Search

This article discusses two papers by Steven Stern and Daniel Goldin that delve into the concepts of selfobject experience and empathy in psychoanalysis. The author highlights the need to explicitly articulate implicit theoretical concepts and acknowledges the influence of subjectivity and sociocultural positioning on understanding these concepts. Stern's paper explores the idea of a complex selfobject experience and introduces the notions of fittedness and specificity of connection. The author relates Stern's ideas to their own work on twinship experiences. The article also addresses the dangers of dehumanizing others through objectification and reductionism, both in clinical practice and in broader societal contexts. The concept of empathy and its role in therapy are also discussed. The author examines the ideas presented in two other papers, one by Stern and one by Goldin, and reflects on how these ideas relate to the issue of difference. The author suggests that empathy involves recognizing both similarities and differences between individuals, and that therapy can only be effective when these aspects are acknowledged and embraced. The author also advocates for a more self-aware and less ethnocentric approach to therapy in order to better address issues of difference. [Extracted from the article]

First-episode psychosis (FEP) refers to the first time someone experiences an episode of psychosis, which can be frightening and confusing, leading people to make their first contact with early intervention services. Early intervention is widely accepted as beneficial for long-term recovery and symptom management. A universal feature of intervention is a relationship with mental health practitioners. Therapeutic relationships experienced as positive are also associated with better outcomes across mental health settings. However, little is known about what is helpful within therapeutic relationships for people with FEP The current review aimed to develop a rich understanding of beneficial features of therapeutic relationships for people with FEP to enhance service delivery. Databases searched were: APA PsycInfo, MEDLINE Complete, CINAHL. A systematic search yielded 178 papers, of which 16 met the inclusion criteria. Publications reviewed were from Singapore, Western Finnish Lapland, England, Canada, the United States of America, Denmark, and Australia. The papers were published across 12 journals; 81% were qualitative, 12% were quantitative, and one was a mixed methods study. It is recommended that creating a safe space to talk, taking a non-judgemental approach, and developing trust between practitioner and client should be prioritised for people with FEP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a multimodal discourse method for analysing empathy-related actions in the interactive narratives of serious games. It first reviews recent theories of socially impactful designs in serious games, particularly the debates about whether serious games should focus on actions of tackling social issues or on the player's emotional engagement. This paper then sets out a multimodal discourse method of event action patterns, which bridges the analyses of actions and empathy-related perspective-taking. The multimodal discourse method that we propose in this paper establishes a fine-grained semantic web, systematically tracking the three core narrative design aspects: types of event actions, character developments and the player's participatory roles. Through analysing the empathy game That Dragon, Cancer, this paper uncovers how interactive narratives have the potential to both achieving empathetic impacts and highlighting a system of actions related to the serious issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most recent conceptualizations of empathy recognize affective empathy as distinct from cognitive empathy. Consequently, instruments that assess these 2 types of empathy have been developed. Among them, the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE) is a particularly promising, relatively new, self-report measure consisting of 31 items. To examine the cross-cultural adaptability of the QCAE, we investigated the psychometric properties of an Italian version in 2 samples and with 2 different formats of administration. Study 1 (n = 407) used archival data collected via paper and pencil; Study 2 (n = 285) used newly collected data, obtained with an online format. In these studies, in addition to the QCAE, 6 other instruments measuring empathy-related constructs (i.e., interpersonal competence, well-being, personality traits, emotion regulation, alexithymia, and emotion recognition) were administered, too. Data analysis focused on factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent validity. The findings of both studies provide support for the cross-cultural applicability of the QCAE, and reveal interesting associations between empathy and the other constructs under examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A familiar debate in the philosophy of sport concerns the question of whether fans should seek to be partisans (those who support particular teams or individuals) or whether they should instead adopt the impartial attitude of the purist. More recently, Kyle Fruh et al. have argued in defense of fair-weather fandom, which they understand as a form of fandom that involves adopting temporary allegiances in response to non-sporting considerations. This paper will add a new form of fandom to this discussion: the foul-weather fan. While fair-weather fans adopt temporary allegiances or strengthen existing allegiances for teams when things are going well, foul-weather fans do so when things are going badly. We will argue that foul-weather fandom can be both instrumentally valuable, as it helps to protect valuable sporting institutions, and non-instrumentally valuable, as these fans display concern, empathy, or support for sporting individuals or teams that are going through tough times. We finish by discussing how a specific form of foul-weather fandom may be associated with a distinctive moral danger in putting people in positions where they may become complicit in a club's immorality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gianni Nebbiosi’s paper speaks to therapeutic action in a new key in the challenges of finding communion with a hard-to-reach patient. He achieves this through the creative interweaving of the nonsymbolic, his mime and music, and the symbolic, which attains greater purchase through painful personal reckoning in concert with his increasing awareness of previously unformulated states within and between each member of this particular analytic dyad. Central to this paper is the move from an empathic stance to greater complexity for each of the dyad. Distinguishing between empathy and recognition is germane. Particularly as we witness the transformation through therapeutic action of empathic presence to recognizing presence that permits the emergence of a more complex empathy—an achieved empathy that incorporatesfeeling and knowingthe multiple, more deeply held, and often paradoxical aspects of our patients and indeed of ourselves as these play out in intersubjective space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human capacity to sense and respond to the suffering of non-human animals is key to animal care and welfare. Intuitively these modes of relating seem best suited to interactions between humans and warm-blooded mammals who share human-like facial features and characteristics. Animal geographers and those working in animal welfare have noted the challenges that humans face in learning to care about fishes, and how this leads to welfare guidelines and regulations which are poorly suited to aquatic species. This paper draws on interviews with laboratory aquarists and biomedical researchers to explore how they have learnt to sense and respond to the needs of fishes in the laboratory. We offer two key observations. Firstly, despite significant bodily differences, humans find ways to empathise with fishes. Secondly, whilst observations of bodies and behaviours predominate in laboratory mammal welfare assessments, when working with fishes water quality serves as an important proxy for species health. We conclude that the laboratory aquarium signifies methodological and conceptual limits in contemporary animal geographies. We further argue that these barriers should be understood as cultural, and – as we demonstrate – that there is consequently scope and capacity to reach beyond them by engaging in amphibious ethics and speculative immersions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I offer a dimensional approach to empathy, which I propose has an immediate perception-like aspect and an extended narrative aspect. In psychoanalysis, we go back and forth between these two forms of empathy. Our elaboration of the other's situation in the world ends up as a new holistic perception of their state. In this way, narratives end up in the body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a response to Amanda Kottler's discussion of my paper "Empathy on a Continuum." I define my favored version of psychoanalysis as an experience about experience, in which the situations in the patient's lifeworld are as important as the here-and-now situation between them in the telling. This version requires that the analyst engage the two forms of empathy described in my main article. But it also requires that analyst and patient meet each other in a virtual space of imaginative storying. I go on to to propose that this imaginative, experience-oriented psychoanalysis offers a more intuitive way to interact with patients around racial and cultural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ofsted Subject report series: Religious Education (2024) and the CoRE report (2018) critically evaluate the shortcomings of the current Religious Education (RE) curriculum in UK schools, highlighting a lack of depth and consistency that inadequately prepares students for a diverse and complex world. This paper proposes the integration of ethnographic and anthropological methods into the RE curriculum as a transformative solution to enhance pedagogical effectiveness and deepen students’ understanding of religious practices. By employing these methods, the curriculum can offer a more immersive, reflective, and comprehensive educational experience, aligning RE more closely with the realities of a multicultural and multi-faith society. This integration not only enriches students’ learning but also fosters greater empathy and a nuanced appreciation of religious diversity, addressing the educational challenges highlighted by Ofsted and CoRE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One central aim of disability studies is to shift understandings of disability, such that disability comes to be understood as about the social disadvantage/oppression that people face when society does not cater to impairment of body/mind. Nevertheless, there remains a need for more practical tools for disability advocacy, through which to transmit disability studies' ideas of disability to the general community. Drawing on a qualitative study of the perspectives of 23 people with physical and sensory impairments, this paper proposes virtual reality as an advocacy tool to communicate the principles and beliefs of disability studies. The findings highlight that, due to the nature of the technology, participants feel virtual reality has clear potential as a disability advocacy tool that can facilitate empathy, perspective-taking and positive social change, with a particular focus on how it is the environmental barriers and social attitudes around people that disables them. More practical advocacy or informal education tools are needed that align with the principles of disability studies. This research conducted in-depth interviews with 23 people with physical and sensory impairments. The research finds that virtual reality has clear potential as a disability advocacy tool. The participants reported that virtual reality can facilitate empathy, perspective-taking and positive social change. The research finds that virtual reality focuses on how environmental barriers and social attitudes around people with disability disable them, rather than focusing on impairment experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to better understand and account for potential difficulties in empathising with each other in online spaces. I argue that two important differences between online and in-person communication are both to do with what information comes across in equivalent interactions. Firstly, there are ways in which less information comes across in online interactions (both consciously and unconsciously). Secondly, agents have greater control over what information comes across in online interactions. I argue that these differences can cause problems in terms of whether online spaces are as fruitful ground for empathising with each other. This is because the information that gets left out is often what's important for building up a fuller and more vivid picture of what the other person's experiences are like, such as identity-markers or vulnerabilities. But despite this, I end on an optimistic note, because we will become more practiced at reading between the lines, as well as adapting and using media more creatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper raises puzzles concerning our grasp of others' aesthetic selves. I first articulate a conception of an aesthetic self, understood as an autonomously adopted orientation to objects of aesthetic value, encompassing the embrace of aesthetic reasons and the qualitative appreciative states that follow. This articulation is motivated by the commonplace observation that people's aesthetic identities are important to them. Given this importance, we might think it salutary to grasp other people's aesthetic selves, under the general auspices of 'interpersonal understanding'. Given the conception of aesthetic selves, we might think that empathy is an appropriate way to do so. But, second, I argue that you can't find out about another's aesthetic self via empathy. We might instead think that aesthetic conversation is the way to grasp aesthetic selves. However, third, I argue that the aim of finding out about others' aesthetic selves is at odds with the ostensible aims of aesthetic conversation, which are to do with effacing individuality and creating commonality. So aesthetic selves seem hard to grasp. I finally briefly canvass some ways of solving this problem, without settling on a firm answer, and consider how the thoughts might extend to practical identities more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathic perspective taking involves a phenomenally rich reaction to another's mental state, in an attempt to understand the other by feeling with them. But can we take just any perspective, even if the person we aim to understand seems fundamentally different from us? In this paper, we will explore the possibility of empathically understanding others that are different from us with respect to one aspect of their mental life: their sensibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When we learn about a severe moral transgression that has been committed, we are often not only horrified but also puzzled. We are inclined to raise questions such as 'Why did they do this?' or exclaim: 'I cannot understand why anyone would do such a thing!'