Can Empathy Be Taught & Measured?

A big part of my purpose in life is my work with neurodiverse learners. The subject of empathy sparks curiosity in me. Particularly, what does empathy mean? Is empathy innate? Can it be taught in a way that becomes a natural response? How is empathy measured? I am going to dive into these questions.

What does empathy mean?

When I think of empathy, the first thing that comes to mind is the phrase, “put yourself in someone else’s shoes.” When I hear this phrase I interpret it to mean understanding how someone else feels, thinks, learns, and their experiences, life circumstances, privilege, economic status, health, and support network. Emotion researchers define empathy as the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. Greater Good. 2021. Empathy Definition. You can imagine for some learners, “sensing” other people’s emotions and imagining how someone else might be thinking could be too abstract. On the contrary, some learners are highly capable of sensing their environment and nuances that occur in the energy of people around them. A follow-up thought is if learners can feel empathy, is it possible we may not always know because of an inability to effectively communicate empathy? In my opinion, it is presumptuous to say, many neurodiverse learners cannot feel empathy. A more accurate interpretation would be that some learners have a difficult time knowing what to do with the empathy they feel. This in turn can manifest into challenging behaviors like tantrums, aggression, or the lack of motivation to verbally communicate.

Is empathy innate? Can it be taught in a way that becomes a natural response?

In the past it was believed that empathy was innate. The consensus today is that there is an inherit capacity at birth for empathy, and it is a learned behavior. Early emotion scientists gravitated towards a theory of universality: emotions are innate, biologically driven reactions to certain challenges and opportunities, sculpted by evolution to help humans survive. When culture or habitat was controlled for, people who faced fear had similar reactions and parents who looked at their offspring reported feelings of love. This was similar in non-human primates. Greater Good. 2021. Are Emotions Born Or Made? If empathy is a combination of nature and nurture, then can it be taught? Can it be taught in a way that becomes a natural response? I can teach a learner that when you see a peer, be sure to greet them because this shows that you are interested in connecting with them. The learner can greet each time, but is this truly a natural response? When the learner sees a peer and greets them, is it something done because it was learned that it helps make friends? If greetings are not an inherit response, and it is assumed that the peer reciprocated, and it was positively reinforced, does it make it more likely for the response to turn into a natural behavior? Could be. Whether secondary reinforcement is natural or not, it can create a visceral experience, which feels good. Something either feels good or does not feel good. While feelings are not easily measured, they can be observed. How? Does the response elicit a smile the first time it occurred? Do you observe an increase in motivation? Is there an increase in prosocial behaviors such as joining peers, sitting next to a peer, or attempts at conversation? This can indicate that a concept that was not easily expressed, but was taught, can trigger a similar, natural response when given the next opportunity.

How is empathy measured?

The scientific community may wonder, how is empathy measured? Empathy encompasses multiple behaviors. First you would need to define empathy in a way that is measurable. For instance, empathy is defined as: every time the learner engages in perspective taking, asks questions, shares personal experiences, and provides comfort. While this definition is very broad, you can break it down into smaller components. Take perspective taking as one component. If I have a series of questions on notecards and ask a question like, “A child gets lost in a supermarket and cannot find his/her parents. How do you think this child feels and is thinking?” If the learner responds correctly, and I understand correctly can also be subjective, however, let us say that the answer on the card was vetted and researched, then that would be measured as one correct response. Similarly, you can measure each time a learner provides comfort to a peer who is crying, needs help, or hurt themself.

Conclusion:

While empathy is something that we can all agree is not always second nature, the subject of judgment and biases come to mind. A few reasons why empathy can be blocked is because humans are also taught to judge what is different than what they know. The circles you grew up in and the biases you learned can make it tough to give someone the benefit of the doubt or to understand the pain and discomfort someone may be feeling. We may be concerned about personal gains and comfort, and someone who is different from us can evoke discomfort or confusion. While it is easier to wear your own shoes, can we challenge ourselves to try on another pair of shoes? XOXO