The conceptual diversity in the definition of empathy has resulted in descriptions of a highly heterogeneous collection of related phenomena, causing confusion as to what empathy actually is. Some of this heterogeneity arises due to disparate viewpoints across different disciplines. Capturing this transdisciplinary construct and arriving at a clear and unambiguous overarching definition of empathy will help provide a clearer outline of the fundamental dimensions of empathy, and will facilitate greater consistency in research and discussion of empathy across and between a range of disciplines. An inductive conceptual content analysis of the existing definitions of empathy was undertaken to distil the common higher order and lower order components of empathy definitions that have been used in the literature since 1980. A total of 146 definitions of empathy were sourced from a sample of 506 publications. Nine overarching dimensions were identified within the 146 definitions, including empathy as a catalyst, function, process, outcome, affective state, cognitive state, involving self and other, leading to a behaviour, and occurring in a specific context. The resultant meta-definition of empathy is “the ability to experience affective and cognitive states of another person, while maintaining a distinct self, in order to understand the other.” The results reveal empathy as a complex series of processes that we argue should be considered an “empathic system” given its multidimensional nature.

More than four decades have passed since the United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted. Now is an opportune time to consider whether the interventions seeking to realise CEDAW’s aspirations have brought us closer to achieving gender equality. This systematic review aimed to identify and synthesise evidence for the effectiveness of social justice, cognitive, or behaviour-change interventions that sought to reduce gender inequality, gender bias, or discrimination against women or girls. Interventions could be implemented in any context, with any mode of delivery and duration, if they measured gender equity or discrimination outcomes, and were published in English in peer-reviewed journals. Papers on violence against women and sexuality were not eligible. Seventy-eight papers reporting qualitative (n = 36), quantitative (n = 23), and multi-methods (n = 19) research projects met the eligibility criteria after screening 7,832 citations identified from psycINFO, ProQuest, Scopus searches, reference lists and expert recommendations. Findings were synthesised narratively. Improved gender inclusion was the most frequently reported change (n = 39), particularly for education and media interventions. Fifty percent of interventions measuring social change in gender equality did not achieve beneficial effects. Most gender mainstreaming interventions had only partial beneficial effects on outcomes, calling into question their efficacy in practice. Twenty-eight interventions used education and awareness-raising strategies, which also predominantly had only partial beneficial effects. Overall research quality was low to moderate, and the key findings created doubt that interventions to date have achieved meaningful change. Interventions may not have achieved macrolevel change because they did not explicitly address meso and micro change. We conclude with a summary of the evidence for key determinants of the promotion of gender equality, including a call to address men’s emotional responses (micro) in the process of achieving gender equality (micro/meso/macrolevels).

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Empathy is the ability to experience affective and cognitive states of another person, whilst maintaining a distinct self, in order to understand the other. It is a multidimensional phenomenon, ranging from vicarious distress to near complete understanding, with many shades in between. As an almost universal and integral human construct, empathy has been considered in many disciplines and contexts, from evolution to gender, politics, economics, ethics, human rights and neuroscience. Each of these disciplines offers a range of definitions of empathy, and provides unique insights into the role of empathy in achieving different types of social outcomes, including those with both prosocial and antisocial intentions. The conceptualization generated from interdisciplinary perspectives is important because it allows us to identify commonalities that could be mobilized synergistically to achieve greater social benefit through prosocial empathy. This review discusses the benevolent and malevolent manifestations of empathy from the perspective of social, legal and psychological sciences in order to lay the foundation for a theoretical discussion on the potential of harnessing prosocial empathy to advance equality and non-discrimination.