Scientists from South Australia and Flinders University have studied the relationship between a person's age and his tendency to empathize. The research was published in the scientific journal Psychology and Aging (PAG). Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of other people. That characteristic is the basis of social interactions. Experts distinguish two types of empathy: cognitive and emotional. Cognitive empathy refers to the ability to make inferences about another person's feelings. And the emotional one fixes one's reactions to those feelings. The socio-emotional theory of selectivity confirms that older people give priority to emotional goals, which leads to the strengthening of emotional empathy. Contrary to this idea is the theory of dynamic integration, which suggests that cognitive impairment in later life can negatively affect emotional functioning.
Older people express more emotional empathy than younger people. PAG:
03.07 18:44 |
Category
Science and culture
