Empathy, social functioning and schizotypy.
Whilst affective empathy is concerned with one's emotional response to the affective state of another, cognitive empathy refers to one's understanding of another's mental state, and deficits in both are believed to contribute to the social behavioral abnormalities associated with schizophrenia. The present study aimed to test whether individual differences in normally distributed schizotypal personality traits are related to cognitive and affective empathy, and whether any observed association between schizotypy and empathy mediates the relationship between schizotypy and (reduced) social functioning. Non-clinical volunteers (N=223) completed measures of schizotypal personality, cognitive and affective empathy, social functioning and negative affect. The results indicated that higher schizotypy was associated with reduced empathy, poorer social functioning and increased negative affect. Of the specific schizotypal dimensions (positive, negative and disorganized), only negative schizotypy was significantly associated with social functioning, and this relationship persisted even after controlling for negative affect. Further, affective empathy functioned as a partial mediator in this relationship. These data show that the relationship between negative schizotypy and social functioning is at least partially attributable to deficits in affective empathy.
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. julie.henry@unsw.edu.au
Julie D
JD
Henry
Phoebe E
PE
Bailey
Peter G
PG
Rendell
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D035061:Control Groups; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000175:diagnosis; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires