This theory is based on the idea that understanding an object is the key to true appreciation of it, as . Empathy allows us to understand and share the feelings of others. In contrast, Hoffman consistently respects the hot in morality: the naturally hot desires of the ego (or the id in Freudian theory); the countervailing, naturally hot basic arousal modes of the empathic predisposition; and the role of empathy and evoked images in rendering hot various aspects of cognition (we have encountered, for example, self-recognition, cognitive development, scripts or heuristics, attributions, inferences, moral principles, internalized moral norms, and inductions). Roger Brown (1965) once wondered whether the Mona Lisa owes its popularity at least partly to its recognition value among museum tourists. Having empathy increases the likelihood of helping others and showing compassion. An intrusion into the hives of ants, bees, or termites will trigger genetically programmed suicidal attacks against the intruder by certain members of that insect group. In our usage of prosocial behavior, we imply further that the acts are altruistic; that is, motivated by a justice- and/or welfare-based concerns for others despite personal costs. Such affective responsiveness is present at an early age, is involuntary, and relies on somato-sensorimotor resonance (Decety & Michalska, 2012, p. 171). 78 sixth and seventh graders (138-172 months in age), their mothers, and teachers completed multiple measures of Hoffman's constructs. A certain minimum of cooperative and prosocial or altruistic behavior is essential for the survival of human societies. Mark Mathabane (2002), a Black South African, remembered learning to hate white people as he grew up during the years of apartheid and oppression of Black people. No one has the time or energy, and trying to spread our empathy that thinly would be an invitation to emotional burnout and compassion fatigue (p. 591). We will need the resources of both Hoffmans and Kohlbergs theories (and to some extent Haidts theory) as we now turn our attention more fully to social behavior and its motivation. Blaming the victim illustrates one transformation of empathic distress into a specific empathy-based sentiment. One patients lack of moral enactment was evident despite his mature level of moral judgment, as measured by Kohlberg et al.s Moral Judgment Interview (Colby et al., 1987). I remember saying to myself: She feels my mothers pain. (p. A21). Although other-focused perspective-taking is more readily sustained, self-focused perspective-taking tends to be more intense, probably because it activates ones own personal need system (Hoffman, 2000, p. 56). Hoffman, 2000). . Growing beyond the superficial, then, applies not only to moral judgment (Chapter 3) but also to the development of empathy. Empathic bias is the second limitation of empathy. A victim-blaming attribution also supports the belief in moral reciprocity (studied in social psychology as the motivated just world hypothesis or need to believe that the world is just; Lerner, 1980; see Hafer & Begue, 2005). Hoffman (2000, 2008) argued that the newborns innate reactive cry response is triggered by mimicry, conditioning, or both. Well, yesbut thanks mainly to the primacy of empathy; otherwise, why should perspective-taking serve prosocial rather than egoistic [e.g., manipulative] ends? (Hoffman, 2000, p. 131). Although early roots and sociocultural factors should be studied, cognitive development plays a major role in the substantial increase in acts of comforting and helping during the second year of life (Davidson et al., 2003, p. 3). The development of scripts (or, more broadly, schemas) into morally hot cognitions is discussed further in the context of moral internalization. As de Waal (2009) put it: The full capacity seems put together like a Russian doll. An inference of injustice (or activated moral principles, discussed later) can even increase the intensity of empathic emotions. Although toddlers upon seeing others in distress continue to experience ego-oriented discomfort, they also come to experience compassion or sympathetic distress.
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