title: Resonance mechanism in empathic behavior BEES, BIS/BAS and psychophysiological contribution.
abstract: Empathy is related to the natural human ability to understand emotions and feelings of others, where a sort of "resonance" mechanism between the observer and the observed permits a direct form of understanding. The present study explored four different measures related to empathic behavior in a social context: autonomic behavior (skin conductance--SCR, and heart rate--HR), personal response to empathic scale (BEES), approach-withdrawal attitudes (BIS/BAS), and verbal self-report measures. Participants were presented with different interpersonal scene types (cooperation, non-cooperation, conflict, indifference), and they were required to empathize with them. Different autonomic response patterns were found as a function of the interpersonal situations: SCR and HR increased in case of conflictual and non-cooperative situations. This result was confirmed by self-rating measures on empathy, since emotional involvement and valence attributed to the scenes varied in concomitance with psychophysiological parameters. Third, high and low BEES subjects showed different empathic behavior: high empathic subjects were more responsive (on both self-report and autonomic response) to empathy-related situations than low empathic subjects. Finally, BIS and BAS attitudes demonstrated a significant relationship with both BEES and autonomic patterns: high BAS subjects were more responsive and empathic with positive, cooperative situations, whereas high BIS empathized with more negative, conflictual situations. The convergence of these multidimensional measures was discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, Largo Gemelli, 1, 20123 Milan, Italy. michela.balconi@unicatt.it
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Balconi
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bortolotti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D004645:Empathy / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011603:Psychophysiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult