Strategic Regulation of Empathy

A multicomponent view of empathy allows a finer-grained examination of how individual components (including experience sharing, perspective-taking, and empathic concern) predict critical outcomes. However, components are often coactivated in the real world. Social neuroscience has made significant progress toward the goal of characterizing instances when components do (or do not) track together. It is essential to understand how components co-occur or separate in everyday social experiences to advance inquiry surrounding targeted regulation of empathy. Such research will provide insight into when and for whom specific interventions are likely to promote desired outcomes. The field of empathy would benefit from thorough characterization of the structural and temporal relationships among these components to better understand how they work together (or in isolation) to drive key outcomes. Empathy is an integral part of socioemotional well-being, but recent research has highlighted some of its downsides. Here we examine literature that establishes when, how much, and what aspects of empathy promote specific outcomes. After reviewing a theoretical framework that characterizes empathy as a suite of separable components, we examine evidence showing how dissociations of these components affect important socioemotional outcomes and describe emerging evidence suggesting that these components can be independently and deliberately regulated. Finally, we advocate for an approach to a multicomponent view of empathy that accounts for the interrelations among components. This perspective advances scientific conceptualization of empathy and offers suggestions for tailoring empathy to help people realize their social, emotional, and occupational goals. Empathy is an integral part of socioemotional well-being, but recent research has highlighted some of its downsides. Here we examine literature that establishes when, how much, and what aspects of empathy promote specific outcomes. After reviewing a theoretical framework that characterizes empathy as a suite of separable components, we examine evidence showing how dissociations of these components affect important socioemotional outcomes and describe emerging evidence suggesting that these components can be independently and deliberately regulated. Finally, we advocate for an approach to a multicomponent view of empathy that accounts for the interrelations among components. This perspective advances scientific conceptualization of empathy and offers suggestions for tailoring empathy to help people realize their social, emotional, and occupational goals.