title: Self-report, personality and autonomic system modulation in response to empathic conflictual versus non conflictual situation.
abstract: The present study integrated three different measures of emotional empathic behaviour in a social context: verbal self-report measures (empathic response, emotional involvement, emotional significance, and valence), autonomic response (skin conductance, SCR, and heart rate, HR), and personal response to empathic scale (BEES). Thirty-five younger adults were presented with different interpersonal scene types (co-operation, non-co-operation, conflict, neutral). Different empathic sensitivity to these interpersonal situations was tested, since we hypothesised self-report on empathy, emotional involvement and valence varied as a function of interpersonal context. As supposed, self-report measures of empathy and autonomic measures were found to be related: SCR and HR increased in response to conflictual and non-co-operative situations. Moreover, high empathic subjects were more responsive (on both self-report and autonomic response) to empathy-related situations than low empathic subjects. The convergence of these multidimensional measures are discussed: emotional components of empathy are elucidated in relation to self-report, autonomic modulation, and personality trait variation.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Catholic University of Milan , Milan , Italy.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Balconi
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bortolotti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D004645:Empathy / Q000502:physiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult