Adaptive Empathy: Empathic Response Selection as a Dynamic, Feedback-Based Learning Process.

ABSTRACT: Empathy allows us to respond to the emotional state of another person. Considering that an empathic interaction may last beyond the initial response, learning mechanisms may be involved in dynamic adaptation of the reaction to the changing emotional state of the other person. However, traditionally, empathy is assessed through sets of isolated reactions to another's distress. Here we address this gap by focusing on adaptive empathy, defined as the ability to learn and adjust one's empathic responses based on feedback. For this purpose, we designed a novel paradigm of associative learning in which participants chose one of two empathic strategies (reappraisal or distraction) to attenuate the distress of a target person, where one strategy had a higher probability of relieving distress. Afte

SUBMITTER: Kozakevich Arbel E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8339423 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature