Originalwork published 1739)
49. Iacoboni, M., Molnar-Szakacs, I., Gallese, V., Buccino, G., Mazziotta, J. C., & Rizzolatti, G. (2005). Grasping the intentions of others with one's own mirror neuron system. PLoS Biology, 3, 529-535.
50. Lamm, C., Batson, C. D., & Decety, J. (2007). The neural substrate of human empathy: Effect of perspective taking and cognitive appraisal. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19(1), 42-58.
51. Lane, R. D., Quinlan, D. M., Schwartz, G. E., Walker, P. A., & Zeitlin, S. B. (1990). The levels of emotional awareness scale: A cognitive developmental measure of emotion. Journal of Personality Assessment, 55, 124-134.
52. Lieberman, M. D. (2007). Social-cognitive neuroscience:A review of core processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 259-289.
53. Lipps, T. (1903). Asthetik: Psycholgie des Schnoen und der kunst [Psychology of aesthetic beauty and art]. Hamburg, Germany: Voss.
54. Meier, S. T., & David, S. R. (2008). The elements of counseling. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
55. Misch, D. A., & Peloquin, S. M. (2005). Developing empathy through confluent education. Journal of Physical Therapy Education, 19(3), 41-51.
56. Nietzsche, F. (1954). The Antichrist. Reprinted in The Portable Nietzsche. New York, NY: Penguin. (Original work published 1895)
57. Olnick, S. L. (1984). A critique of empathy and sympathy. In J. Lichtenberg,M. Bornstein,&D. Silver (Eds.), Empathy I (pp. 140-149). London, England: The Analytic Press.
58. Pedersen, R. (2008). Empathy: A wolf in sheep's clothing? Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy, 11, 325-335.
59. Pedersen, R. (2009). Empirical research on empathy in medicine: A critical review. Patient Education and Counseling, 76, 307-322.
60. Preston, S. D., & de Waal, F. B. M. (2002). Empathy: Its ultimate and proximate bases. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 25, 1-72.
61. Raines, J. (1990). Empathy in social work. Cinical Social Work Journal, 18(1), 57-72.
62. Rameson, L., & Lieberman, M. (2009). Empathy: A social cognitive neuroscience approach. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 3(1), 94-110.
63. Segal, E. A. (2007). Social empathy: A tool to address the contradiction of working but still poor. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 88, 333-337.
64. Shulman, L. (2009). The skills of helping individuals, families, groups, and communities. Florence, KY: Cengage.
65. Siegel, D. J. (2010). Mindsight: The newscience of personal transformation. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
66. Singer, T., & Lamm, C. (2009). The social neuroscience of empathy. The Year in Cognitive Neuroscience 2009: Annual New York Academy of Science, 1156, 81-96.
67. Smith, A. (1976). The theory of moral sentiments. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1759)
68. Spreng, R. N., McKinnon, M. C., Mar, R. A., & Levine, B. (2009). The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire: Scale development and initial validation of a factor-analytic solution to multiple empathy measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(1), 62-71.
69. Szalavitz, M., & Perry, B. D. (2010). Born for love: Why empathy is essential-and endangered. New York, NY: William Morrow.
70. Thomas, J. T.,&Otis,M.D. (2010). Intrapsychic predictors of professional quality of life: Mindfulness, empathy and emotional separation. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 1(2), 83-98.
71. Titchener, E. (1909). Elementary psychology of the thought processes. New York, NY: MacMillan.
72. Truax, C. B., & Carkhuff, R. R. (1967). Toward effective counseling and psychotherapy: Training and practice. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
73. Watt, D. (2007). Toward a neuroscience of empathy: Integrating affective and cognitive perspectives. Neuro-Psychoanalysis, 9, 119-140.
74. Wilmer, H. A. (1968). The doctor-patient relationship and the issues of pity, sympathy, and empathy. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 41, 243-248.
75. Wispe, L. (1986). The distinction between sympathy and empathy: To call forth a concept, a word is needed. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 314-321.
76. Young, A. (2010, June). Empathy, cruelty, and the origins of the social brain. Paper presented at InteractingMinds Workshop, Aarhus, Denmark.