Abstract:
Being able to empathise with others is a crucial ability in everyday life. However, this does not usually entail feeling the pain of others in our own bodies. For individuals with mirror-sensory synaesthesia (MSS), however, this form of empathic embodiment is a common feature. Our study investigates the empathic ability of adults who experience MSS using a video-based empathy task. We found that MSS participants did not differ from controls on emotion identification and affective empathy; however, they showed higher affect sharing (degree to which their affect matches what they attribute to others) than controls. This finding indicates difficulties with self-other distinction, which our data shows results in fewer signs of prosocial behaviour. Our findings are in line with the self-other control theory of MSS and highlight how the use of appropriate empathy measures can contribute to our understanding of this important socio-affective ability, both in typical and atypical populations.
摘要:
能够同情他人是日常生活中至关重要的能力。然而,这通常不需要在我们自己的身体中感受到他人的痛苦。对于具有镜像感觉通感(MSS)的个体,然而,这种形式的共情体现是一个共同的特征。我们的研究调查了使用基于视频的移情任务经历MSS的成年人的移情能力。我们发现,MSS参与者在情绪识别和情感移情方面与对照没有差异;然而,他们表现出比控制更高的影响共享(他们的影响与他们归因于他人的程度)。这一发现表明了自我区分的困难,我们的数据显示,亲社会行为的迹象较少。我们的发现符合MSS的自我他人控制理论,并强调了使用适当的移情措施如何有助于我们对这种重要的社会情感能力的理解,在典型和非典型人群中。