The Art of Caring: Increasing Empathy Through Conversation

In our every day lives we use empathy more than we would assume, however a current empathy deficit has led us to wonder how we can increase our empathy. The present study aimed to find a way to increase one’s empathy, specifically through an emotional conversation with another individual. There were 61 participants who were separated into either an emotional or factual conversation group. They first took surveys including the IRI, closeness questions, and the pre Revised Eyes Test and then engaged in conversation with another participant. They then took a post Revised Eyes Test after their conversation. The results showed that while the emotional conversation group did not increase in empathy more than the factual group, all the participants in both groups significantly increased in empathy after their conversation. The present study supports the power of conversation on increasing empathy. INCREASING EMPATHY 3 The Art of Caring: Increasing Empathy Through Conversation Within every conversation, a form of empathy is being used to interpret the person’s subtle cues, intentions, and emotions (Nishida, 2012). Despite this innate capability, there seems to be a lack of empathy in our society in this day and age; according to Schumann, Zaki, and Dweck (2014) we’ve reached a time in American history where there is an empathy deficit that is changing our culture’s ability to see another’s perspective. While empathy has always been a common topic of study in the psychological world due to its innate presence in humans, not many researchers have explored ways in which to increase empathy in individuals. Due to this current empathy deficit, increasing empathy would be particularly useful to society. This study aims to discover the power of empathy and its relationship to conversation. Before we can understand their relationship, it is important to understand how empathy is defined. Empathy: Definitions and Theoretical Considerations Empathy has a variety of definitions. For the purposes of this study, the definition utilized is the ability to form a representation of another’s mental state (Asada, 2015). Jean Knox (2013) describes empathy simply as “the capacity to put ourselves into someone else’s shoes” (p. 493). Empathy is often confused with other similar terms, such as sympathy or compassion. However, distinguishing between the three is important for the overall understanding of the usage of empathy. Both sympathy and compassion are derivative of the ability to “feel for” another person (Knox, 2013), but are distinct constructs compared to empathy. However, sympathy is the awareness of another person’s emotional state whereas empathy is self-awareness in relation to the other person’s emotional state (Wispé, 1986). For example, sympathy would be understanding that another person is sad whereas empathy would be understanding what that person’s sadness must feel like to them. Sympathy has been described more as an emotional INCREASING EMPATHY 4 response of sorrow or concern; empathy as a feeling of comprehension of the another’s feelings (Eisenberg, Wentzel, & Harris, 1998). Wispé (1986) also states that sympathy places the importance of the other’s well-being at the core, knowing that the person is not our self. Empathy allows us to put our self in the place of another (Wispé, 1986). While sympathy and empathy both help with the understanding of another person, compassion can be utilized as well. After the understanding is formed, whether through empathy or sympathy, a desire to take action arises; that action is compassion (Goetz, Keltner, & SimonThomas, 2010). The overarching concept in all definitions of compassion is the desire to help (Goetz, Keltner, & Simon-Thomas, 2010). Paul Gilbert (2011) adds that compassion can be directed towards others or towards our self, also known as self-compassion (Gilbert, 2011). Compassion is frequently placed under the category of empathy rather than recognized as a broad category in and of itself (Knox, 2013). Batson, Klein, Highberger, and Shaw (1995) utilized the term compassionate as a component of empathy rather than compassion being its own separate category. Although sympathy and compassion are useful tools when it comes to handling emotions, empathy is generally the broadest umbrella category and is researched the most in psychological studies. The level of empathy an adult has may correlate to their attachment style when they were young. In a study conducted by Joireman, Needham, and Cummings (2001), a correlation was found between participants who had a secure attachment style when they were young and their current empathic concern and perspective taking abilities (Joireman, Needham, & Cummings, 2001). Therefore, we are already learning how to express and understand empathy from a young age by feeling secure in relationships with our parents. Biological Basis of Empathy INCREASING EMPATHY 5 There is evidence that empathy is innate within humans. Evolutionary theorists have proposed the biological function of empathy is to help humans achieve their basic needs (Damasio & Carvalho, 2013). According to Damasio and Carvalho (2013), both animals and humans have biological mechanisms in place to help them quickly evaluate whether something is threatening or advantageous to them. One of these systems is the limbic system; the oldest system in the brain (Asada, 2014). Researchers have linked the limbic system to perspectivetaking and emotional contagion, two components of empathy (Asada, 2014). Another biological system that helps us understand others is the peripheral neurotransmitter oxytocin (Crockford, Deschner, Ziegler, & Wittig, 2014). In fact, there are studies in which a manipulated increase in oxytocin levels, sometimes through inhaling, can actually lead to an increase in empathy in social situations (Crockford, Deschner, Zielger, & Wittig, 2014). This ability to recognize another’s emotional state has been found in mice (Asada, 2014). In an experiment by Chen, Panksepp, and Lahvis (2009), they took two mice and labeled them Mouse A and Mouse B. They administered tiny electric shocks repeatedly to Mouse B and observed Mouse A’s behavioral reactions and heart rate. Upon viewing Mouse B in pain, Mouse A would freeze completely and their heart rate increased significantly. Although they were not receiving the shock themselves, the fear was translated and recognized as shown by their lack of movement and increased heart rate (Chen, Panskepp, & Lahvis, 2009). Neuroscientists have posited that our brains have an automatic processing system in place that allows us to feel with another individual called mirror neurons (Schumann, Zaki, & Dweck, 2014). Decety and Jackson (2006) found, using fMRI imaging, that when humans viewed a face in emotional pain or disgust, their brain would begin to mimic the emotional state of the face in which they are looking at. Lamm, Decety, and Singer (2011), in a meta-analysis of studies on INCREASING EMPATHY 6 emotional mimicry, found the trend that the anterior insula and anterior medial cingulate cortex were the regions that were most closely linked to empathy in regards to pain. This shows how there are specific areas of the human brain that are biologically built in to help form an understanding of human empathy. Hutman and Dapretto (2009) support empathy as innate from an early age. Beginning from infancy, specifically 42 minutes after birth, babies are already capable of imitating and matching adults in the environment around them. Since no shaping or learning behavior could possibly have occurred this early on, this shows that there is an innate system in our brain to help us understand others since birth.