Abstract: This study examines the influence of individual and organizational features on the willingness to donate money to NPOs of individuals who are atypical of the organization. For this cross...Show moreAbstract: This study examines the influence of individual and organizational features on the willingness to donate money to NPOs of individuals who are atypical of the organization. For this cross-sectional study, participants who were atypical to the presented NPO were recruited online (n = 98). The research materials included information about international NPOs and a questionnaire that measured organizational morality, organizational competence, empathy, and collectivism of the individual, as well as general willingness to help and willingness to donate money to the organization. Multiple regression analyses showed that general willingness to help is predicted by organizational morality and the individual’s empathy. It has also been shown that empathy and general willingness to help have a direct effect on willingness to donate money to an NPO. Mediation regression analysis supported the hypotheses that empathy and organizational morality indirectly influence willingness to donate via willingness to help. Finally, practical recommendations for NPOs, as well as strengths, limitations, and implications of this online study were discussed.Show less
Throughout our lives, we go through stressful situations on a daily basis. It effects multiple facets of our lives, including social interaction and empathy. This study explores the impact of acute...Show moreThroughout our lives, we go through stressful situations on a daily basis. It effects multiple facets of our lives, including social interaction and empathy. This study explores the impact of acute stress on affective empathy in female students (N = 115, M = 21.23 years, SD = 1.64 years). After being exposed to the (placebo) Trier Social Stress Test, participants completed an affective empathy task. They assigned compassion and positive affect scores to negative, neutral and positive pictures. Smiling and frowning responses were measured simultaneously. Surprisingly, no significant differences were revealed between the stress and control group for compassion and positive affect. However, results indicated more relaxation in smiling muscles and more tension in frowning muscles in response to positive stimuli in the stress condition. The results challenge the tend-and-befriend framework.Show less
Objective: Depressive disorders represent a significant burden on mental health care services across the globe, with many cases starting during adolescence. Recent literature provides evidence that...Show moreObjective: Depressive disorders represent a significant burden on mental health care services across the globe, with many cases starting during adolescence. Recent literature provides evidence that both high and low empathy may be risk factors for depression. This study explores the relationship between empathy and depression in a clinical (n=35) and non-clinical (n=80) sample of adolescents, while taking age and gender into account as potential confounding factors. Method: This study uses data from the Relations and Emotions in Parent-Adolescent Interaction Research (RE-PAIR). Participants filled out the PHQ, the perspective taking and empathic concern scales of the IRI, and parents and adolescents were interviewed surrounding the perceived causes of the adolescents’ depression. ANOVA comparisons were used to establish whether there are meaningful differences between depressed and non-depressed adolescents on measures of empathy while controlling for age and gender. To investigate whether low or high empathy scores are associated with higher severity of depression, depressed adolescents were divided in three groups for each measure of empathy according to empathy scores and compared in terms of PHQ scores. Finally, adolescents were grouped and compared based on empathy-associated reported causes of depression to determine whether those causes are associated with differences in empathy. Results: There was no association between depression and empathy scores. There was a significant difference on only one item of the IRI, which may drive a false positive correlation between affective empathy and depression. Gender was associated with significant differences in reported empathy scores, as was age. There was no significant relationship between empathy and severity of depression, nor between empathy and reported causes of depression. Conclusion: This study finds limited evidence for the relationship between empathy and depression. It highlights the importance of studying empathy in combination with other factors, and the challenges in measuring empathy in the context of depression. Limitations and implications of the findings are discussed.Show less
The study aims to investigate whether applying the shame-resilience theory (SRT) could increase debtors’ willingness to contact their creditors (Brown, 2006). Shame is associated with two elements:...Show moreThe study aims to investigate whether applying the shame-resilience theory (SRT) could increase debtors’ willingness to contact their creditors (Brown, 2006). Shame is associated with two elements: powerlessness and being trapped. Feelings of being trapped occur when debtors feel that they have failed to adhere to societal norms due to a lack of alternatives (Frye, 2001). Powerlessness occurs when debtors experience a lack of control. We hypothesized that, by reducing the feelings associated with shame, powerlessness and being trapped, could lead to an increase in the debtors’ willingness to contact (WTC). The data was gathered through an online survey from 182 participants who were divided into four conditions; control, power, trapped and combined. The results provided evidence that reducing the feeling of powerlessness leads to an increase in debtors' willingness to contact. However, reducing the feelings of being trapped or a combined reduction did not produce similar results.Show less
Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by affective, interpersonal, and behavioural problems. The current study aims to examine the role of psychopaths’ emotional deficiencies in their...Show morePsychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by affective, interpersonal, and behavioural problems. The current study aims to examine the role of psychopaths’ emotional deficiencies in their moral reasoning. We hypothesized that psychopathy severity predicts utilitarian decisions (1), empathy (2), and alexithymia (3) and that the relationship between psychopathy severity and utilitarian decision-making is mediated by empathy (4) and alexithymia (5). A total of 20 PCL-R confirmed psychopaths psychiatric inpatients were recruited from five different psychiatric hospitals in the Netherlands. Empathy and alexithymia were measured using the IRI and TAS-20 questionnaires. Each participant was shown 12 fictional moral dilemmas to which a utilitarian (greater good-sacrificial) or deontological (harm-avoiding) action had to be chosen. Contrary to expectations (1), results showed that psychopathy severity was negatively related to utilitarian decision-making (β = -.49, p = .030), with higher PCL-R scores reflecting lower percentages of utilitarian decisions on moral dilemmas. All other hypotheses were not supported, as psychopathy severity was not related to any empathy subscale (2) β ranging from <∣.01∣ to ∣.35∣, p > .05) or alexithymia subscale (3) (β ranging from ∣.16∣ to ∣.30∣, p > .05), and no mediation effects were found for either empathy (4) (β ranging from <∣.01∣ to ∣.23∣, BCIs contain 0) or alexithymia (5) (β ranging from ∣.01∣ to ∣.04∣, BCIs contain 0). A possible explanation for the contradictory finding that higher scoring psychopaths make fewer utilitarian decisions is the study setting. Despite the study data being used solely for academic purposes, participants might feel a need to ‘’fake good’’ to nonetheless avoid any negative evaluations that might affect their sentence. Furthermore, the inability to detect any mediative effects might be due to the current studies limited sample size. This made it unfeasible for analyses to differentiate the variables psychopathy and moral reasoning into potentially meaningful subcategories. Future studies should examine how these subcategories relate to moral decision-making. Additionally, it is recommended to make further efforts to minimize the perceived need to fake good, to further investigate the counterintuitive finding that higher scoring psychopaths display more harm-avoiding moral reasoning than lower scoring psychopaths.Show less
In reinforcement learning theory, humans learn from the outcomes of their actions and update the expected value of their future choices accordingly. To act in a socially adaptive manner, we must...Show moreIn reinforcement learning theory, humans learn from the outcomes of their actions and update the expected value of their future choices accordingly. To act in a socially adaptive manner, we must learn about the consequences our actions have on both ourselves and others. In the current study, empathy was tested as a trait which influences our ability to learn to make decisions which benefit others. It was hypothesised that higher empathy would lead to improved prosocial learning, and that feelings of responsibility for others would meditate such effect. A probabilistic prosocial reinforcement learning task was used, whereby 30 healthy males aged between 19 and 34 played a game to win monetary rewards for themselves, another person, or no-one. ANOVA analysis revealed that participants showed higher learning rates when playing for others rather than themselves, which is not congruent with previous research. The potential reasons for this finding are discussed. Correlation analysis of accuracy rates and computational learning rates with empathy scores revealed no relationships between trait empathy and prosocial learning. Further analysis failed to show feelings of responsibility for others mediating the effect of empathy on prosocial learning. Thus, the current study found no evidence for empathy having a role in prosocial learning, nor for feeling responsible for others as a mediator. The current sample did, however, perform as well or better for others than for themselves, which may be due to cultural differences or testing occurring during the Covid-19 pandemic when empathy, prosocial actions, and social responsibility were increased.Show less
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Conduct disorder (CD) have somewhat similar symptoms. Both are characterized by problems with cognitive empathy, but CD is also characterized by problems with...Show moreAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Conduct disorder (CD) have somewhat similar symptoms. Both are characterized by problems with cognitive empathy, but CD is also characterized by problems with affective empathy. Research has shown that problems with affective empathy can be linked to aggression. CD is characterized by aggression, both proactive and reactive, but this is not clear for ASD. Current research was conducted to answer the question: On what aspects do ASD and CD differ from each other and from a control (CON) group, considering empath and aggression? A sample of 112 boys participated in the study. They were divided into three groups based on the diagnosis of CD, ASD or no diagnosis (CON). They were asked to fill in the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) and the Reactive-Proactive Agression Questionaire (RPQ). A distinction was made between affective and cognitive empathy and a total empathy score, and between proactive and reactive aggression and a total aggression score. The results showed that CD had more problems with empathy, specifically affective empathy, than ASD compared to CON. CD showed a higher score on aggression, on both subscales and the total score, than both ASD and CON. ASD did not differ from CON on any of the variables. These results support previous research in which it was stated that there is an association between problems with affective empathy and aggression in children with CD. This association was not found for ASD. It is suggested that future research should investigate possible factors that could be of influence on the absence of this relation between empathy and aggression for ASD.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
How important is getting the perfect shot? And what must make way for this? I use experiences from an ethnographic research period in an area threatened by climate change to argue how audiovisual...Show moreHow important is getting the perfect shot? And what must make way for this? I use experiences from an ethnographic research period in an area threatened by climate change to argue how audiovisual methodologies may reduce researchers' feelings of empathy towards participants. This paper elaborates on diverse literature to demonstrate how both empathy and aesthetics can be of great importance when performing ethnographic research, and real-life examples to show how these concepts relate to eachother during fieldwork. Although this paper focuses specifically on the implications of audiovisual methodologies on me as a researcher, similar ideas may apply to anyone researching people in precarious situations. I have found that seeking empathy and prioritizing aesthetics can coincide with the help of collaborative creativity, on which I elaborate in the final chapter.Show less
Deficiencies in empathic functioning are known to lay at the core of psychopathy and have been suggested to explain their immoral behavior. Although empathy can be divided into affective and...Show moreDeficiencies in empathic functioning are known to lay at the core of psychopathy and have been suggested to explain their immoral behavior. Although empathy can be divided into affective and cognitive components which have been shown to play an integral role in information processing when viewing others’ morally laden actions, the individual contribution of each component on the interpersonal behavior remains to be determined. This study set out to investigate whether incarcerated psychopathic offenders evaluate social situations different to non-psychopathic controls. An adapted version of the Dictator Game using an empathy induction protocol was employed to measure prosocial sharing behavior indicative of how an agent’s behavior is evaluated. Psychopaths showed less differentiation in sharing behavior which might be explained by an impairment of the affective component of empathy. Therefore, the tendencies of psychopaths to adjust to these scenarios should be taken into account when creating treatment plans against recidivism in psychopathic offenders.Show less
In the domain of interpersonal communication, the eye region has a vital role. Specifically, the pupil has an essential signalling function, reflecting different cognitive and affective states. The...Show moreIn the domain of interpersonal communication, the eye region has a vital role. Specifically, the pupil has an essential signalling function, reflecting different cognitive and affective states. The colours of the iris, surrounding the pupil, varies largely among human beings. Although studies are conducted on how the colour of the iris influences gaze perception, none have yet investigated the role of iris brightness on the perception of pupil size changes. It is furthermore known that pupil size changes affect interpersonal trust: while dilating pupils lead to a signal of trust, constricting pupils convey untrustworthiness. Nonetheless, the role of iris brightness within this process remains unknown. Moreover, there is evidence for the role of empathy within the processing of pupil size changes. Therefore, the current study explored whether iris brightness affects the perception of pupil size changes. Also, the study examined whether the brightness of the iris in dilating and constricting pupils affected the reported trustworthiness of virtual partners while controlling for the participants’ level of empathy. Fifty-one participants were included in the analysis. These participants were shown animations of a virtual partner with either dark or light irises and dilating, static or constricting pupils. In the Perception of Pupil Movement-task, they were asked: ‘Do you see movement?’. In the Trust-Game Task, they were asked: ‘Would you trust this person to donate money to a charity on behalf of you?’. The results showed that iris brightness affected the perception of pupil size changes. In stimuli with brighter irises, it was easier for participants to detect changes in the size of the pupil. Participants showed less trust when exposed to stimuli representing dilating pupils than static pupils in both light and dark irises while controlling for the individual’s level of empathy. The decreased trust in the constricting stimuli compared to the static stimuli in light and dark irises was in line with expectations. In the dark irises, there was no difference in trust scores between dilating and constricting pupils. In the stimuli representing light irises, on the other hand, there was an effect. This research found no evidence that more empathetic people perceive these subtle cues in eye contact better than less empathetic people. Our results underline the interplay of iris brightness and pupil size changes in monetary decision making and interpersonal communication, specifically regarding perceived trustworthiness.Show less
The present study aimed to enhance understanding of the connection between empathy and openness to experience. While research has explored this connection previously, this study also aims to apply...Show moreThe present study aimed to enhance understanding of the connection between empathy and openness to experience. While research has explored this connection previously, this study also aims to apply it to the gifted and pre-adolescent population. Giftedness is a complex topic with a wide array of definitions and an even wider array of implications. In the current study, children between the ages of 9-12, in either non-gifted or gifted schools all over the Netherlands, were administered the subscale of openness to experience from the Big Five Questionnaire for Children and the subscales of Empathic Concern and Perspective Taking from the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. For the first hypothesis, testing whether openness to experience can be predicted from empathy, results showed that students (N = 95) showed higher scores in openness to experience if they were more empathetic. The overall Interpersonal Reactivity Index score was the best predictor, closely followed by the Perspective Taking scores. Results for the second hypothesis, that the previous prediction would be more significant for gifted students (N = 44) than non-gifted students (N = 51), showed no statistical evidence, but hinted towards a significant trend. It was concluded that individuals higher in empathy might also show more openness to experience. Additionally, the study highlights the need for improvement in the current educational systems by mentioning current options and their practical limitations in relation to gifted and non-gifted individuals.Show less
Background: Humans do not only act to benefit themselves but also others, i.e. they engage in prosocial behavior. This is especially true for people high in empathy. A prerequisite for prosocial...Show moreBackground: Humans do not only act to benefit themselves but also others, i.e. they engage in prosocial behavior. This is especially true for people high in empathy. A prerequisite for prosocial behavior is that people learn how to obtain benefits for others (prosocial reinforcement learning). Studies indicate enhancing effects of oxytocin on prosocial behavior; however, little is known about the relationship between oxytocin, learning to benefit others, and empathy. This study investigated the effects of oxytocin on prosocial reinforcement learning and whether these effects differ based on empathic abilities. Method: A double-blind placebo-controlled cross-sectional study was conducted. Healthy male participants (N=28) were administered 24 international units of intranasal oxytocin or a placebo and performed a prosocial learning task in which they could earn a monetary reward for oneself, another person, or no one. Empathy was measured with the online simulation subscale (Reniers et al., 2011). Results: Results revealed no significant difference in prosocial learning when participants received oxytocin or placebo. Further, the effects of oxytocin did not significantly differ when empathy was taken into account. Conclusions: Findings suggest that oxytocin does not facilitate prosocial learning. Further, empathy did not have an influence on the effects of oxytocin on prosocial learning. Although the findings did not provide supportive evidence for the Social Salience Hypothesis (ShamayTsoory & Abu-Akel, 2016), the current study revealed new insights on potential effects of oxytocin on reinforcement learning in a prosocial context considering empathy.Show less
In the past, research on prosocial behaviors in antisocial and psychopathic violent offenders focused on their empathetic tendencies and the resulting prosocial behavior under negatively valenced...Show moreIn the past, research on prosocial behaviors in antisocial and psychopathic violent offenders focused on their empathetic tendencies and the resulting prosocial behavior under negatively valenced social situations (e.g. pain inflicted), disregarding the potential of positively valenced situations to elicit such behavior. This study aimed at closing this gap, by assessing prosocial behavior in psychopathic and antisocial violent offenders as opposed to a non-offender group, after presenting them with positively valenced social situations. This was done by employing an Empathy Dictator Game (EDG), in which 50 participants were asked to distribute coins between themselves and a male or female target, which they previously observed in a neutral, positive, or prosocial situation. Results showed that while psychopathic offenders did not differ significantly in their coin offers from antisocial offenders or the control group, the prosociality of the social situation influenced higher coin allocation. This effect was especially strong for individuals higher in empathetic skills. Lastly, male targets generally received more coins than female targets. This effect further influenced the effect of the diagnosis of participants on prosocial behavior, yet not the effect of the valence of the social situation. Taken together, these results suggest that violent offenders lacking empathy do have the capacity to display prosocial behaviors under the right circumstances and practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.Show less
