Greater emotional empathy and prosocial behavior in late life

Evolving Altruistic Attitudes towards Vaccination Post COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Analysis across Age Groups

Altruism plays an essential role in promoting vaccine uptake, an issue that came to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic through discussions of herd immunity and altruistic motivations. In response, the primary objective of this cross-sectional survey was to explore how altruistic attitudes have evolved in the post-pandemic era and to assess their effectiveness in motivating vaccination behavior in different age groups. The study aimed to elucidate changes in altruistic motivations for vaccination and their implications for public health strategies. Using a representative sample of the adult population of South Tyrol, Italy, including 1388 participants, altruism was assessed in 2023 with the scales of the Elderly Care Research Center (ECRC) and the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) subscale of the version 5F30F-R1. Its association with demographic variables, vaccination attitudes and personal beliefs in two age groups (18-69 years, 70+ years) was analyzed. The results reveal distinct predictors of altruism across these scales and age groups, suggesting a shift in altruistic attitudes towards vaccination when comparing data from a similar survey conducted in 2021 with the 2023 results. Consequently, the use of altruism scales for different age groups is warranted. This study highlights the need for further research in this field. It concludes that while promoting altruistic behavior to increase vaccine uptake appears to be effective primarily among the younger population, emphasizing personal safety is more appropriate for encouraging vaccination among older individuals.

Age and parous-experience dependent changes in emotional contagion for positive infant sounds

Introduction

Emotional contagion is achieved by inferring and emotionally resonating with other persons' feelings. It is unclear whether age-related changes in emotional contagion for infant sounds are modulated by the experience of childbirth or childcare. This study aims to evaluate changes in inference and emotional resonance for positive and negative infant sounds (laughter and crying) among women, based on age and parous experience.

Methods

A total of 241 women (60 young nulliparous, 60 young parous, 60 old nulliparous, and 61 old parous) completed a web-based questionnaire. After listening to three types of infant sounds (laughter, cooing, and crying), participants responded with their valence for hearing infant sounds and estimated infant valence on an 11-point Likert scale.

Results

The analysis for emotional resonance revealed that the correlation coefficient between self and estimated infant valences was greater in young parous and old nulliparous women than in young nulliparous women, in laughter and cooing sounds. However, correlation coefficients for crying did not differ among any of the four groups.

Conclusion

The degree of emotional resonance for infant valence increased depending on age and parous-experience for positive infant sounds.

Lack of Interaction Motivation in Older Adults Automatically Reduces Cognitive Empathy

Empathy, the ability to understand and respond to the experiences of others, is an important skill for maintaining good relationships throughout one's life. Previous research indicated that emotional empathy remained stable or even increased in older adults compared to younger adults, while cognitive empathy showed age-related deficits. Based on the selective engagement hypothesis, this deficit was not caused by a decline in cognitive functioning, but by a lack of willingness to judge the target person's emotions more precisely, that is, by a lack of interaction motivation. In order to provide more evidence on the causes of empathic aging in older adults, the current study investigated the influence of interaction motivation on empathy in older adults in an Eastern cultural context (China) based on the selective engagement hypothesis. This study used older adults and younger adults as subjects. Through two experiments, empathy was measured by the multiple empathy test (Experiment 1) and film tasks (Experiment 2); at the same time, use accountability instructions (Experiment 1), the age-related events (Experiment 2) to manipulate interaction motivation. The results showed that emotional empathy was significantly higher in older adults than in younger adults, regardless of whether interaction motivation was elicited. In terms of cognitive empathy, when there is no motivation, the cognitive empathy of older adults is significantly lower than that of younger adults. When the interaction motivation is stimulated, the cognitive empathy of older adults is no less than that of younger adults. This suggested that empathic aging in older adults was not a permanent decline in cognitive empathy, but rather a decline in interaction motivation, supporting the selective engagement hypothesis.

Do older adults make more risky decisions in the Hungry Donkey Task or in the Iowa Gambling Task?

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Hungry Donkey Task (HDT) are well-known tasks employed to assess decisions under ambiguity. Although the two tasks are equal in terms of wins and losses, they differ in terms of the recipient: while in the IGT participants make decisions for themselves, in the HDT decisions are made to help a hungry donkey. Decisions for themselves versus another one in a situation of ambiguity are particularly important in the field of aging because of older adults' changes in motivational and other-oriented behavior. The present study aimed to test whether older adults make different decisions under ambiguity for themselves than for another one (i.e., the hungry donkey) as compared to younger adults. Forty-five young adults (M = 23.31; SD = 1.58) and 45 older adults (M = 72.47; SD = 5.49) performed the IGT and the HDT. In addition, participants performed tasks on working memory, set-shifting, and inhibition. Results showed age-related differences in the HDT but not in the IGT. Older adults, compared to younger adults, made disadvantageous decisions to help the hungry donkey as compared to themselves. Interestingly, this pattern of results is not explained by the age-related decline in cognitive functioning. The findings seem to suggest that older adults' decisions made under the condition of ambiguity are affected by motivational and emotional changes associated with aging.

Weakened sympathetic response and lower parasympathetic activity in intimate partner violence perpetrators when empathizing: Influence of autonomous activation in affective approach and prosocial behavior

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning has been proposed as a relevant method to characterize the therapeutic needs of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators. Nevertheless, research has neglected the influence of the ANS on socio-affective functions in this population. The aim of the present study was to analyze the psychophysiological activity of IPV perpetrators (n = 52) compared to controls (n = 46) following an empathic induction task, performed through negative emotion-eliciting videos. We employed two general ANS markers (heart rate [HR] and respiratory rate [RR]), two sympathetic-related indexes (pre-ejection period [PEP] and skin conductance level [SCL]) and a parasympathetic biomarker (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]). Additionally, we explored the impact of psychophysiological activity on prosocial behavior using Hare's donation procedure. Compared to controls, IPV perpetrators reported lower HR and SCL following the task, as well as longer PEP, suggesting an attenuated sympathetic response to others' distress. No differences in the RSA response pattern were found, however, IPV perpetrators displayed lower overall RSA levels throughout the protocol, indicative of reduced parasympathetic activity. Besides, while no differences in prosocial performance were observed, greater sympathetic responses and overall parasympathetic activity predicted increased donations across the sample. Thus, a high sympathetic and parasympathetic activity might influence the occurrence of prosocial behavior. The present study provides further evidence supporting that IPV perpetrators cope differently with others' negative emotions. In line with this biopsychosocial perspective, insights are gained on the emotional processing of IPV perpetrators which, in turn, could contribute to improve IPV psychotherapeutic programs.

The Concept of Prosociality in Later Life and Its Dimensions: A Scoping Review

Objective: The aim of this study was to clarify various aspects and dimensions of the prosociality concept in later life as an important concept that gains significance in people as they age. This concept has been expressed through a variety of dimensions in different studies. Method : This is a scoping review of the relevant literature on the concept of prosociality and its dimensions in later life, including quantitative and qualitative studies. The required data were collected from Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, ProQuest, and Google Scholar databases between the years 1987 and 2022. Results: First, 877 articles were identified, and after the screening phase, 57 eligible studies were reviewed. Two main categories, prosocial dispositions and prosocial behaviors, and seven subcategories were extracted. The subcategories of prosocial dispositions include empathy, prosocial norms, innate tendencies, and generative desires. Prosocial behaviors subcategories include informal spontaneous helping, formal planned helping, and pro-environmental behaviors. Conclusion: The various aspects and dimensions of the prosociality concept in later life identified in this study can be used as a basis for assessing and planning the promotion of prosociality among older adults.

Situational assessment of empathy and compassion: Predicting prosociality using a video-based task

Classical psychometric approaches in social science measure individuals' tendency to experience empathy and compassion. Using abstract questionnaire items, they place high demand on subjects' capacity to introspect, memorize, and generalize the corresponding emotions. We employed a Socio-affective Video Task (SoVT)-an alternative approach that measures situationally elicited emotions-and assessed its predictive power over prosocial behavior against classical questionnaires in a sample of Israeli university students. We characterized the conceptual embedding of the SoVT concerning other measures of prosocial affect and cognition, and tested group identification as an alternative precursor to prosocial behavior. Eighty participants rated their reactions to videos that presented the suffering of others or everyday scenes on scales of negative affect (providing a proxy for elicited empathy) and compassion. We then administered classical questionnaires that target empathy (the Interpersonal Reactivity Index) and compassion (the Compassionate Love Scale), as well as measures of hypothetical and real-life helping and prosocial attitudes-including conflict attitudes and intergroup bias. While compassion ratings in the SoVT failed to predict prosociality more accurately than classical questionnaires, the SoVT empathy index succeeded and correlated strongly with other precursors of prosociality. These results support video-based situational assessment as an implicit and robust alternative in the measurement of empathy-related processes.

Measuring Empathy Across the Adult Lifespan: A Comparison of Three Assessment Types

Empathy is a core component of social cognition that can be indexed via behavioral, informant-report, or self-report methods of assessment. However, concerns have been raised regarding the lack of convergence between these assessment approaches for cognitive empathy. Here, we provided the first comparison of all three measurement approaches for cognitive and affective empathy in a large adult sample (N = 371) aged 18 to 101 years. We found that poor convergence was more of a problem for cognitive empathy than affective empathy. While none of the cognitive empathy measures correlated with each other, for affective empathy, self-report was significantly associated with both behavioral and informant-report assessments. However, for both cognitive and affective empathy, there was evidence for poor discriminant validity within the measures. Out of the three assessment approaches, only the informant-report measures were consistently associated with indices of social functioning. Importantly, age did not moderate any of the tested relationships, indicating that both the strengths and the limitations of these different types of assessment do not appear to vary as a function of age. These findings highlight the variation that exists among empathy measures and are discussed in relation to their practical implications for the assessment of empathy.

Age and Time Horizons Are Associated With Preferences for Helping Colleagues

The present study examined the causal role of time horizons in age differences in worker motivation. Based on socioemotional selectivity theory (SST), we hypothesized that under unspecified time horizons, older workers prefer to engage in emotionally meaningful work activities more so than younger workers. We further hypothesized that when time horizons at work are expanded or limited, age differences are eliminated. We recruited a sample of employees (N = 555) and randomly assigned them to one of three experimental conditions: a no-instruction condition in which time horizons were not specified, an expanded time horizons condition, or a limited horizons condition. We asked participants to choose from among three options for work-related activities: Helping a colleague or a friend, working on a career-advancing project, or working on a project which may take the company in a new direction. Consistent with SST postulates, we found that age was associated with preferences for helping colleagues in the unspecified horizons condition, and that age differences were eliminated when time horizons were extended or limited. As hypothesized, expanding time horizons reduced employees' likelihood of choosing to help colleagues. Contrary to our hypothesis, limiting time horizons also reduced the likelihood of choosing to help colleagues. Alternative explanations are considered. Findings suggest that age differences in worker motivation are shaped by time horizons and that modification of time horizons can alter work preferences.

Paraphilic Interests Versus Behaviors: Factors that Distinguish Individuals Who Act on Paraphilic Interests From Individuals Who Refrain

Little is known about distinct factors linked with acting on paraphilic interests or refraining from engaging in paraphilic behaviors. Participants from Canada and the United States (N = 744), aged 19-42 years (M = 29.2; SD = 3.18), were recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Participants completed questionnaires about their paraphilic interests and behaviors, as well as potential key factors linked to behavioral engagement (i.e., perceptions of consent, sexual excitation/inhibition, impulsivity, moral disengagement, empathy). Results indicated that higher moral disengagement and impulsivity, lower sexual control (i.e., high sexual excitation, low sexual inhibition), and maladaptive understandings of consent were best able to differentiate individuals who reported highly stigmatized (e.g., hebephilia, pedophilia, coprophilia) or Bondage and Dicipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism(BDSM)/Fetish paraphilic interests and engagement in the paraphilic behaviours associated with these interests relative to individuals who did not report such paraphilic interests or behaviors. Moreover, higher moral disengagement, impulsivity, and maladaptive perceptions of consent were best able to differentiate non-consensual paraphilic interests and behaviours (e.g., voyeurism, exhibitionism) compared to individuals who did not report these paraphilic interests or behaviours. These results provide future directions for the exploration of mechanisms that may contribute to engagement in paraphilic behaviors and may be targets for intervention aimed at preventing engagement in potentially harmful paraphilias.

Factors influencing the complex problem-solving skills in reflective learning: results from partial least square structural equation modeling and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis

BACKGROUND

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development emphasizes the importance of complex problem-solving (CPS) skills in the 21st century. CPS skills have been linked to academic performance, career development, and job competency training. Reflective learning, which includes journal writing, peer reflection, selfreflection, and group discussion, has been explored to improve critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. The development of various thinking modes and abilities, such as algorithmic thinking, creativity, and empathic concern, all affect problem-solving skills. However, there is a lack of an overall theory to relate variables to each other, which means that different theories need to be integrated to focus on how CPS skills can be effectively trained and improved.

METHODS

Data from 136 medical students were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLSSEM) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). A hypothesized model examining the associations between the CPS skills and influence factors was constructed.

RESULTS

The evaluation of the structural model showed that some variables had significant influences on CPS skills, while others did not. After deleting the insignificant pathways, a structural model was built, which showed that mediating effects of empathic concern and critical thinking were observed, while personal distress only had a direct effect on CPS skills. The results of necessity showed that only cooperativity and creativity are necessary conditions for critical thinking. The fsQCA analysis provided clues for each different pathway to the result, with all consistency values being higher than 0.8, and most coverage values being between 0.240 and 0.839. The fsQCA confirmed the validity of the model and provided configurations that enhanced the CPS skills.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides evidence that reflective learning based on multi-dimensional empathy theory and 21 stcentury skills theory can improve CPS skills in medical students. These results have practical implications for learning and suggest that educators should consider incorporating reflective learning strategies that focus on empathy and 21 stcentury skills to enhance CPS skills in their curricula.