. This suggests that there is something difficult to understand about severe moral wrongs. In this paper, I offer an explanation of the phenomenon that severe moral transgressions are often difficult to understand. I begin by arguing that the relevant sense in which we try but often fail to understand morally bad action is that we try but fail to empathize with the agent at the time of the action. Then, I introduce a distinction between two broad kinds of morally bad action. Finally, I show that each of these kinds of morally bad action gives rise to obstacles to empathizing with the agent at the time of the action. Based on this explanation, I consider whether we should try to overcome this limitation to our understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces a special issue of Philosophical Explorations that explores the role of empathy in cases where interpersonal understanding is difficult to achieve. The papers in this issue examine various boundaries to interpersonal understanding, such as differences in moral outlook, emotional sensibility, experiential difference, and contexts and means of communication. The authors provide nuanced assessments of empathy's potential to promote understanding in these challenging cases, as well as the pitfalls associated with relying on empathy. The contributions in this special issue offer valuable insights into the complexities and limitations of empathy, informed by recent philosophical research on the topic. [Extracted from the article]

Numerous studies have emphasized the importance of psychoanalysis in Critical Theory. It is often asserted that authors within this tradition, seeking to understand the contradictory elements of capitalism, have approached psychoanalysis primarily from a theoretical perspective. This article highlights a significant exception to this prevailing trend: a profound and still relevant debate on transference, more precisely, the management of love, empathy, compassion, and coldness in clinical practice. Indeed, Theodor Adorno and Erich Fromm were the actors of this discussion, and, as a result, they stand among the pioneers in analyzing psychoanalytic clinical practice and its social function. In 1935, Fromm published an article in which Freud is depicted as a revolutionary figure for introducing the concept of the unconscious. This revolution is, nevertheless, constrained by bourgeois values, which inevitably shaped the goals and societal role of the psychoanalytic technique. Adorno, however, defended Freud and attempted to comprehend the critical function of the analyst's coldness. This paper concludes by underscoring the enduring relevance of this discussion within Adorno's work while also pointing to the fact that the issue of empathy remains a topic of continual debate within the realms of critical theory and the broader field of psychoanalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores initial results from phase one of a research project examining early childhood practitioners' (ECP) perceptions of empathy within their practice. Empathy is widely understood as the ability to understand others' feelings, to see things through other people's eyes, imagining what it would be like to be that person in that situation. It is widely accepted that anyone working with young children should have excellent empathy skills. However, although there is an abundance of published research on the role of empathy within nursing and social work, and limited research in the education profession, there is scarcely any research of empathy within ECP practice. This paper presents initial findings from Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) research with a sample of nine ECPs working in the UK, research which is derived from ongoing PhD study. Participants were asked to keep reflective diaries of their empathic interactions, and these were followed up with semi-structured interviews to further investigate responses. The study has revealed a range of definitions of empathy and found evidence of high levels of empathy and emotion within the practice. A second phase of research aims to examine types of empathy and the effect of emotional labour on practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning with Kohut's classic 1959 paper on the subject, empathy has been conceptualized as a process of finding something in one's self (introspection) that has resonance with one's experience of the other. This paper, inspired by advances in queer studies, philosophy, psychoanalysis, and the Black American theater, identifies the limitations of this understanding. By putting Kohut's ideas about empathy in dialogue with French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard, Black American playwrights Jeremy O. Harris, Michael R. Jackson, and James Ijames, and the author's own clinical experience, a queered empathy is theorized that relies less on self-reference and more on passibility. The theoretical and clinical implications of this shift are explored, and the possibilities for a queered Psychology of the Self that contain a heightened possibility for responsiveness to marginalized experience are suggested. The hope of this paper is that the reader, from a multidisciplinary perspective, will be inspired to imagine a psychoanalysis and Self Psychology for all that has the potential to flourish for generations to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many people think of empathy as a powerful force for good within society and as a crucial component of moral cognition. Recently, prominent theorists in psychology and philosophy have challenged this viewpoint and mounted a case against empathy. The most compelling versions of this case rely heavily on empirical evidence from psychology and neuroscience. They contend that the inherent partiality and parochialism of empathy undermines its potential to serve moral ends. This paper argues that the argument against empathy overreaches; it makes an unwarranted inference from descriptive evidence about our empathic capacities to normative claims about the proper role of empathy in culture, society, and ethics. The paper concludes with suggestions about how to use insights from the empirical literature to build a more nuanced and contextually sensitive account of the role of empathy in our ethical lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes qualitative methods-making informed by Black Studies and ethnomethodology. Specifically, I explore resonances and tensions between ethnomethodology and Katherine McKittrick’s theorization of black methodologies to describe an analytic approach to studying how language use and other embodied actions (re)produce humanizing and dehumanizing psychosocial dynamics. Blending insights from these perspectives, I argue for a radical respecification of black life in terms of the real-world practices for and constraints on doing being hybridly human and its associated genres of humanness. To demonstrate my approach, I offer an illustrative sequential-categorial analysis of a black story told in an affinity group for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Overall, I build a case for analytically divesting from biocentrism to surface the creative and unexpected ways people navigate and attempt to counter racial harm. Such an analytic view provides ways to source ideas about humanizing ways of living, interacting, and worldmaking together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual revictimization can have a negative impact on many facets of women's wellbeing, yet limited evidence exists regarding specific interventions that support healing and the reduction of further revictimization. This paper will explore regional and rural women's experience of a group-based empowerment program, the Shark Cage program, in Victoria, Australia. The "Shark Cage" program aims to address revictimization by empowering women and girls to build personal boundaries and assertiveness within the context of gender equality and human rights. Data were collected via