Tamara Ambrona

Empathy, awareness of others, and action: How feeling empathy for one-among-others motivates helping the others

Feeling empathy for a member of the group may result in either favoring this individual at the expense of the group or helping the entire group. We explain these intriguing findings by proposing that the combined influence of feeling empathy for one individual and awareness of others enhances willingness to help both the individual and the others (taken as individuals). The results of three experiments showed that inducing empathy for one individual promotes favoring him or her at the expense of the group, whereas inducing empathy for one-among-others leads to helping these others individually, instead of as a group. Furthermore, the awareness of others mediated the proposed one-among-others effect.

Testing the qualitative differences between empathy and personal distress: Measuring core affect and self-orientation

Abstract In two studies the emotional valence, the level of arousal and self-orientation of empathic concern and personal distress are tested. The empathic concern prevalence versus personal distress prevalence is induced through pictures in Study 1 (N = 62) and perspective-taking instructions in Study 2 (N = 60). Results of Study 1 show that participants in the personal distress-prevalence condition report significantly more negative emotional valence (d = .65), higher arousal (d = .48), and higher self-orientation (d = .57) than participants in the empathic concern-prevalence condition. Results of Study 2 show that participants in the self-oriented condition report the highest arousal, followed by participants in the other-oriented condition, and the objective condition (ηp2 = .58). Concerning the increase of self-orientation, results show that it is mediated by the personal distress induced by self-perspective instructions. Similar results in emotional valence were found between self- and other-oriented conditions.

Can empathic concern be generalized from one person to others? Another positive side of the ‘one-among-others’ effect

Previous research on the one-among-others effect has shown that inducing empathic concern towards a victim presented among other individuals in need enhances: (1) awareness of these others and (2) the willingness to help them individually. In this work, we test that these outcomes are linked by an additional process: the generalization of empathic concern felt for the victim towards the others in need. Study 1 revealed that inducing empathic concern for a victim presented as one-among-others led to see the others as separate and different individuals, not as a unitary group. Study 2 showed that the one-among-others presentation (vs. only-one-victim) increased empathic concern towards those presented along with the main victim. Study 3 showed that the one-among-others presentation (vs. a single-victim or a statistical presentation) increased the empathic concern felt for other individuals in need. Therefore, the one-among-others presentation does not weaken empathic concern but, instead, it leads to its generalization from one to others.

Influence of the type of patient in the emotional response of nurses and nursing students

Nurses are playing a vital role in caring for patients. However, this can be very emotionally taxing. In two studies, professional nurses and nursing students from two different countries (Spain and United States) were compared on different measures-objective and self-perspective-taking, personal distress, and emotional impact-when facing different types of patients who suffered from the same illness: One terminally ill and one non-terminal. Results showed that the type of patient (terminal vs. non-terminal) only affected significantly the nursing students, who reported a higher self-perspective taking, personal distress, and emotional impact when the patient was terminal. Nursing students, compared to professional ones, seem to be more vulnerable to the type of patient they care for as they exhibited higher levels of negative emotional experience when the patient described was terminal. The significant implications are discussed.