Conceptualising and Measuring Empathy

The purpose of this article is to briefly review the most influential existing literature on conceptualizing and measuring empathy. In addition, we consider a second, highly salient body of literature emerging from the relatively new field of social cognitive neuroscience, which uses brain imaging t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The British journal of social work 2010-10, Vol.40 (7), p.2326-2343
Main Authors: Gerdes, Karen E., Segal, Elizabeth A., Lietz, Cynthia A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
affect sharing
Behavioral neuroscience
black and ethnic minority
Black people
Brain
Brain imaging
Cognition
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive processes
Conceptualization
Emotion
Emotional expression
Empathy
measurement
Mental health
Minority & ethnic groups
Observational research
Personality psychology
perspective taking
Review articles
Social cognitive neuroscience
Social psychology
Social Structure
Social Work
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Summary:The purpose of this article is to briefly review the most influential existing literature on conceptualizing and measuring empathy. In addition, we consider a second, highly salient body of literature emerging from the relatively new field of social cognitive neuroscience, which uses brain imaging to help identify the physiological components of emotional and cognitive processes. We believe that social cognitive neuroscience can assist social work in clarifying concrete, consistent ways of defining and measuring empathy as a neurological phenomenon. Finally, we assess some of the most recent social work-related empirical intervention-based research on empathy. Combining all these research traditions leads to a compelling possibility: a unified, consistent, and robust way to define and measure the empathic responses that help form the foundation of just and beneficent social structures.
ISSN:0045-3102
1468-263X
DOI:10.1093/bjsw/bcq048