An appraisal theory of empathy and other vicarious emotional experiences.

Abstract

Empathy, feeling what others feel, is regarded as a special phenomenon that is separate from other emotional experiences. Emotion theories say little about feeling emotions for others and empathy theories say little about how feeling emotions for others relates to normal firsthand emotional experience. Current empathy theories focus on how we feel emotions for others who feel the same thing, but not how we feel emotions for others that they do not feel, such as feeling angry for someone who is sad or feeling embarrassed for someone who is self assured. We propose an appraisal theory of vicarious emotional experiences, including empathy, based on appraisal theories of emotion. According to this theory, emotions for others are based on how we evaluate their situations, just as firsthand emotions are based on how we evaluate our own situations. We discuss how this framework can predict empathic emotion matching and also the experience of emotions for others that do not match what they feel. The theory treats empathy as a normal part of emotional experience. Keywords: empathy, emotion, appraisal, vicarious emotion APPRAISAL AND EMPATHY 4 An Appraisal Theory of Empathy and Other Vicarious Emotional ExperiencesWe feel sad when a crying friend's father has passed away. We feel embarrassed for our colleague when he blunders and blushes. We feel joy for our smiling friend when she succeeds.Empathy, feeling what another person feels, is pervasive, and it is a problem.Empathy is a problem because it defies our assumption that emotions are about our own personal goals (Frijda, 1988;Lazarus, 1991;Moors, 2010;C. A. Smith, Haynes, Lazarus, & Pope, 1993). Indeed, empathic emotions are described as more appropriate for someone else's situation than for our own (Hoffman, 2000;Preston & de Waal, 2002). Yet just as we feel emotions when we see a great work of art or step outside on a sunny day, we feel emotions for others when our personal goals are not involved.Emotion and empathy have been studied in isolation from each other. Theories of emotion neglect empathic emotions, and theories of empathy are full of special explanations for empathic emotions that are different from explanations for personal emotions. Nevertheless, empathic emotions are real emotions. They strike us quickly and redirect our attention just as any other emotion does and there is no reason to think that they are different from normal emotion processes. Bringing theories of empathy and emotion together explicitly can advance our understanding of both.We begin with a discussion of what is usually meant by empathy. Then we review and critically examine current theories of empathy. Finally, we present a theory of empathy based on appraisal theories of emotion. What is Empathy?We feel emotions about a wide variety of things. Sometimes we feel emotions because something happens to us. These are firsthand emotions. At other times we feel emotions because APPRAISAL AND EMPATHY 5 something happens to someone else. These are vicarious emotions. In some vicario...

Two Challenges for Psychologists against, or in Favor of, Empathy

“…Surprisingly, theories of empathy are often disconnected from general theories of emotions [Wondra & Ellsworth, 2015]. For instance, few theories of empathy employ the constructs of appraisal, concerns, and action tendencies [for discussions, see Hoffman, 2000;Main et al, 2017;Wondra & Ellsworth, 2015]. This disconnect is puzzling for two reasons.…”

“…We may be angry at how poorly others are treated even when they are not angry themselves, or we may fear for the life of persons unaware of the danger they are in [Hoffman, 2000;Wondra & Ellsworth, 2015]. We may even shortcircuit intense empathic reactions by preventing bad things from happening to others in the first place, for instance by advising a foreign visitor not to drive in Los Angeles during commuter hours.…”

“…The emotional event is further shaped by what the person is inclined to do in the situation (so-called action tendencies [Frijda, 1986]), for instance whether the individual believes it is possible to get medical attention quickly enough to survive the snake bite [Lazarus, 1991]. Surprisingly, theories of empathy are often disconnected from general theories of emotions [Wondra & Ellsworth, 2015]. For instance, few theories of empathy employ the constructs of appraisal, concerns, and action tendencies [for discussions, see Hoffman, 2000;Main et al, 2017;Wondra & Ellsworth, 2015].…”

The Interpersonal Functions of Empathy: A Relational Perspective

“…Interestingly, most theories of empathy fail to take a strong stance on defining emotion. Likewise, theories of emotion often disregard empathy because empathy is not considered an "emotion proper" given the focus of the empathizer on the goals and situation of another (Wondra & Ellsworth, 2015). In what follows we provide a brief overview of how different perspectives of emotion map onto different perspectives of empathy.…”

“…This article does not seek to provide an all-encompassing definition of empathy or to disentangle or distinguish empathy from related constructs (we refer the reader to excellent reviews on this topic by Cuff, Brown, Taylor, & Howat, 2016;Wondra & Ellsworth, 2015;Zaki, 2014). Rather, we argue that current conceptualizations of empathy focus on some aspects of the construct to the detriment of others.…”