participant observations across the 8-week program, in combination with semi-structured interviews with participants (N = 11) pre and post intervention. All participants had access to therapeutic support outside of the program. Findings indicate that the program fostered connections among women with shared experiences of sexual revictimization, reducing feelings of isolation. Participants detailed the benefit of developing and practicing skills in reducing revictimization, such as assertiveness and boundary setting. Program learning and recovery was embedded within a network of embodied emotions, social connections, cultural norms and place-based relations that influenced how participants recovery could be understood, processed and addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a sound policy framework, the right of learners with disabilities in South Africa to inclusive and equitable quality education is not being met. A key reason hindering the realisation of this right is that there are very few teacher education programs focused on supporting learners with disabilities. Acknowledging the urgency of teacher education, in this paper we draw on qualitative data from 109 teacher participants and 39 course facilitators of a series of disability inclusion-focused teacher education short courses in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Based on their experience of the courses, we consider how teachers can be empowered to meet the diverse needs of their learners within an inclusive framework. Findings highlight that professional and personal growth facilitated a more empathic understanding of learners and the opportunity to collaborate with others, enabling teachers to find creative ways of solving problems faced in their workplaces. To support teachers in meeting the needs of their learners, teacher training should facilitate active reflection on the role they play in shaping the lives of their learners, and prepare teachers to respond to challenges strategically, taking advantage of the resources available to them within and beyond their school environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creating Compassion is an empathy-focused creative arts curriculum designed to provide short-term, low-cost, high-quality social–emotional learning (SEL) to communities and settings with limited resources. The present study sought to determine whether Creating Compassion was effective for increasing displays of prosocial behaviors and broad SEL skills for early elementary school students (n = 9) through a multiple baseline single-case design, as empathy has previously been posited as a core factor in global social–emotional skill development. Results from this study confirmed the hypothesis that Creating Compassion would increase observed prosocial behaviors with moderate effectiveness for children in first, second, and third grades, including those with identified social–emotional skill deficits. Participant scores on a pre/post assessment of global SEL competence also increased after intervention. Ultimately, findings from this study suggest the Creating Compassion intervention might be used by school psychologists and other group interventionists to expose their school communities to arts programming and engage them in a fun and creative approach to accessible early SEL intervention. Impact Statement This paper presents results from a combined arts and empathy training intervention, Creating Compassion. As an empathy-focused intervention, implementation of Creating Compassion led to increases in displays of prosocial behavior with moderate effectiveness. Increases in participants' levels of overall SEL skill competence were also observed. Results from this study support the provision of a high-quality, low-cost, arts-based SEL program to benefit Low-Income and Economically Marginalized (LIEM) communities within educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim in this paper is to argue that empathy is an intellectual virtue. Empathy enables agents to gain insight into other people's emotions and beliefs. The agent who possesses this trait is: (i) driven to engage in acts of empathy by her epistemic desires; (ii) takes pleasure in doing so; (iii) is competent at the activity characteristic of empathy; and, (iv) has good judgment as to when it is epistemically appropriate to engage in empathy. After establishing that empathy meets all the necessary conditions to be classified as an intellectual virtue, we proceed to discuss Battaly's argument according to which empathy is a skill rather than a virtue. We contend, contra Battaly, that the agent who possesses the virtue of empathy: (a) sometimes foregoes opportunities to engage in the activity characteristic of empathy because it is the virtuous thing to do, (b) does not make deliberate errors, and (c) her actions are always ultimately aiming at epistemic goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores cultural dynamics, integrative tensions, and collaborations between 3HO–Sikh Dharma and Punjabi Sikh communities in North America over the last fifty-years. Sikh Dharma's 1979 declaration as a 'Sovereign Khalsa Spiritual Nation' raises questions about Sikh spiritual and political sovereignty and its relationship to institutions of authority within transnational, diasporic, multicultural, and multigenerational contexts. This paper addresses communal experiences of trauma and contemporary human rights issues caused by abuses of power. It contemplates the role of the next generation in shaping Sikh futures, emphasizing productive possibilities of humility and shared sovereignties to bridge communal divides through affective empathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using historical thinking for analyzing the teaching and learning of secondary school history, this paper contributes to literature and debates on the pedagogical potential of museums in this endeavor. Despite the existence of museums and expansive literature on their historical significance in various world settings, there has not been much effort to connect history teaching and learning to this institution. Drawing our arguments from literature on historical thinking and museum studies, we explore the value of museums in the teaching and learning of secondary school history. We commend the inherent value in museums if their educational programs are packaged effectively for this purpose. Apart from connecting learners to cognitive activities as well as fostering an understanding and application of its disciplinary competencies, museums also engage with elements of historical thinking. Disciplinary competencies of history include critical thinking, extrapolation, evaluation of sources and detection of bias. Elements of historical thinking which makes museums stand out as potentially significant in secondary school pedagogy are empathy, historical significance, primary source evidence, cause and consequence and continuity and change. However, despite their esteemed pedagogical value, operationalizing teaching and learning of history using various museums facilities comes with several challenges which include high cost of organizing lessons, a strain on the school timetable, complexities associated with logistical and legal demands of out of school visits. Nonetheless, several innovations can be used to deal with such challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathy is a foundational construct in person-centered psychotherapies because it promotes clients' self-exploration and growth. However, as the construct of empathy drew attention from various disciplines, the definitions of empathy became ambiguous. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to articulate the conceptual understanding of empathy competence for the specific discipline of the counseling profession. I review the development of the conceptualization of empathy in the counseling literature and propose a theoretical framework, Process of Interpersonal Empathy (PIE), in the hope of providing a consistent definition to address counselors' empathy competence. The PIE illustrates counselors' empathy competence as a collection of multidimensional ingredients functioning in a process with active engagement by both the counselor and the client. The ingredients of the PIE include conceptualization, emotional awareness, and interpersonal empathy. Additionally, I discuss how each ingredient plays a role in counseling relationships. The formation of the PIE provides several implications for counseling researchers, counselor educators, and supervisors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We begin with the premise that empathy adds value as a strategic marketing skill. Getting into the heads and hearts of consumers enables tailored offerings and tactics that meet the unique, richly contextualized needs of a given target audience segment. The advent of marketing automation and artificial intelligence (AI) is predicted to make human-centered skills even more critical to develop, as AI's capabilities stop short of emotional connection and interpretation. As a result, we ask how empathy can be cultivated and applied, and if so, will empathy toward a given market segment result in attitude or behavior change? This paper details a three-stage project that gives students the opportunity to practice using empathy toward a specific market segment – transgender consumers. Students leverage empathy to ultimately develop concrete innovations across a broad range of marketing tactics. We also discuss the impact of the project on students. Results indicate that students completing the project embraced empathy as a strategic skill, and in the process, many also expressed intended support behaviors for the transgender community, although attitudes toward the transgender community did not change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moral injury is an emerging concept that captures the psychosocial consequences of involvement in and exposure to morally transgressive events. In the past decade, research on moral injury has grown exponentially. In this special collection we review papers on moral injury published in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology from its inception until December 2022, that have a primary focus on moral injury as evidenced by the words 'moral injury' in the title or abstract. We included 19 papers on quantitative (n = 9) and qualitative (n = 5) studies of different populations including (former) military personnel (n = 9), healthcare workers (n = 4) and refugees (n = 2). Most papers (n = 15) focused on the occurrence of potentially morally injurious experiences (PMIEs), moral injury and associated factors, while four papers primarily concerned treatment. Together, the papers offer a fascinating overview of aspects of moral injury in different populations. Research is clearly widening from military personnel to other populations such as healthcare workers and refugees. Focal points included the impact of PMIEs involving children, the association of PMIEs and personal childhood victimisation, the prevalence of betrayal trauma, and the relationship between moral injury and empathy. As for treatment, points of interest included new treatment initiatives as well as findings that PMIE exposure does not impede help-seeking behaviour and response to PTSD treatment. We further discuss the wide range of phenomena that fall under moral injury definitions, the limited diversity of the moral injury literature, and the clinical utility of the moral injury construct. From conceptualisation to clinical utility and treatment, the concept of moral injury matures. Whether or not moral injury becomes a formal diagnosis, the need to examine tailored interventions to alleviate moral injury is clear. Moral injury is increasingly studied outside military populations, such as in healthcare workers and refugees. Among the most impactful potentially morally injurious experiences (PMIEs) are those involving children, but betrayal trauma may be the most prevalent type of PMIE. There is a need for tailored, evidence-based interventions to alleviate moral injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reviews how empathy and its role are conceptualised in entrepreneurial and engineering literature. Our findings can then be used as a foundation for developing contextual and theoretical models of empathy for entrepreneurial engineering. These models will help create teaching practices and approaches to prepare empathic entrepreneurial engineers. The study deployed a systematic literature review of 40 papers from engineering and entrepreneurship fields, obtained from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The analysis involved three phases. First, a descriptive analysis of research on empathy in entrepreneurship and engineering was completed, followed by a content analysis focusing on definitions and the role of the empathy phenomenon and a co-citation analysis to identify commonly cited authors. The results of this literature review demonstrate different indicators that reflect the current state of empathy research and study trajectories of this phenomenon in the fields of engineering and entrepreneurship. These indicators include the number of papers related to empathy in engineering and entrepreneurship literature by year of publication, definitions of empathy and keywords used in analysed literature as well as list of authors and their area of interests within empathy research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Museum-based learning activities provide interactive and innovative ways to integrate the arts and humanities into medical education. Like other museum-based activities, the Group Poem supports the development of multiple clinically relevant skills and attributes, such as observation, communication, perspective-taking, empathy, and implicit bias awareness. In this paper, we present a step-by-step guide for educators seeking to design and implement a museum-based Group Poem activity for medical learners. The overall 'task' of the activity is for learners to collectively create a poem that they perform for others, a process that participants find to be engaging and meaningful to their formation as physicians. In this paper, we provide specific directions on pre-selecting the works of art, preparing the supplies, dividing into small groups, providing iterative instructions to learners, managing the timing of the session, and debriefing the activity. Although designed to be experienced in an art museum, we note that the Group Poem activity can also be conducted in the classroom or virtually using photographic or digital reproductions of artwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that self-authored depictions of illness, disability, trauma and bodily hurt by marginalised individuals have deep agentic potential, particularly when these experiences are retold within empathetic online spaces on their own terms and in their own words. This is seldom possible in mainstream institutional settings which are structured by hegemonic norms and where the marginalised are often spoken for. Through an analysis of selected writings in Skin Stories, an Indian collective feminist media publication that publishes gendered articulations of disability, illness and healing, this paper explores the potential of marginalised writings in reclaiming control over one's bodily narrative, sharing knowledge and forging spaces of empathy and connection. It analyses ways in which authors through "intimate vulnerable retellings" of everyday as well as traumatic bodily events/processes like ongoing illness, lifelong chronic pain and sudden disability