Subjective Aging Difficulties among Older Adults with Subjective Cognitive Decline

In older adults, subjective cognitive decline (SCD) may progress to an early stage of dementia. Yet, its association with subjective daily functional difficulties in aging is less well studied by experiences of mentally unhealthy days (MUDs). Employing a cross-sectional design approach, we analyzed the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System dataset on 7429 older adults with SCD (aged 65 to >80, 45% males, 55% females) to explore SCD in instrumental daily activities of living (SCD-IADLs) and healthcare access mediation by MUDs and moderated mediation by age cohort, controlling gender and education. The bias-corrected percentile bootstrap with 5000 samplings revealed that MUDs partially mediate the relationship between SCD-IADLs and healthcare access, with a 28.2% mediating effect. Age cohort moderated the relationship between healthcare access and MUDs, MUDs and SCD-IADLs. Specifically, the predictive effects from healthcare access to MUDs and MUDs to SCD-IADLs were more profound in the 70-74 age cohort.

The Trajectory of Anthropomorphism and Pro-Environmental Behavior: A Serial Mediation Model

Anthropomorphism of nature can promote pro-environmental behavior (PEB). However, its underlying mechanism and these age-related changes are unclear. We propose that connectedness to nature and environmental guilt mediate the relationship between anthropomorphism of nature and PEB. The present study tests the hypotheses based on a cross-sectional sample of 1364 residents aged 15-76 years, using structural equation modeling. We found that: (1) environmental guilt decreases, but PEB increases, with age; (2) anthropomorphism of nature decreases in early adulthood and increases in old age; (3) connectedness to nature decreases in mid-late adolescence and increases in early adulthood. Connectedness to nature and environmental guilt have a serial mediating effect in the relationship between anthropomorphism of nature and PEB, with cross-age stability. These findings contribute to enriching the understanding of PEB from the human and nature perspective, and enhancing anthropomorphism of nature that could promote PEB in residents at different ages, through connectedness to nature and environmental guilt.

Determinants of Social Cognitive Aging: Predicting Resilience and Risk

This review focuses on conceptual and empirical research on determinants of social cognitive aging. We present an integrated model [the social cognitive resource (SCoRe) framework] to organize the literature and describe how social cognitive resilience is determined jointly by capacity and motivational resources. We discuss how neurobiological aging, driven by genetic and environmental influences, is associated with broader sensory, neural, and physiological changes that are direct determinants of capacity as well as indirect determinants of motivation via their influence on expectation of loss versus reward and cognitive effort valuation. Research is reviewed that shows how contextual factors, such as relationship status, familiarity, and practice, are fundamental to understanding the availability of both types of resource. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of social cognitive change in late adulthood for everyday social functioning and with recommendations for future research.

Subjective Functional Difficulties and Subjective Cognitive Decline in Older-Age Adults: Moderation by Age Cohorts and Mediation by Mentally Unhealthy Days

Background and Objectives: Despite the expected positive association between subjective functional difficulties (SFD) and subjective cognitive decline (SCD), their mediation by mentally unhealthy days (MUDs) is under-studied. Moreover, few SCD studies have examined affective reactivity to functional difficulties by age cohort. This study examined the mediation effect of MUDs on the association between SFD and SCD by age cohorts' moderation among older adults. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design approach, we used the 2019 BRFSS dataset on 13,377 older adults aged 65 to ≥80 (44% males and 56% females). Results: The bias-corrected percentile bootstrap with 5000 samplings revealed that MUDs partially mediate the relationship between SFD and SCD (14.12% mediation effect), controlling depressive symptoms, education, income levels, and race. Age cohorts moderated the relationship between SFD and SCD and between SFD and SCD but not between MUDs and SCD. The predictive effects of the path from SFD to MUDs and from MUDs to SCD were stronger in the younger-old (65-69) than the middle-old (70-79) and oldest-old (≥80) age cohorts. Worse SCD was associated with being Asian, in female older adults, and in those with lower education and income levels. Conclusions: These findings extend the chronic stress theory predictions that accentuated emotional vulnerability to subjective functional difficulties may magnify SCD, particularly in the younger-old age group. By implication, preventive SCD interventions should seek to support younger-old adults in their activities of daily life for successful aging transitioning into older-age cohorts.

Exposure to negative socio-emotional events induces sustained alteration of resting-state brain networks in older adults

Basic emotional functions seem well preserved in older adults. However, their reactivity to and recovery from socially negative events remain poorly characterized. To address this, we designed a 'task-rest' paradigm in which 182 participants from two independent experiments underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while exposed to socio-emotional videos. Experiment 1 (N = 55) validated the task in young and older participants and unveiled age-dependent effects on brain activity and connectivity that predominated in resting periods after (rather than during) negative social scenes. Crucially, emotional elicitation potentiated subsequent resting-state connectivity between default mode network and amygdala exclusively in older adults. Experiment 2 replicated these results in a large older adult cohort (N = 127) and additionally showed that emotion-driven changes in posterior default mode network-amygdala connectivity were associated with anxiety, rumination and negative thoughts. These findings uncover the neural dynamics of empathy-related functions in older adults and help understand its relationship to poor social stress recovery.

Empathy, memory, and aging during the COVID-19 pandemic

Recently, there has been increasing attention to the interaction between empathy and memory. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period when empathy played a key role in people's behaviors, we assessed the relationship between empathy and memory. In this pre-registered report, we used memory accuracy for the number of COVID-19 cases as a measure of recent memory and examined its relationship with trait empathy. Moreover, we investigated whether cognitive vs. affective empathy differently associate with one's memory for the number of COVID-19 cases, given evidence for distinct mechanisms for the two aspects of empathy. Finally, we assessed how age is related to empathy-memory associations. To address these questions, we used the Boston College COVID-19 Dataset, which included surveys assessing dispositional empathy and memory for the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases during the first wave of the pandemic. Empathy was not associated with memory accuracy for the confirmed cases when using an empathy measure that combined both cognitive and affective empathy. However, when using a measure that separately assessed cognitive and affective empathy, only affective empathy, specifically the personal distress subscale, was associated with greater memory accuracy. There was no age-related difference in memory accuracy despite age-related decreases in affective empathy. Results suggest that individuals with greater affective empathy (i.e., greater tendency to feel discomfort by the suffering of others) can have more accurate memory for details of an ongoing empathy-evoking situation. Findings are discussed in the context of motivation and emotional arousal. The current study provides ecological evidence to corroborate the interplay of empathy and memory.

