Department of Speech Pathology, Central Queensland University.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Indiana University School of Medicine.
Neuropsychology. 2018 Jul;32(5):554-563. doi: 10.1037/neu0000462.
To examine sex differences in self-ratings for affective and cognitive empathy for males and females with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and compare these to observer ratings.
Self and observer (e.g., spouse) ratings of affective and cognitive empathy were obtained for 160 participants (116 males) with severe TBI, using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index Empathic Concern (EC) and Perspective Taking (PT) subscales, respectively.
When compared to sex norms, female self-ratings were significantly lower for both subscales, whereas men's self-report ratings were only lower for PT. For EC, more women (44%) were found to be substantially below the normative means (≥2 SDs) than men (17%), p < .001. When comparing women and men with TBI, self-report and observer ratings indicated both sexes had similar empathy levels (both subscales). Self versus observer ratings showed that women's self-ratings were significantly higher than observer's ratings on PT (p < .001); men's self-ratings were significantly higher than observer's ratings on PT (p < .001) and EC (p = .009).
In contrast to the typically observed superior female empathy, this study suggests this advantage may disappear after a TBI, and possibly result in a disadvantage compared to their uninjured female peers. Theoretical implications of self-awareness and cultural gender expectations for empathy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record
检查创伤性脑损伤（TBI）患者的男性和女性的情感和认知同理心的自我评估中的性别差异，并将其与观察者评估进行比较。
使用人际反应指数同理心关注（EC）和观点采择（PT）子量表，分别为 160 名（116 名男性）严重 TBI 患者获得了自我和观察者（例如，配偶）的情感和认知同理心评估。
与性别规范相比，女性的自我评估在两个子量表上均明显较低，而男性的自我报告评分仅在 PT 上较低。对于 EC，发现更多的女性（44％）比男性（17％）明显低于正常均值（≥2 SD），p <.001。在比较 TBI 后的女性和男性时，自我报告和观察者评估表明，两种性别都具有相似的同理心水平（两个子量表）。自我评估与观察者评估相比，女性的自我评估在 PT 上明显高于观察者的评估（p <.001）；男性的自我评估在 PT（p <.001）和 EC（p =.009）上均明显高于观察者的评估。
与通常观察到的女性同理心优势相反，这项研究表明，这种优势可能会在 TBI 后消失，并可能导致与未受伤的女性同龄人相比处于劣势。讨论了自我意识和文化性别期望对同理心的理论意义。