reclaim and own narratives of bodily vulnerability. These retellings are analysed as interconnected, shared experiences that bear deep knowledge and challenge medicalised understandings. By acknowledging "bodies as knowledge" rather than "bodies as data" these retellings could potentially supplement and enrich medical approaches in managing and understanding chronic pain and illness specifically in India, thereby piecing together experience, knowledge(s) and expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from Edmund Husserl's last book Experience and Judgement, this paper explores the notions of "passivity" and "receptivity" in phenomenology and psychoanalysis. Both sciences agree that receptivity differs from passivity, but they have developed different conceptualizations about the very nature of the rudimentary "ego-activity" which is the source of receptivity. In phenomenological terms, "pre-predicative" experience roots in a primary presence and openness of the ego towards the world, whilst psychoanalysis has emphasized the role of projective and introjective processes which are close to bodily experiences and unconscious phantasy. The second part of the paper draws some conclusions concerning the analytic situation, in particular the shift among receptivity, empathy, curiosity and creative imagination as central features of the analytic attitude from a mainly Kleinian point of view. The paper argues that receptivity is a field where phenomenological and psychoanalytic approaches can mutually enrich and learn from each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There has been agrowing interest in using artistic interventions as a method of developinginterpersonal competence. This paper presents a meta-analysis evaluating the impact of theatre interventions on social competencies. Methods: Twenty-one primary studies totaling 4064 participants were included, presenting evidence available since 1983. Included studies were assessed in terms of quality, heterogeneity, and publication bias. Results: Our findings indicated that active theatre participation significantly improved participants' empathic abilities, social communication, tolerance, and social interactions, with the largest pooled effect size for social communication (0.698) and the smallest for tolerance (0.156). Our findings did not corroborate the impact of theatre on self-concept. Conclusions: This paper shows that theatre interventions have a positive impact on social competencies. The paper makes a methodological contribution by showing that randomized and non-randomized studies yielded comparably valid results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how documentary cinema in war contexts can challenge gender representations. To do so, we adopt a feminist and postcolonial approach to analyze the work of Catalan non-fiction filmmaker Alba Sotorra in Kurdistan, Afghanistan and Catalonia. In her films, Sotorra positions herself close to a series of subjects absorbed by wars and armed conflicts that (re)define their identities while acting beyond gender stereotypes. In particular, the paper analyzes the modes of production and representational strategies of two of Sotorra's latest feature films, Game Over and Commander Arian, documentaries with which the filmmaker aims at overcoming the visual exploitation of alterity. After an introduction to Sotorra, and a brief revision of the theory of postcolonial feminist cinema, our argument unfolds in four parts. Firstly, we reflect on cinematic representations of women and men at war; secondly, we introduce our methodology, based on in-depth interviews with the director to support our film analysis; thirdly, we contrast our hypotheses by means of close-readings of the films; lastly, we reflect on how the filmmaker aligns herself with intersectional feminism by using empathy and solidarity towards her subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Swedish Nobel prize winner Harry Martinsson is introduced in this paper, and his epic science fiction poem Aniara is presented. Mima, a miraculous accessor and transmitter of information from all over the universe, is juxtaposed to Sandor Ferenczi's concept of mimicry and Wittgenstein's views on aspect-seeing. It is proposed that the Mima can be seen as a metaphor for the infant mind, having creative mimetic faculties. The single most important realm of mimicry and auto-plastic adaptation is basic trust and empathy. Mimicry is thus suggested to be our deepest and most extensive way of knowing the other as well as ourself, although without cognitive structure. It is basic to Wittgenstein's ‘aspect-seeing’, that is immediately seeing another person's behaviour as expressive of a human mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the work of Kashmiri theatre-maker Arshad Mushtaq in the context of the political turmoil in Kashmir. It argues that Mushtaq's theatre practice challenges the India's attempt to assimilate Kashmir into its national cultural framework. Focusing on three of Mushtaq's plays rooted in collective memory, the paper examines how his work resists cultural appropriation and disrupts the notion of normalcy imposed by the state. It discusses how Mushtaq's work dislodges state-approved cultural conditions, using a unique blend of politics and aesthetics to create a powerful voice of protest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Introduction: Much research has developed around higher prevalence rates of mental illness in the LGBTQ+ community with little work done on resilience factors, further stigmatizing this population. The present study facilitated a scoping review that charts scientific articles that looked at empathy as a potential resilience factor. The scoping review highlighted areas of concordance and discordance within the literature, reviewed strengths and weaknesses, and provided areas for further investigation. Method: Online databases were used to identify papers published between 2010 and 2022, from which we selected three publications from the United States that conceptualized empathy as a resilience factor in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals that were 18 or older. PRISMA’s guidelines for systematic reviews were used to create the protocol for this paper. Results: All publications were cross sectional, used qualitative methods, and suggested that empathy was developed through identity integration that was facilitated by a supportive social environment. The articles in this review differed in conceptualizing resilience at various ecological levels. Conclusion: Much work remains in examining empathy as a resilience factor in LGB individuals. Future research must better define empathy and resilience as concepts in addition to potentially operationalizing empathy as an adaptive resilience factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Racially charged incidents between the police and Black civilians have sparked massive protests over racial disparities in policing. This has led many to stereotype police officers as racists, and officers themselves are aware of this. By integrating and extending prior theoretical models, this paper proposes a novel theoretical model of the various paths through which the activation of stereotype threat – officers' fear of confirming the 'racist police officer' stereotype – can influence when and why White police officers display negative interpersonal behavior during routine encounters with Black civilians. The model theorizes that the activation of stereotype threat, coupled with the contextual anxiety inherent in police encounters, heightens officers' anxiety and self-regulatory effort, leading to cognitive depletion and regulatory failure. This results in decreased empathy, ultimately ending with officers confirming the racist police officer stereotype. The paper