The concept of empathy emerged at the end of the nineteenth century and described an emotional aspect of aesthetic experience. In the context of art, empathy was supposed to enable an art lover to...Show moreThe concept of empathy emerged at the end of the nineteenth century and described an emotional aspect of aesthetic experience. In the context of art, empathy was supposed to enable an art lover to experience art more deeply or even merge one’s emotional life with the artwork’s motivation and meaning. On the other hand, empathy, as connected to the arts, represented a chance of improving one’s empathic reactions, both towards the artwork as well as towards other human beings. Although very beneficial, this outlook on empathy has been lost, and the meaning of the term has changed significantly. Empathy, which is especially visible in the realm of medicine, turned into an instrument used for the collection of knowledge on the patient. Despite the change in its meaning, empathy can be successfully reconsidered with the help of art.Show less
Background: This study evaluated language and empathy in 8-to-12 year old boys with Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD) (n = 31) and age-matched normal controls (n = 34). Method: Language was...Show moreBackground: This study evaluated language and empathy in 8-to-12 year old boys with Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD) (n = 31) and age-matched normal controls (n = 34). Method: Language was measured by the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4 Dutch Version, CELF-4-NL, 2010, a language test for the evaluation of language skills in school aged children. Empathy was assessed by the Basic Empathy Scale (BES), a self-report questionnaire for children. Results: Results revealed that language is not related to empathy and that DBD has no influence on the presence of affective and cognitive empathy. Only when it comes to generalized empathy it shows that normal controls possess higher levels of empathy than DBD boys. In addition, DBD does not have a moderating effect on the relationship between language and empathy. Conclusions: These findings are not in line with predictions based on the known literature which might be due to the fact that it is unsure if empathy and language were correctly measured. Conclusions based on these results should be done carefully. Further research is required. Keywords: Language, empathy, theory of mind, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, aggression, school aged children. Abbreviation: DBD: Disruptive Behavior Disorder; CD: Conduct Disorder; ODD: Oppositional Defiant Disorder.Show less
Maternal emotion socialization plays an important role in the socioemotional development of young children. However, there is a lack of research regarding the role of paternal emotion socialization...Show moreMaternal emotion socialization plays an important role in the socioemotional development of young children. However, there is a lack of research regarding the role of paternal emotion socialization and the moderating role of child factors in the relationship between parental emotion socialization and the child's socioemotional development. This study examines the relationship between parental emotion socialization and child empathy, prosocial behaviour, and externalizing problem behaviour, and whether this relationship is moderated by child gender and temperament. The sample consisted of 100 intact families with a mother, a father and their preschooler. To measure parental emotion socialization mothers and fathers were independently observed while reading a wordless emotion picture book to their child, which was designed to elicit parental comments about emotions. Child prosocial behaviour was measured during an observation task in which the child had to share raisins with his or her younger sibling. Questionnaires, filled in by both mothers and fathers, were used to measure child empathy, externalizing problem behaviour, and temperament. Results revealed that paternal emotion socialization was a positive predictor of externalizing problem behaviour of the child. Paternal emotion socialization was not associated with child empathy or prosocial behaviour. Furthermore, maternal emotion socialization was not related to child empathy, prosocial behaviour, or externalizing problem behaviour. Child gender and temperament did not moderate the relationship between parental emotion socialization and children's behaviour. This study shows that paternal emotion socialization plays a role in the development of children's externalizing problem behaviour. This stresses the importance of including fathers in future research concerning the influence of parental emotion socialization on the socioemotional development of young children.Show less
