PSYCH 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Michael Tomasello, Empathic Concern, Psych
Document Summary
Batson"s model of altruism is based on his view of the consequences of empathy: understanding or vicariously experiencing another individual"s perspective and feeling sympathy and compassion for that individual. Most researchers regard empathy as a complex phenomenon with both cognitive and emotional components. The major cognitive component of empathy is perspective taking: using the power of imagination to try to see the world through someone else"s eyes. A key emotional component of empathy is empathic concern, which involves other- oriented feelings, such as sympathy, compassion, and tenderness. In contrast to empathic concern is personal distress, which involves self-oriented reactions to a person in need, such as feeling alarmed, troubled, or upset. According to batson perspective taking is the first step toward altruism. If you perceive someone in need and imagine how that person feels, you are likely to experience other-oriented feelings of empathic concern, which in turn produce the altruistic motive to reduce the other person"s distress.