reviews social psychological and criminal justice literature to support this theory and discusses the theoretical, practical, and research implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathy is a form of perception in which individuals access the perspectives of others about the world in order to build knowledge about it. It is also a source of self-knowledge because, as a con- sequence of learning how others see us, we can regulate and refine how we see ourselves. Empathy is, therefore, an important capacity through which social cohesion is created. The aim of this paper is to consider the role of professional empathy between teachers when they engage in collective professional development activities, recognising that fear of the critical gaze and the potential for shame can inhibit participation. In order to do this, phenomenological ideas in relation to the formation of social bonds and empathy are explored. Ideas of professional visibility as a form of vulnerability are also examined. This paper explores the importance of professional empathy then posits the need for it to promote effective collective teacher development. A framework for enabling a culture of professional empathy in support of teacher professional growth is offered that highlights the need for three simultaneous forms of engagement; the collective, the interpersonal and the individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how modes of play in psychoanalytic child treatment can create clinical momentum and resumption of psychological growth through a process of procedural enactment, empathic immersion, and ongoing repair of fragile relational bonds. The author portrays a process of treatment that allowed an engagement of previously dissociated affect states and served to build expanded capacities for both self-reflective thought and creative action. The author provides clinical material that portrays work with a schoolyard “bully” in a series of enactments that enabled her to empathically engage with the patient while also helping the patient to establish new empathic capacities—for both self and others. Together, the patient and the analyst constructed a cardboard toy boat, which came to serve both as a vivid depiction of the vicissitudes of the emergent analytic third, as well as a symbol of the forward edge of development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this commentary I support Layton's vision of psychotherapy as an unavoidably political practice. However, I caution against a belief in empathy as a primary means of motivating political activity. By sketching a brief history of the concept of empathy, I argue that it is a problematic concept that ultimately will not lead the profession to the type of progressive political practice Layton encourages it to undertake. Empathy preoccupies therapists and patients with inwardness, self-absorption, a modified but sometimes still present objectivism, and an apolitical vision trapped in the Cartesianism from which it originated. I suggest alternative terms to describe what therapists do when they believe they are acting empathically; offer philosophical, political, and socioeconomic reasons why therapists are reluctant to think in alternative terms; and make a link between those terms and a more effective, hermeneutic way of attending to the social realm. I conclude that empathy is not a natural, instinctive process that produces an automatic result and that what therapists mean by empathy is much more a culturally formed moral virtue than a technical skill; it is not a natural, instinctive process that produces an automatic result. Therapists, patients, and the society would be better served if we came to understand and appreciate the difference between virtues and skills, and confront the implications of that difference for both the politics of therapy and a therapeutic politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted to test the effects of adding emotion-focused interventions to the empathic relationship. The authors compared client-centered therapy, which provides an empathic relationship based on the relational attitudes of empathy, positive regard, and congruence, and emotion-focused therapy (EFT), which integrates process-guiding emotion-focused interventions that focus on depressogenic affective–cognitive problems with a client-centered supportive relationship. Thirty-eight patients meeting DSM–IV criteria for major depressive disorder were randomly assigned to 16 to 20 sessions of 1 of the 2 treatments. Clients’ level of depressive symptoms, general symptom distress, interpersonal distress, and self-esteem improved in each condition, but improvement on symptomatology was superior in the EFT condition. An empathic relationship appears to be enhanced by the addition of specific emotion-focused interventions.ZusammenfassungDie Effekte zusätzlicher emotions-fokussierter Interventionen auf die Bedingungen klientenzentrierter Beziehung bei der Behandlung von DepressionEs wurde eine Studie dazu durchgeführt, welche Effekte zusätzliche emotions-fokussierte Interventionen auf die empathische Beziehung haben. Die Autoren verglichen klientenzentrierte Therapie, die eine empathische Beziehung auf Grund von Beziehungseinstellungen von Empathie, positiver Zuwendung und persönlicher Kongruenz beinhaltet mit emotions-fokussierter Therapie (EFT), die prozessbegleitende emotions-fokussierte Interventionen umfasst, die auf depressionsgenetische Probleme affektiv-kognitiver Art mit einer klientenzentrierten unterstützenden Beziehung gerichtet sind. 38 Patienten, die nach den DSM-IV Kriterien an einer schweren Depressionsstörung litten, wurden dem Zufall nach 16 bis 20 Sitzungen in einer der Behandlungen zugewiesen. Das Niveau der depressiven Symptome, die allgemeine Belastung durch die Symptome, wie sowohl die interpersonale Belastung und der Selbstwert verbesserten sich in beiden Behandlungen, aber die Verbesserung der Symptomatologie war höher in der EFT Bedingung. Eine empathische Beziehung scheint durch zusätzliche spezifische emotions-fokussierte Interventionen verstärkt zu werden.RésuméLes effets de l'intégration d'interventions focalisées sur les émotions dans les conditions relationnelles centrées sur le patient dans le traitement de la dépressionNous avons conduit une étude pour tester les effets de l'intégration d'interventions focalisées sur les émotions dans la relation empathique. Les auteurs ont comparé la thérapie centrée sur le client qui crée une relation empathique sur la base des attitudes relationnelles de l'empathie, du regard positif et de la congruence, et la thérapie focalisée sur les émotions (EFT) qui intègre des interventions focalisées sur les émotions, guidant le processus, et qui focalisent sur des problèmes affectifs – cognitifs dépressiogènes par une relation de soutien, centrée sur le client. 