Gregory John Depow and colleagues researched the experience of empathy, which is the ability to comprehend and share the emotions of another person. It is like having acquired fresh insight into something about another person that has improved one's capacity to connect with and better grasp the experiences or perspectives of another. Almost all empathy research is done in laboratories with strangers, which is challenging as it can create negative emotions. In this study, individuals demonstrated more empathy for good emotions than negative emotions, and participants showed more empathy for pleasurable experiences than painful ones. Positive emotions like pleasure and excitement are shown to be three times more common than negative emotions like disgust, anger, and fear. Close friends were more likely to evoke empathy. This effect is very likely linked to accessibility, since people interact with friends rather than strangers. (Depow et al., 2020)
There are several exceptions to the rule that empathy favors family and friends. As the author found, empathy increased as one's closeness to another increased. Research suggests that lack of empathy may be linked to laboratory experiments in which strangers were persuaded to be afraid of helping others. However, other studies show that a lack of empathy towards strangers is very demotivating. The authors believe that in order to create a strong connection, future laboratory research should incorporate empathy-targeted emotional states as well as a participant who is physically close to the topic. A great deal of study has been done on the subject of empathy by academics. (Kerem et al., 2001)
According to the findings of Depow and colleagues, empathy, compassion, and perspective taking occur almost always in tandem. While the results show that individuals often see the components of empathy concurrently in daily interactions, the research also shows that they do not always appear together. Finally, he looked at the generalizability of prior studies on empathy demographics. Women and religious people had greater levels of empathy than men and nonreligious people. The results of this study have altered the perceptions about empathy. When given the opportunity, everyone is ready to empathize. Many individuals, however, are just as fast to experience other people's emotions without recognizing them as possible empathy opportunities. On a daily level, positive emotional displays from intimate friends and family members, rather than strangers, tend to elicit empathy rather than negative ones.
These factors must be included in future research because they influence the feeling of empathy and are likely to reduce its effects on subjective well-being and prosocial behaviour. The authors say individuals empathize with very close people more often than strangers, and they empathize with positive emotions three times more frequently than negative ones. While trait empathy was related to worse well-being, daily empathy was linked to higher well-being. Empathy has many conceptually distinct components, including emotion sharing, viewpoint taking, and compassion. Finally, women and religious individuals have higher levels of everyday empathy than conservatives or the wealthy (Depow et al., 2020).
References
DEPOW, G. J., FRANCIS, Z. & INZLICHT, M. J. P. S. 2020. The experience of empathy in everyday life. 0956797621995202.
KEREM, E., FISHMAN, N., JOSSELSON, R. J. J. O. S. & RELATIONSHIPS, P. 2001. The experience of empathy in everyday relationships: Cognitive and affective elements. 18, 709-729.
According to the findings of Depow and colleagues, empathy, compassion, and perspective taking occur almost always in tandem. While the results show that individuals often see the components of empathy concurrently in daily interactions, the research also shows that they do not always appear together. Finally, he looked at the generalizability of prior studies on empathy demographics. Women and religious people had greater levels of empathy than men and nonreligious people. The results of this study have altered the perceptions about empathy. When given the opportunity, everyone is ready to empathize. Many individuals, however, are just as fast to experience other people's emotions without recognizing them as possible empathy opportunities. On a daily level, positive emotional displays from intimate friends and family members, rather than strangers, tend to elicit empathy rather than negative ones.
These factors must be included in future research because they influence the feeling of empathy and are likely to reduce its effects on subjective well-being and prosocial behaviour. The authors say individuals empathize with very close people more often than strangers, and they empathize with positive emotions three times more frequently than negative ones. While trait empathy was related to worse well-being, daily empathy was linked to higher well-being. Empathy has many conceptually distinct components, including emotion sharing, viewpoint taking, and compassion. Finally, women and religious individuals have higher levels of everyday empathy than conservatives or the wealthy (Depow et al., 2020).
References
DEPOW, G. J., FRANCIS, Z. & INZLICHT, M. J. P. S. 2020. The experience of empathy in everyday life. 0956797621995202.
KEREM, E., FISHMAN, N., JOSSELSON, R. J. J. O. S. & RELATIONSHIPS, P. 2001. The experience of empathy in everyday relationships: Cognitive and affective elements. 18, 709-729.
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