Empathy development
Empathy development – is defined broadly as the process by which individuals are able to recognize, understand, and share in or react to the emotional states of others. This ability is important for promoting positive behaviors toward others and facilitating social interactions and congenial relationships. Empathy is also an interpersonal communication system that elicits response from others, helps to determine priorities within relationships, and holds people together in social groups. Research has indicated that empathy and prosocial responding are associated with numerous emotional, psychological and social benefits. Whether an individual is successfully able to empathize with another partially depends on the openness or resistance of the person being empathized with.
The functions of empathy
It motivates parental care and attachment between caregiver and infants, enables prosocial behaviors, and plays a role in inhibiting aggression.
Empathy is thought to play a foundational role in morality, in particular understanding why it is wrong to harm others. Support for such a role comes from multiple sources of evidence. For instance, a study conducted with neurotypical participants reported a relationship between empathic concern and moral judgment.
Overall, research lends strong support to the notion that emotion reactivity in general, particularly empathic concern, play a pivotal role in guiding prosocial behavior.
Frick, P. J., Kemp, E. C. (2021). Conduct disorders and empathy development. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 17(1), 391-416. Retrieved from https://shorturl.at/hoB9E
Allemand, M., Steiger, A. E., Fend, H. A. (2015). Empathy development in adolescence predicts social competencies in adulthood. Journal of personality, 83(2), 229-241. Retrieved from https://shorturl.at/6fQNu
Decety, J. (2015). The neural pathways, development and functions of empathy. Current opinion in behavioral sciences, 3, 1-6. Retrieved from https://shorturl.at/54iIW
Main, A., Walle, E. A., Kho, C., & Halpern, J. (2017). The interpersonal functions of empathy: A relational perspective. Emotion Review, 9(4), 358-366. Retrieved from https://shorturl.at/uI4e9