How Parental Support Affects Latina Girls During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract. The current study focuses on a sample of low- to middle-income school-age Latina girls and their parents and examines how children’s distress proneness interacts with parental empathic accuracy and posttraumatic growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to predict children’s empathy and prosocial behavior toward unknown others. Approximately 2–3 months into state-mandated stay-at-home orders, 55 parent–daughter dyads were recruited to participate in this four-session longitudinal study. To assess distress proneness, daughters (ages 8–13 years, 100% Latina) identified their degree of distress in response to pandemic-related stressors. Concurrently, their parents reported how they thought their children would respond to these same pandemic-related stressors, which assessed parental empathic accuracy. Parents also completed an adapted version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, which assessed perceived positive outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon study completion, a behavioral measure of children’s empathic and prosocial behaviors was collected. Parental empathic accuracy interacted with children’s distress proneness to positively predict children’s affective empathy, such that children’s distress proneness predicted affective empathy at high and mean, but not low, levels of parental empathic accuracy. In a separate analysis, parental posttraumatic growth interacted with children’s distress proneness to positively predict children’s altruistic sharing behavior, such that children’s distress proneness predicted altruistic sharing behavior only at high, but not mean or low, levels of parental posttraumatic growth. The results of this study highlight how positive parental socialization and understanding of children’s tendencies toward distress are associated with children’s empathic and prosocial behaviors, particularly during major global crises.

Increasing empathic concern relates to salience network hyperconnectivity in cognitively healthy older adults with elevated amyloid-β burden

Enhanced emotional empathy, the ability to share others' affective experiences, can be a feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but whether emotional empathy increases in the preclinical phase of the disease is unknown. We measured emotional empathy over time (range = 0 - 7.3 years, mean = 2.4 years) in 86 older adults during a period in which they were cognitively healthy, functionally normal, and free of dementia symptoms. For each participant, we computed longitudinal trajectories for empathic concern (i.e., an other-oriented form of emotional empathy that promotes prosocial actions) and emotional contagion (i.e., a self-focused form of emotional empathy often accompanied by feelings of distress) from informant ratings of participants' empathy on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Amyloid-β (Aβ) positron emission tomography (PET) scans were used to classify participants as either Aβ positive (Aβ+, n = 23) or negative (Aβ-, n = 63) based on Aβ-PET cortical binding. Participants also underwent structural and task-free functional magnetic resonance imaging approximately two years on average after their last empathy assessment, at which time most participants remained cognitively healthy. Results indicated that empathic concern, but not emotional contagion, increased more over time in Aβ+ participants than in Aβ- participants despite no initial group difference at the first measurement. Higher connectivity between certain salience network node-pairs (i.e., pregenual anterior cingulate cortex and periaqueductal gray) predicted longitudinal increases in empathic concern in the Aβ+ group but not in the Aβ- group. The Aβ+ participants also had higher overall salience network connectivity than Aβ- participants despite no differences in gray matter volume. These results suggest gains in empathic concern may be a very early feature of AD pathophysiology that relates to hyperconnectivity in the salience network, a system that supports emotion generation and interoception. A better understanding of emotional empathy trajectories in the early stages of AD pathophysiology will broaden the lens on preclinical AD changes and help clinicians to identify older adults who should be screened for AD biomarkers.

More Relaxed but Less Helpful: The Relationship between Stress, Age, and Self-Reported Prosocial Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic

(1) Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has collectively increased stress levels, with individuals making difficult choices between protecting themselves and helping others. Previous research has shown that people engage in more prosocial, or helping, behavior as they age and in moments of acute stress, but it is unclear how c stress has influenced perceived changes in prosocial behavior in the later stages of the pandemic and whether this varies across the lifespan. (2) Methods: The current study explored how perceived stress, age, and gender impact participants’ reports of perceived changes in their prosocial behavior due to the pandemic using survey questions administered through an online subject pool (n = 201). (3) Results: Hierarchical linear regression results revealed results indicated a significant main effect of perceived stress (β = −0.166, p = 0.021) and age (β = −0.217, p = 0.003) but not gender (β = −0.062, p = 0.370) on perceptions of how one’s prosocial behavior was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. (4) Conclusions: Study findings showed that older adults and individuals with higher levels of perceived stress reported a decrease in their prosocial behavior, which supported our hypotheses. These findings provide unique insight into the influence of a long-term health crisis on different groups of people’s participation in prosocial behavior, with implications for mental health and community engagement during a pandemic.

The Emergency of Prosociality: A Developmental Perspective on Altruism and Other Prosocial Behavior in the Face of Disaster

No two emergency situations are alike. A combination of human and contextual factors makes each emergency and disaster unique in its time line, its aftermath, and especially its impact on affected populations. In all of these situations, however, people engage in prosocial behavior that benefits others. We provide an overview of altruistic and other prosocial behavior in typical human development and of developmental distinctions between helping, sharing, and comforting. We focus on the expression of these behaviors in emergency situations, using the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate how prosociality shifts and adapts in a specific context. Finally, we suggest that a developmental framework may help researchers and professionals in the field achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the many facets and underlying mechanisms of prosociality in emergency contexts.

Individual variation in the neurophysiological representation of negative emotions in virtual reality is shaped by sociability

Negative emotions play a dominant role in daily human life, and mentalizing and empathy are also basic sociability in social life. However, little is known regards the neurophysiological pattern of negative experiences in immersive environments and how people with different sociabilities respond to the negative emotional stimuli at behavioral and neural levels. The present study investigated the neurophysiological representation of negative affective experiences and whether such variations are associated with one's sociability. To address this question, we examined four types of negative emotions that frequently occurred in real life: angry, anxious, fearful, and helpless. We combined naturalistic neuroimaging under virtual reality, multimodal neurophysiological recording, and behavioral measures. Inter-subject representational similarity analysis was conducted to capture the individual differences in the neurophysiological representations of negative emotional experiences. The behavioral and neurophysiological indices revealed that although the emotion ratings were uniquely different, a similar electroencephalography response pattern across these negative emotions was found over the parieto-occipital electrodes. Furthermore, the neurophysiological representations indeed reflected interpersonal variations regarding mentalizing and empathic abilities. Our findings yielded a common pattern of neurophysiological responses toward different negative affective experiences in VR. Moreover, the current results indicate the potential of taking a sociability perspective for understanding the interpersonal variations in the neurophysiological representation of emotion.

Aging Is Associated With Multidirectional Changes in Social Cognition: Findings From an Adult Life-Span Sample Ranging From 18 to 101 Years

OBJECTIVES

Normal adult aging is associated with changes in social cognition. Although 4 social cognitive domains have been identified (social perception, theory of mind [ToM], affective empathy, and social behavior), no study has tested all 4 domains concurrently in a life-span sample, limiting understanding of the relative magnitude of age-related changes across domains. This study addresses this gap by providing the first assessment of all 4 social cognitive domains in an adult life-span sample.

METHODS

Three hundred and seventy-two participants ranging from 18 to 101 years of age took part in this study. Participants completed a testing battery that assessed social perception, ToM, affective empathy, and social behavior, as well as broader cognitive function and well-being.

RESULTS

The results showed that adult aging is associated with multidirectional changes in social cognitive abilities, with ToM and social perception showing nonlinear decline across much of the life-span, and affective empathy and social behavior showing improvement. Age remained a significant predictor of all 4 social cognitive domains, even after accounting for broader cognitive function. Weak associations emerged between some of the social cognitive abilities and and indices of broader well-being.

DISCUSSION

These findings provide novel and important evidence that normative aging is associated with both gains and losses in social cognition that occur at distinct points of the adult life-span, and that are at least partially independent of general age-related cognitive decline.

Disaster description vividness and intention to donate: The mediating role of sympathy

From the perspective of affective events theory, we examined how the vividness of a disaster description affects the public's willingness to donate money to victims of the disaster. We conducted three experimental studies (Studies 1–3) and a survey study (Study 4), and the findings show that the vividness of a disaster description was positively related to individuals' willingness to donate (Study 1), and that this result was maintained when participants' affect and demographic variables were taken into consideration (Study 2). Further, sympathy mediated the effect of vivid descriptions of a disaster on the public's intention to donate money (Studies 3 and 4). We have provided a new understanding of the relationship between the vividness of a disaster description and the public's intention to donate money.

Psychological Concerns Associated with Empathy in Paid and Unpaid Caregivers of Older People: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVES

Identify associations between psychological concerns and empathy (affective and cognitive domains) in paid and unpaid caregivers of older people.

METHODS

A systematic review of the literature was conducted. Searches were performed in the Pubmed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Scopus and Embase databases using the search terms "Empathy," "Caregiver," "Depression," "Burnout," Anxiety", Caregiver Burden" and "Psychological Stresses" and the Boolean operators "AND" and "OR." No restrictions were imposed regarding language or year of publication. This review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021267276).

RESULTS

Twelve articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the present review. Most studies involved the participation of unpaid caregivers. Higher levels of empathy were associated with greater psychological concerns. Regarding affective empathy, direct associations were found with depressive symptoms, anxiety and stress. In contrast, high levels of cognitive empathy were associated with fewer depressive symptoms as well as less stress and burnout syndrome.

CONCLUSIONS

An association was found between greater affective empathy and psychological impairment in caregivers of older people. Higher levels of cognitive empathy can help minimize psychological concerns.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Working on empathic ability among caregivers of older people in different environments can contribute positively to the emotional impact of caregiving. Moreover, empathetic cognitive training among caregivers can serve as a strategy to minimize the negative consequences of the impact of caregiving.

Using a Computer-Based Virtual Environment to Assess Social Cognition in Aging: An Exploratory Study of the REALSoCog Task

Although previous studies have suggested that some component processes of social cognition decline in normal aging, several methodological limitations can be pointed out. Traditional sociocognitive tasks assess processes separately and lack ecological validity. In the present study, the main aim was to propose an integrative social cognition assessment in normal aging using an original computer-based task developed in non-immersive virtual reality. Forty-five young adults (YA) and 50 older adults (OA) were asked to navigate in a simulated city environment and to judge several situations that they encountered. These situations investigated social norms by displaying control or (conventional/moral) transgressions. Following each situation, the participants were asked several questions in order to assess their ability to make moral judgments, affective and cognitive theory of mind, emotional reactivity and empathy, and the propensity to act in a socially appropriate or inappropriate way. The main results showed (i) a preserved ability to detect moral and conventional transgressions with advancing age; (ii) participants’ preserved cognitive ToM abilities; (iii) an age-related decline in affective ToM, that disappeared when the victim was a senior; (iv) preserved emotional reactivity and emotional empathy in normal aging; (v) an increase in inappropriate behavioral intentions in normal aging. Offering more naturalistic conditions, this new task is an interesting integrative measure of sociocognitive functioning to better reflect social behavior in daily living.

Neural correlates of affective empathy in aging: A multimodal imaging and multivariate approach

Empathy is one such social-cognitive capacity that undergoes age-related change. C urrently, however, not well understood is the structural and functional neurocircuitry underlying age-related differences in empathy. This study aimed to delineate brain structural and functional networks that subserve affective empathic response in younger and older adults using a modified version of the Multifaceted Empathy Task to both positive and negative emotions. Combining multimodal neuroimaging with multivariate partial least square analysis resulted in two novel findings in older but not younger adults: (a) faster empathic responding to negative emotions was related to greater fractional anisotropy of the anterior cingulum and greater functional activity of the anterior cingulate network; (b) however, empathic responding to positive emotions was related to greater fractional anisotropy of the posterior cingulum and greater functional activity of the posterior cingulate network. Such differentiation of structural and functional networks might have critical implications for prosocial behavior and social connections among older adults.

Oxytocin Release Increases With Age and Is Associated With Life Satisfaction and Prosocial Behaviors

Helping behaviors and life satisfaction generally increase after middle-age. Identifying the neural substrates of prosocial behaviors in older adults may offer additional insights into these changes over the lifespan. The present study examines the endogenous release of the neuromodulator oxytocin (OT) in participants aged 18-99 and its relationship to prosocial behaviors. OT has been shown to influence trust, altruism, charity, and generosity, yet the effect of age on OT release has not been well-established. Blood samples before and after a video stimulus were obtained from 103 participants in order to examine the impact of OT on prosocial behaviors. We found that OT release following a social prime increased with age (r = 0.49, p = 0.001) and that OT moderated the relationship between age and donations to charity. We tested for robustness by examining three additional prosocial behaviors, money and goods donated to charity during the past year and social-sector volunteering. OT moderated the impact of age on all three prosocial behaviors (ps < 0.05). The analysis also showed that participants' change in OT was positively associated with satisfaction with life (p = 0.04), empathic concern (p = 0.015), dispositional gratitude (p = 0.019), and religious commitment (p = 0.001). Our findings indicate that the neural chemistry that helps sustain social relationships and live a fulfilled life appear to strengthen with age.

Intranasal Oxytocin Modulates the Salience Network in Aging

Growing evidence supports a role of the neuropeptide oxytocin in promoting social cognition and prosocial behavior, possibly via modulation of the salience of social information. The effect of intranasal oxytocin administration on the salience network, however, is not well understood, including in the aging brain. To address this research gap, 42 young (22.52 ± 3.02 years; 24 in the oxytocin group) and 43 older (71.12 ± 5.25 years; 21 in the oxytocin group) participants were randomized to either self-administer intranasal oxytocin or placebo prior to resting-state functional imaging. The salience network was identified using independent component analysis (ICA). Independent t-tests showed that individuals in the oxytocin compared to the placebo group had lower within-network resting-state functional connectivity, both for left amygdala (MNI coordinates: x = −18, y = 0, z = −15; corrected p < 0.05) within a more ventral salience network and for right insula (MNI coordinates: x = 39, y = 6, z = −6; corrected p < 0.05) within a more dorsal salience network. Age moderation analysis furthermore demonstrated that the oxytocin-reduced functional connectivity between the ventral salience network and the left amygdala was only present in older participants. These findings suggest a modulatory role of exogenous oxytocin on resting-state functional connectivity within the salience network and support age-differential effects of acute intranasal oxytocin administration on this network.

Investigating adult age differences in real-life empathy, prosociality, and well-being using experience sampling

While the importance of social affect and cognition is indisputable throughout the adult lifespan, findings of how empathy and prosociality develop and interact across adulthood are mixed and real-life data are scarce. Research using ecological momentary assessment recently demonstrated that adults commonly experience empathy in daily life. Furthermore, experiencing empathy was linked to higher prosocial behavior and subjective well-being. However, to date, it is not clear whether there are adult age differences in daily empathy and daily prosociality and whether age moderates the relationship between empathy and prosociality across adulthood. Here we analyzed experience-sampling data collected from participants across the adult lifespan to study age effects on empathy, prosocial behavior, and well-being under real-life circumstances. Linear and quadratic age effects were found for the experience of empathy, with increased empathy across the three younger age groups (18 to 45 years) and a slight decrease in the oldest group (55 years and older). Neither prosocial behavior nor well-being showed significant age-related differences. We discuss these findings with respect to (partially discrepant) results derived from lab-based and traditional survey studies. We conclude that studies linking in-lab experiments with real-life experience-sampling may be a promising venue for future lifespan studies.

Cultural Adaptation, Validation, and Psychometric Description of the Pictorial Empathy Test (PET) in the Spanish Population

Abstract. Research in psychology and social neuroscience distinguishes between dispositional and situational empathy for the cognitive and affective aspects of empathy. Yet, the Pictorial Empathy Test (PET) is one of the few brief tests focusing on situational affective empathy. This paper describes the adaptation of PET in a two-stage process, consisting of instrument translation and exploratory analysis of the construct in a university student sample, followed by confirmatory factor analysis and psychometric validation in a general population sample (Study 1, N = 79 and Study 2, N = 580). Our results indicate that the Spanish PET version constitutes a single factor structure with high internal consistency as well as high construct stability across genders and across in-person and online test administration setups. We report satisfactory convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity of the Spanish PET, as reported for the original version, in addition to when explored across new dimensions, like the Interpersonal Reactivity Index or in relation to age and prosocial tendencies. Based on the above, we discuss delineation of the distinct components of emotional empathy as measured by the instrument. The work presented supports the use of the Spanish PET version as a brief screening tool for state affective (emotional) empathy.

Effect of contemplating patient care spiritual flow principles and mindfulness on trauma center nurses' wellbeing: a pilot trial

Trauma nurses commonly encounter stress and burnout and have increased negative affect states and decreased positive affect traits. This study investigated whether trauma center nurses would have improvements in wellbeing scores after reading and contemplating Spiritual Flow: Pathways to Proficient Patient Care and Nurse & Physician Wellbeing (Spiritual Flow). Trauma center surgical intensive care unit nurses completed a baseline and follow-up survey before and after reading and contemplating Spiritual Flow, which provides insights into spirituality and mindfulness. The survey contained four positive affect (PA) items, each rated 1-very little to 5-extremely, that were summed to create a PA score (PAS). The seven negative affect (NA) survey items were similarly rated and reverse coded, 1-extremely to 5-very little, to create a nonstress score (NSS). The PAS (4-20) and NSS (7-35) were summed to create a wellbeing score (WS). Nurses rated the degree to which they felt more peaceful or inspired after contemplating the book. Thirty-seven of 39 (95%) routine nursing staff members completed both surveys. Follow-up values increased for WS (P = 0.0001) and NSS (P = 0.0001) after reading and contemplating Spiritual Flow compared to baseline values. No changes occurred for PAS (P = 0.1606). Because 16% of nurses had a high PAS on the baseline survey, further analyses were performed on the other 84%. Significantly increased values were noted on follow-up for PAS (P = 0.0171), NSS (P = 0.0015), and WS (P = 0.0003) compared to baseline scores. Of 37 nurses, 24 (64.9%) rated feeling more peaceful and/or inspired as moderately or quite a bit. This pilot study suggests that contemplating Spiritual Flow was associated with improvements in surgical intensive care trauma center nurse wellbeing. These preliminary findings need to be confirmed in an investigation that includes a control group and randomization.

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory: The Role of Perceived Endings in Human Motivation

Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) is a theory of life-span development grounded in the uniquely human ability to monitor time. SST maintains that the approach of endings-whether due to aging or other endings such as geographic relocations and severe illness-elicits motivational changes in which emotionally meaningful goals are prioritized over exploration. Research guided by SST has informed preferences, social networks, and emotional experience and led to the discovery of the positivity effect in cognitive processing. This article, based on my 2015 Robert W. Kleemeier Award Lecture, describes the development of SST and its related program of empirical research.

Socioeconomic Status Moderates Age Differences in Empathic Concern

OBJECTIVES

Older age has been found to relate to a higher level of empathic concern and prosocial tendencies in many studies, but there are also studies that found contradictory results. To fully understand the phenomenon, we propose that socioeconomic status (SES) is an important factor to consider when examining differences in empathic concern and prosocial tendencies.

METHOD

Two studies with Hong Kong Chinese participants were conducted to test the moderating effect of SES on the relationship between age and empathic concern. Both studies assessed participants' age, SES, empathic concern, and background information, while Study 2 also examined different indicators of prosocial tendencies.

RESULTS

SES consistently moderated age differences in empathic concern in the two studies. The positive association between age and empathic concern was only significant for individuals with low SES, but not for those with high SES. Study 2 further revealed that the positive indirect effects from age to prosocial tendencies through a higher level of empathic concern were only significant for individuals with low SES as well.

DISCUSSION

The results highlighted the importance to consider contextual factors when studying age-related differences.

Neurocomputational models of altruistic decision-making and social motives: Advances, pitfalls, and future directions

This article discusses insights from computational models and social neuroscience into motivations, precursors, and mechanisms of altruistic decision-making and other-regard. We introduce theoretical and methodological tools for researchers who wish to adopt a multilevel, computational approach to study behaviors that promote others' welfare. Using examples from recent studies, we outline multiple mental and neural processes relevant to altruism. To this end, we integrate evidence from neuroimaging, psychology, economics, and formalized mathematical models. We introduce basic mechanisms-pertinent to a broad range of value-based decisions-and social emotions and cognitions commonly recruited when our decisions involve other people. Regarding the latter, we discuss how decomposing distinct facets of social processes can advance altruistic models and the development of novel, targeted interventions. We propose that an accelerated synthesis of computational approaches and social neuroscience represents a critical step towards a more comprehensive understanding of altruistic decision-making. We discuss the utility of this approach to study lifespan differences in social preference in late adulthood, a crucial future direction in aging global populations. Finally, we review potential pitfalls and recommendations for researchers interested in applying a computational approach to their research. This article is categorized under: Economics > Interactive Decision-Making Psychology > Emotion and Motivation Neuroscience > Cognition Economics > Individual Decision-Making.

