If I Cry, Do You Care? Individual Differences in Empathy Moderate the Facilitation of Caregiving Words After Exposure to Crying Faces
نویسندگان
چکیده
Crying is a powerful solicitation of caregiving, yet little is known about the cognitive processes underpinning caring responses to crying others. This study examined (1) whether crying (compared to sad and happy) faces differentially elicited semantic activation of caregiving, and (2) whether individual differences in cognitive and emotional empathy moderated this activation. Ninety participants completed a lexical decision task in which caregiving, neutral, and non-words were presented after subliminal exposure (24ms.) to crying, sad, and happy faces. Individuals low in cognitive empathy had slower reaction times to caregiving (vs. neutral) words after exposure to crying faces, but not after sad or happy faces. Results are discussed in relation to the role of empathy in response to crying others.
منابع مشابه
3 sensitive and harsh caregiving responses to infant crying : the role of cry pitch and perceived urgency in an adult twin sample
Objective: to examine the underlying mechanisms of adults’ intended caregiving responses to cry sounds in a behavioral genetic design and to investigate the role of cry pitch and perceived urgency in sensitive and harsh caregiving responses. Methods: the sample consisted of 184 adult twin pairs (18-69 years), including males and females, parents and nonparents. in an experimental design we pres...
متن کاملIntended sensitive and harsh caregiving responses to infant crying: the role of cry pitch and perceived urgency in an adult twin sample.
OBJECTIVE To examine the underlying mechanisms of adults' intended caregiving responses to cry sounds in a behavioral genetic design and to investigate the role of cry pitch and perceived urgency in sensitive and harsh caregiving responses. METHODS The sample consisted of 184 adult twin pairs (18-69 years), including males and females, parents and nonparents. In an experimental design we pres...
متن کاملThe Influence of Cognitive Load on Empathy and Intention in Response to Infant Crying
Many studies have explored risk factors for child maltreatment, but little research has focused on situational risk factors such as cognitive load, which involves within-individual fluctuation. The current study sought to determine whether cognitive load led to within-individual changes in intention in response to infant crying. The study also sought to ascertain whether state empathy, empathic...
متن کاملMusic training and empathy positively impact adults’ sensitivity to infant distress
Crying is the most powerful auditory signal of infant need. Adults' ability to perceive and respond to crying is important for infant survival and in the provision of care. This study investigated a number of listener variables that might impact on adults' perception of infant cry distress, namely parental status, musical training, and empathy. Sensitivity to infant distress was tested using a ...
متن کاملEmpathy and distress: two distinct but related emotions in response to infant crying.
This study examined a largely overlooked, yet potentially important, association between empathy and distress in cry responding. The cry stimulus included a 1-min-long video clip of a 4-week-old, crying, male infant. Participants reported their dispositional empathy and distress, perceived aversiveness of the cry stimulus, response emotions, and intention to intervene with the crying infant. Em...
متن کامل