Empathy: Historic and Current Conceptualizations, Measurement, and a Cognitive Theoretical Perspective

Abstract

A selective review of various conceptual positions within a historic framework is used to address four issues: whether an empathic response is an understanding or sharing of affect; whether an empathic response is a response to an object, another’s affect, and/or circumstance; which mechanisms explain empathy, and is self-other differentiation required by various definitions. This discussion is related to an examination of representative, predictive and situational measures. Comments are made regarding the reliability and construct validity of certain measures. The implications of this evidence for the use and the development of measures are advanced. A cognitive theoretical perspective is applied, in which variables that influence empathic learning are discussed with several applications of data, to assist in our understanding of empathy.