The ageing of the social mind: replicating the preservation of socio-affective and the decline of socio-cognitive processes in old age

Anticipating population ageing to reach a historically unprecedented level in this century and considering the public goal of promoting well-being until old age, research in many fields has started to focus on processes and factors that contribute to healthy ageing. Since human interactions have a tremendous impact on our mental and physical well-being, scientists are increasingly investigating the basic processes that enable successful social interactions such as social affect (empathy, compassion) and social cognition (Theory of Mind). However, regarding the replication crisis in psychological science it is crucial to probe the reproducibility of findings revealed by each specific method. To this end, we aimed to replicate the effect of age on empathy, compassion and Theory of Mind observed in Reiter and colleagues' study (Reiter et al. 2017 Sci. Rep. 7, 11046 (doi:10.1038/s41598-017-10669-4)) by using the same ecologically valid paradigm in an independent sample with similar age ranges. We were able to replicate the previously observed results of a preservation or even enhancement in socio-affective processes, but a decline in socio-cognitive processes for older adults. Our findings add to the understanding of how social affect and cognition change across the adult lifespan and may suggest targets for intervention studies aiming to foster successful social interactions and well-being until advanced old age.

Perceived Characteristics of Life Events—Short-Term Changes in Prosociality and Empathy?

Post-traumatic growth can be understood as positive change in desirable personality traits after adverse life events. However, recent research questioned whether adversity is a relevant, necessary, and sufficient condition for change in desirable personality traits. Using five-wave longitudinal data, this study explored changes in the desirable personality traits prosociality and empathy before and after life events. We included all life events participants had experienced between the second and third assessment, that is, adverse, ambiguous, and positive events. Participants rated their life events on the Event Characteristics Questionnaire which assesses the individual perception of life events on nine continuous dimensions: challenge, emotional significance, extraordinariness, external control, impact, valence, social status change, predictability, and change in world views. We used multilevel growth curve models to explore changes in prosociality and empathy as a function of these event characteristics. Prosociality and empathy remained stable in the assessment period of 6 to 9 months after the reported life event, independently of whether the event had been perceived as adverse or not. We discuss our findings with respect to the inclusion of positive and ambiguous events as predictors of personality change and with respect to its theoretical implications for post-traumatic growth and personality development more broadly.

Aging, Empathy, and Prosocial Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objectives

Previous literature suggests age-related increases in prosociality. Does such an age–prosociality relationship occur during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, or might the pandemic—as a stressor that may differently influence young and older adults—create a boundary condition on the relationship? If so, can empathy, a well-known prosocial disposition, explain the age–prosociality relationship? This study investigated these questions and whether the target (distant others compared to close others) of prosocial behaviors differs by age.

Methods

Participants completed a series of surveys on dispositional empathy and prosocial behaviors for a study assessing their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 330 participants (aged 18–89) from the United States who completed all of the surveys included in the present analyses.

Results

Age was positively related to greater prosociality during the pandemic. Although empathy was positively associated with individuals’ prosociality, it did not account for the age–prosociality association. Interestingly, increasing age was associated with greater prosocial behaviors toward close others (i.e., family, friends).

Discussion

Results are discussed in the context of socioemotional goals and substantiate that findings of age differences in prosocial behaviors occur during the period of limited resources and threat associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Feeling you, when you feel me: attachment, empathic concern, and interpersonal emotion regulation

Empathic concern is an important part of social relationships. Attachment orientation may explain individual differences in empathic concern. However, the circumstances under which attachment orientation is related to empathic concern remain unexamined. This exploratory study investigated the moderating role of a novel aspect of emotion regulation, interpersonal emotion regulation, in the relationship between attachment orientation and empathic concern. Study 1 (N = 179) and Study 2 (direct replication, N = 202) yielded consistent main effects for emotion regulation. Interpersonal emotion regulation efficacy (people's belief that interpersonal emotion regulation can effectively change their negative and positive emotions) was positively associated with empathic concern. Avoidant attachment showed a moderately consistent negative association with empathic concern. Negative efficacy moderated the association between anxious attachment and empathic concern only in Study 1. The findings focus attention on the importance of interpersonal emotion regulation efficacy to empathic concern and on the complex relationship between attachment and empathic concern.

Ageing is associated with disrupted reinforcement learning whilst learning to help others is preserved

Reinforcement learning is a fundamental mechanism displayed by many species. However, adaptive behaviour depends not only on learning about actions and outcomes that affect ourselves, but also those that affect others. Using computational reinforcement learning models, we tested whether young (age 18-36) and older (age 60-80, total n = 152) adults learn to gain rewards for themselves, another person (prosocial), or neither individual (control). Detailed model comparison showed that a model with separate learning rates for each recipient best explained behaviour. Young adults learned faster when their actions benefitted themselves, compared to others. Compared to young adults, older adults showed reduced self-relevant learning rates but preserved prosocial learning. Moreover, levels of subclinical self-reported psychopathic traits (including lack of concern for others) were lower in older adults and the core affective-interpersonal component of this measure negatively correlated with prosocial learning. These findings suggest learning to benefit others is preserved across the lifespan with implications for reinforcement learning and theories of healthy ageing.

Age-related differences in negative cognitive empathy but similarities in positive affective empathy

Empathy, among other social-cognitive processes, changes across adulthood. More specifically, cognitive components of empathy (understanding another's perspective) appear to decline with age, while findings for affective empathy (sharing another's emotional state) are rather mixed. Structural and functional correlates underlying cognitive and affective empathy in aging and the extent to which valence affects empathic response in brain and behavior are not well understood yet. To fill these research gaps, younger and older adults completed a modified version of the Multifaceted Empathy Test, which measures both cognitive and affective empathy as well as empathic responding to both positive and negative stimuli (i.e., positive vs. negative empathy). Adopting a multimodal imaging approach and applying multivariate analysis, the study found that for cognitive empathy to negative emotions, regions of the salience network including the anterior insula and anterior cingulate were more involved in older than younger adults. For affective empathy to positive emotions, in contrast, younger and older adults recruited a similar brain network including main nodes of the default mode network. Additionally, increased structural microstructure (fractional anisotropy values) of the posterior cingulum bundle (right henisphere) was related to activation of default mode regions during affective empathy for positive emotions in both age groups. These findings provide novel insights into the functional networks subserving cognitive and affective empathy in younger and older adults and highlight the importance of considering valence in empathic response in aging research. Further this study, for the first time, underscores the role of the posterior cingulum bundle in higher-order social-cognitive processes such as empathy, specifically for positive emotions, in aging.

Heart and Head: Profiles and Predictors of Self-Assessed Cognitive and Affective Empathy in a Sample of Medical and Health Professional Students

For medical and health professions, students learning to respond to others' distress with well-regulated empathy is an important developmental skill linked to positive health outcomes and professionalism. Our study aimed to investigate the sociodemographic, psychological, and psychosocial differences between medical (MS) and health professional (HPS) students and their empathic abilities, since both populations share common stressors, namely, dealing with suffering people. Additionally, we were interested in assessing the psychological and psychosocial predictors of empathy of MS compared to HPS. One hundred thirty MS and 86 HPS were administered the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Interpersonal Reactivity Index, Integrative Hope Scale, and UCLA Loneliness Scale. The two groups showed differences in their contextual characteristics, with the HPS group having larger families, lower parents' education levels, and lower family income compared to the MS group. In both groups, ~15% of students reported previous contact for psychological problems. A higher proportion of HPS (23.3%) reported depressive symptoms than MS (10%), and female HPS reported more intense feelings of loneliness than other subgroups of students. No differences were found between the two groups in self-assessed cognitive and affective empathy. In both groups, women showed greater affective scores than men and, at the same time, seemed to be particularly prone to personal distress. The cognitive empathic dimension of “perspective taking” was predicted by young age (OR, 612; 95% CI, 1.395–15.242) and the overall socioeconomic status (OR, 3.175; 95% CI, 1.154–8.734) of the HPS. Self-assessed affective competence was predicted by female gender (OR, 3.112; 95% CI, 1.328–7.288), depressive symptomatology (OR, 2.777; 95% CI, 1.004–7.681), higher mother's level of education (OR, 2.764; 95% CI, 1.147–6.659), and feeling of hope related to social relationships (OR, 1.367; 95% CI, 1.152–1.622). Risk factors for poor self-assessed affective emphatic skills were previous contact for psychological problems (OR, 3.263; 95% CI, 1.238–8.601) and feelings of loneliness (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.09–1.276). Our findings emphasize the need to test psychosocial models to better understand empathic skills.

Development and validation of film stimuli to assess empathy in the work context

A growing body of research suggests that empathy predicts important work outcomes, yet limitations in existing measures to assess empathy have been noted. Extending past work on the assessment of empathy, this study introduces a newly developed set of emotion-eliciting film clips that can be used to assess both cognitive (emotion perception) and affective (emotional congruence and sympathy) facets of empathy in vivo. Using the relived emotions paradigm, film protagonists were instructed to think aloud about an autobiographical, emotional event from working life and relive their emotions while being videotaped. Subsequently, protagonists were asked to provide self-reports of the intensity of their emotions during retelling their event. In a first study with 128 employees, who watched the film clips and rated their own as well as the protagonists’ emotions, we found that the film clips are effective in eliciting moderate levels of emotions as well as sympathy in the test taker and can be used to calculate reliable convergence scores of emotion perception and emotional congruence. Using a selected subset of six film clips, a second two-wave study with 99 employees revealed that all facet-specific measures of empathy had moderate-to-high internal consistencies and test–retest reliabilities, and correlated in expected ways with other self-report and test-based empathy tests, cognition, and demographic variables. With these films, we expand the choice of testing materials for empathy in organizational research to cover a larger array of research questions.

Pain evaluation and prosocial behaviour are affected by age and sex

BACKGROUND

Pain assessment and pain care are influenced by the characteristics of both the patient and the caregiver. Some studies suggest that the pain of older persons and of females may be underestimated to a greater extent than the pain of younger and male individuals.

AIMS

This study investigated the effect of age and sex on prosocial behavior and pain evaluation.

METHODS

40 young (18-30 y/o; 20 women) and 40 older adults (55-82 y/o; 20 women) acted as healthcare professionals rating the pain and offering help to patients of both age groups. Trait empathy and social desirability were measured with questionnaires.

RESULTS

Linear mixed models showed that older and male patients were offered more help and were perceived as being in more intense pain than younger and female patients.

CONCLUSION

The characteristics of the patients seem to have a greater impact on prosocial behavior and pain assessment compared to those of the observers, which bears significant implications for the treatment of pain in clinical contexts.

Predictors of posttraumatic growth of intensive care unit nurses in Korea

AIM

Nurses working in intensive care units are repeatedly exposed to trauma (e.g., verbal or physical abuse by confused patients, and unexpected death). However, after experiencing traumatic events, not all intensive care unit nurses develop psychopathological issues, including posttraumatic stress disorder. Therefore, this study aims to examine the level of posttraumatic growth and psychosocial factors such as posttraumatic stress symptoms, deliberate rumination, wisdom, and self-compassion to predict posttraumatic growth in Korean intensive care unit nurses.

METHODS

A total of 156 intensive care unit nurses participated in this cross-sectional survey. Posttraumatic growth, posttraumatic stress symptoms, deliberate rumination, wisdom, and self-compassion were measured using validated self-report scales, and data were analyzed by descriptive statistics.

RESULT

Posttraumatic growth was found to be comparatively low in intensive care unit nurses, while multiple regression showed that positive self-compassion was the most significant predictor for posttraumatic growth, followed by wisdom, age, and deliberate rumination. All together four variables explained 30% of the variance in posttraumatic growth.

CONCLUSION

Findings from this study suggest that intensive care unit nurses' posttraumatic growth may be enhanced by increasing positive self-compassion, wisdom, and deliberate rumination. Therefore, a paradigm shift focusing on possible positive pathways, such as development of mental health programs to improve posttraumatic growth for intensive care unit nurses is required rather than focusing on management of posttraumatic stress disorder. The results of this study could provide theoretical guidance to seek more effective and integrated intervention strategies for intensive care unit nurses.

Empathy and the ability to experience one's own emotions modify the expression of blatant and subtle prejudice among young male adults

Prejudices can lead to discrimination, social exclusion, and violence particularly among young male adults. Previous findings suggest that the degree of holding prejudices is linked to low levels of empathy, while low levels of empathy have been associated with alexithymia, the inability to experience one's own feelings. We tested the hypothesis that the impact of a lack of empathy on reporting blatant and subtle prejudices is moderated by the inability to identify one's own feelings. In a sample of n = 136 young male adults aged 21 years (mean = 21.5 years; sd = 0.3), we conducted correlation and moderator analyses to determine possible relationships between prejudices, empathy, and alexithymia as assessed by self-report questionnaires. Prejudices were assessed by the Blatant and Subtle Prejudice Scale (BSPS), empathy was assessed by the German modified version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and alexithymia by the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Self-reported empathy levels were correlated with the strength of subtle and blatant prejudices. The moderation analyses revealed that the negative association between empathy and subtle prejudice increased with decreasing alexithymia. The negative association between empathy and blatant prejudice, on the other hand, was significant only for participants with low levels of alexithymia. These results suggest that empathy can limit the expression of blatant and to some degree also subtle prejudice when subjects are capable to identify their own feelings in a group of young males.

Emotional and Cognitive Empathy in Caregivers of Persons with Neurodegenerative Disease: Relationships with Caregiver Mental Health

Caregiving for a person with dementia or neurodegenerative disease (PWD) is associated with increased rates of depression and anxiety. As the population ages and dementia prevalence increases worldwide, mental health problems related to dementia caregiving will become an even more pressing public health concern. The present study assessed emotional empathy (physiological, behavioral, and self-reported emotional responses to a film depicting others suffering) and two measures of cognitive empathy (identifying the primary emotion experienced by another person; providing continuous ratings of the valence of another person's changing emotions) in relation to mental health (standard questionnaires) in 78 caregivers of PWDs. Greater emotional empathy (self-reported emotional responses) was associated with worse mental health, even after accounting for known risk factors. Neither measure of cognitive empathy was associated with mental health. A relationship between high levels of emotional empathy and poor mental health in caregivers suggests possible risk indicators and intervention targets.