Fluctuations and individual differences in empathy interact with stress to predict mental health, parenting, and relationship outcomes

Frontiers in Psychology

Psychology

Alal Eran¹  Florina Uzefovsky²  Ido Shalev² 

[1] Computational Health Informatics Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States;Department of Psychology, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel;

关键词: empathy;    stress;    depressive symptoms;    romantic satisfaction;    parenting;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1237278

 received in 2023-06-09, accepted in 2023-10-05,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionEmpathy is a complex, multifaceted ability allowing for the most basic forms of social communication and plays a prominent role in multiple aspects of everyday lives. In this intensive longitudinal study, we assessed how empathy interacts with stress to predict central domains of psychosocial functioning: mental health, romantic relationships, and parenting.MethodsFluctuations and individual differences in empathy were assessed across eight time points, where participants from the general population (N = 566) self-reported their empathy, stress, depressive symptoms, romantic satisfaction, and parental functioning.ResultsBoth trait and state aspects of empathy were associated with all psychosocial outcomes, with state empathy showing a stronger effect. Additionally, empathy components interacted with stress—emotional empathy better-predicted outcomes under high stress, while cognitive empathy under low stress.DiscussionOur findings advance the theoretical understanding of empathy, emphasizing the effects of state-dependent empathy fluctuations on our everyday mental and social lives.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Shalev, Eran and Uzefovsky.