Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- List of contributors
- Part I ‘Dysempathy’ in psychiatric samples
- Part II Empathy and related concepts in health
- 9 Neonatal antecedents for empathy
- 10 The evolutionary neurobiology, emergence and facilitation of empathy
- 11 Naturally occurring variability in state empathy
- 12 Neuroimaging of empathy
- 13 The neurophysiology of empathy
- 14 The cognitive neuropsychology of empathy
- 15 The genetics of empathy and its disorders
- 16 Empathogenic agents: their use, abuse, mechanism of action and addiction potential
- 17 Existential empathy: the intimacy of self and other
- 18 Empathizing and systemizing in males, females and autism: a test of the neural competition theory
- 19 Motivational-affective processing and the neural foundations of empathy
- 20 Face processing and empathy
- Part III Empathy models, regulation and measurement of empathy
- Index
13 - The neurophysiology of empathy
from Part II - Empathy and related concepts in health
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- List of contributors
- Part I ‘Dysempathy’ in psychiatric samples
- Part II Empathy and related concepts in health
- 9 Neonatal antecedents for empathy
- 10 The evolutionary neurobiology, emergence and facilitation of empathy
- 11 Naturally occurring variability in state empathy
- 12 Neuroimaging of empathy
- 13 The neurophysiology of empathy
- 14 The cognitive neuropsychology of empathy
- 15 The genetics of empathy and its disorders
- 16 Empathogenic agents: their use, abuse, mechanism of action and addiction potential
- 17 Existential empathy: the intimacy of self and other
- 18 Empathizing and systemizing in males, females and autism: a test of the neural competition theory
- 19 Motivational-affective processing and the neural foundations of empathy
- 20 Face processing and empathy
- Part III Empathy models, regulation and measurement of empathy
- Index
Summary
Theories of empathy
Evolutionary theories of empathy
Darwin (1872) contended that emotions are primary regulators of social interaction and that interspecies communication of emotion is innate and has adaptive value. Within this framework, empathy, which involves recognizing emotions and adjusting social interactions accordingly, would provide individuals and groups who possess this ability with an evolutionary advantage.
Several contemporary theoretical papers have also emerged in the psychological literature that discuss the evolution of empathy and its neural substrates. For example, Brothers (1989) introduced an evolutionary theory of empathy, defining the concept of empathy across maturational levels. He and others (Hoffman, 2000; Trevarthen & Aitken, 1994) argue that empathy is an innate biologically based process in more evolved species. Empathy's evolution in phylogeny and ontogeny is based on the need for more evolved species to be able to communicate with important others, such as caretakers and attachment figures. While the theoretical models proposed differ in the exact mechanism impelling the development of empathy, they agree that variation between individuals in levels of empathic processing derives from evolved variation in genetic endowments and is modified by environmental experiences. Ultimately these theories recognize that empathy, a key component of social communication during development, is adaptive, promotes survival and has a neurological basis.
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- Empathy in Mental Illness , pp. 217 - 238Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
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