The Psychology of Emotion Exam 3 Study Guide 1 Empathy

Q: What is the difference between empathy and sympathy?

A: Empathy is "feeling as the other," while sympathy is "feeling for the other."

Q: What are the two types of empathy?

A: Affective empathy and cognitive empathy.

Q: What is affective empathy?

A: Actually feeling another person's emotions (emotional mirroring).

Q: What is cognitive empathy?

A: Understanding what another person is feeling; involves perspective taking and Theory of Mind.

Q: Which type of empathy involves Theory of Mind?

A: Cognitive empathy.

Q: What are mirror neurons?

A: Neurons that activate when performing an action and when observing someone else perform the same action.

Q: How do mirror neurons relate to empathy?

A: They help us understand others' emotions by mirroring their experiences in our own brain.

Q: How does group membership influence empathy?

A: We feel more empathy and show stronger brain mirroring for in-group members than out-group members.

Q: Which study demonstrated group differences in empathy?

A: Hein et al. (2010): Soccer fans showed more insula activation and helped in-group members more.

Q: What is the relationship between mirror neuron activation and helping behavior?

A: More mirroring (insula activity) predicts more helping.

Q: How does empathy relate to political polarization?

A: Higher empathic concern is linked to stronger affective polarization and more support for censoring opposing political groups.

Q: What is prosocial behavior?

A: Any behavior meant to help others.

Q: What is altruism?

A: Helping others with no personal benefit, sometimes at a cost.

Q: What is the empathy-altruism hypothesis?

A: When we feel empathy for someone, we help them regardless of personal cost.

Q: What did Toi & Batson (1982) find about empathy and helping?

A:Low empathy → help only when cost is low (prosocial). High empathy → help even when cost is high (altruistic).

Q: What type of empathy do people with ASD tend to be low in?

A: Cognitive empathy.

Q: What condition comorbid with ASD actually causes the cognitive empathy deficit?

A: Alexithymia (difficulty identifying emotions).

Q: What type of empathy do people with psychopathy tend to be low in?

A: Affective empathy.

Q: What does the fear hypothesis say?

A: Psychopaths feel less fear; without fear/distress, they cannot experience emotional empathy. (Bottom-up)

Q: What does the violence inhibition mechanism say?

A: Psychopaths cannot recognize fear/distress cues that normally trigger empathy. (Bottom-up)

Q: What does attentional dysregulation say?

A: Psychopaths ignore emotional cues when focused on a goal; empathy requires explicit instruction. (Top-down)

Q: When do people with psychopathy show empathy?

A: When explicitly instructed or motivated, they can activate empathy systems.

Q: What is psychic numbing?

A: A decrease in empathic response as the number of victims increases.

Q: What is Paul Bloom's perspective on empathy?

A: Affective empathy is biased and can be harmful; he prefers rational compassion.

Q: What is Jamil Zaki's perspective on empathy?

A: Empathy is a skill that can be trained and strengthened