LWL University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, Division of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry and Psychiatric Preventive Medicine, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany; International Graduate School of Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2013 Sep;37(8):1537-48. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.05.001. Epub 2013 May 13.
Empathy allows individuals to share the affective states of others, predict others' actions, and stimulate prosocial behavior. Whilst the proximate mechanisms of empathy, modulated in part by neuropeptides such as oxytocin, control the ways we interact with our social environment, the ultimate causes seem to have arisen along with the mechanisms involved in mammalian parental care. The conceptual boundaries of empathy, however, have been blurred by definitional inaccuracies of mechanisms that can be regarded as phylogenetic precursors or physiological prerequisites for empathy, including mimicry and emotion contagion. Contextual factors such as early experiences with primary care-givers (attachment), current mood states and other environmental contingencies are capable of modulating empathy. Moreover, evidence suggests that there is also a "dark side" of empathy, namely envy and schadenfreude (gloating) that are elicited by social comparison, competition and ingroup-outgroup distinction. This review aims at clarifying some of the open definitional questions related to empathy, and emphasizing the need for considering contextual factors in the study of empathy in both normal and abnormal psychology.
同理心使个体能够分享他人的情感状态，预测他人的行为，并激发亲社会行为。虽然同理心的近因机制部分受到催产素等神经肽的调节，控制着我们与社会环境互动的方式，但最终原因似乎是与哺乳动物父母照顾相关的机制一起出现的。然而，同理心的概念边界已经被一些机制的定义不准确所模糊，这些机制可以被视为同理心的系统发生前体或生理前提，包括模仿和情绪传染。语境因素，如与主要照顾者（依恋）的早期经历、当前的情绪状态和其他环境偶然性，都能够调节同理心。此外，有证据表明同理心也有“阴暗面”，即社会比较、竞争和内群体-外群体区分所引发的嫉妒和幸灾乐祸（幸灾乐祸）。本综述旨在澄清一些与同理心相关的开放性定义问题，并强调在正常和异常心理学中研究同理心时需要考虑语境因素。