38 patients suffisant aux critères DSM-IV pour la dépression majeure étaient attribués au hasard à 16-20 séances avec l'un des deux traitements. Le niveau de symptômes dépressifs, la détresse symptomatique générale, la souffrance interpersonnelle et l'estime de soi s'amélioraient dans les deux conditions, mais l'amélioration symptomatique était supérieure en condition EFT. Une relation empathique semble être favorisée par le rajout d'interventions spécifiques, focalisées sur les émotions.ResumenSe realizó un estudio para testear los efectos de agregar, a la relación empática, intervenciones focalizadas en la emoción. Los autores compararon la terapia centrada en el cliente, que provee una relación empática basada en las actitudes relacionales de la empatía, mirada positiva y congruencia, con la terapia focalizada en la emoción (EFT), que integra intervenciones focalizadas en la emoción que guía el proceso (process-guiding emotion-focused interventions) que se centran en problemas depresógenos afectivo-cognitivos en una relación de apoyo centrada en el cliente. Se asignaron al azar, para 16 a 20 sesiones de 1 de los 2 tratamientos, a treinta y ocho pacientes que reunían los criterios del DSM-IV para el desorden depresivo mayor. En cada condición, el nivel de síntomas depresivos, el distrés general de síntomas, el distrés interpersonal y la autoestima mejoraron, pero la mejoría fue superior en la condición EFT. La relación empática parece aumentar por la adición de intervenciones específicas focalizadas en la emoción.ResumoOs efeitos de adicionar intervenções focadas nas emoções às condições de relação centrada no cliente no tratamento da depressãoEste estudo foi conduzido para testar os efeitos de adicionar intervenções focadas nas emoções à relação empática. Os autores compararam a terapia centrada no cliente, que fornece uma relação empática baseada nas atitudes relacionais de empatia, aceitação positiva e congruência, e a terapia focada nas emoções (EFT), que integra intervenções focadas nas emoções e guiadas pelo processo, centradas nos problemas afectivo-cognitivo depressogénicos com uma relação de suporte centrada no cliente. Trinta e oito pacientes com critérios de diagnóstico do DSM-IV para perturbação depressiva major foram aleatoriamente distribuídos por um dos dois tratamentos, de duração de 16 a 20 semanas. O nível de sintomas depressivos do cliente, disfuncionamento sintomático geral, disfuncionamento interpessoal e auto-estima melhoraram em cada condição, mas a melhoria da sintomatologia foi superior na condição EFT. Uma relação empática parece ser melhorada pela adição de intervenções específicas focadas nas emoções.SommarioGli effetti degli interventi aggiuntivi focalizzati sulle emozioni nella relazione centrata sul cliente, nel trattamento della depressione.E’ stato condotto uno studio per valutare gli effetti degli interventi aggiuntivi focalizzati sulle emozioni nella relazione empatica.Gli autori hanno confrontato la terapia centrata sul cliente, che offre una relazione empatica basata sulle attitudini relazionali dell'empatia, sulla stima positiva e sulla coerenza, con la terapia focalizzata sulle emozioni (EFT), che integra i processi che guidano gli interventi focalizzati sulle emozioni, che si focalizzano sui problemi depressogeni affettivo-cognitivi, con una relazione supportiva centrata sul cliente.Trentotto pazienti con i criteri del DSM-IV del disturbo depressivo maggiore sono stati assegnati casualmente da 16 a 20 sedute di uno dei due trattamenti. I livelli dei clienti di sintomi depressivi, di sintomi generali di sofferenza, della sofferenza interpersonale e dell'autostima sono migliorati in ogni condizione, ma il miglioramento nella sintomatologia è stato superiore nella condizione EFT. Una relazione empatica sembra essere cresciuta attraverso l'aggiunta di interventi specifici focalizzati sulle emozioni.Abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to demonstrate empathy is identified as a key social work attribute by the professional regulator and other professional bodies as well as in government guidance and the relevant QAA Subject Benchmark Statement. Empathy is strongly linked to the ability to learn from experience and, as such, has relevance beyond social work to higher education in general. This paper will focus on how a phenomenological approach to theorising empathy might provide a framework for the development of the social work curriculum. I argue that representational accounts of interpersonal understanding offer a conception of empathy that is both limited and hubristic. From a representational perspective, empathy involves making informed guesses about the experiences of other people, often described using the overused metaphor of 'walking in their shoes' (Lathrop & Parish 1895). In contrast, an enactivist understanding of interpersonal relations, based on a phenomenological approach, provides a more hopeful and socially just basis for social work practice. It also has clear implications for teaching approaches and curriculum design in social work education including a focus on the student- teacher relationship, embodied practice, and more effective use of simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Game-based learning (GBL) is widely utilised in various domains and continues to receive interest and attention from researchers and practitioners alike. However, there is still a lack of empirical evidence concerning its effectiveness, making GBL evaluation a critical undertaking. This paper proposes an integrated approach for planning and executing GBL evaluation studies and presents its application by evaluating the effectiveness of a GBL approach to improve the Arabic reading skills of migrant refugee children in an informal learning setup. The study focuses on how children's age group, learning modality preference, and prior mobile experience affect their learning, usability, and gameplay performance. A quasi-experiment with a one-group pretest-posttest design was conducted with 30 children (5–10 years old) from migrant refugee backgrounds. The results show a statistically significant improvement in their reading assessment score. The results also outline a clear impact of children's age groups on their learning gain, usability score, and total levels played. Moreover, learning modality preference and prior mobile experience both had a statistically significant effect related to usability and gameplay performance parameters. However, no effect was found on learning gain. Based on the findings, some design recommendations are suggested for more inclusive design focusing on user characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Trust" can describe many different positive features of our social relationships with others. In this exploratory paper, we reflect on some of the ways in which people orient themselves toward others in the context of a psychological crisis, a time when trust may be threatened or eroded. We draw upon qualitative data extracts from two previously reported studies, in order to illustrate and develop some observations about the dynamics of relational trust during such periods of acute distress. We show how these dynamics arise out of particular contexts and have particular consequences for psychological health. We discuss how, in a relationship mediated by trust, it can sometimes be an act of care – toward self, or toward others – to filter and limit the extent of what one entrusts to another. We suggest that further consideration by philosophers can be very helpful to the mental health field here, if we are to understand the negotiation of interpersonal trust in the context of mental health crises. We note that it would be extremely helpful to understand more about how to create the kinds of environments which afford trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the most recent Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS2018) conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the percentage of Japanese teachers who taught critical thinking (CT) and professed self-efficacy in CT teaching was by far the lowest among participating economies (OECD, 2019). This research explores the emic or indigenous understanding of CT in Japanese education through in-depth qualitative interviews with 12 schoolteachers of diverse backgrounds. Japanese schoolteachers find the nuance of CT undesirable. Yet, a particular facet of CT, namely multidimensional-multiperspective thinking (MMT), is well-received since the national curriculum guidelines, which most participants find to be their teaching foundation, lay strong emphasis on MMT. Almost all participants agree that low socioeconomic-status (SES) schools have difficulty teaching CT/MMT. Furthermore, a hidden curriculum in Japanese schools, namely valuing empathy, also affects CT teaching. Being empathetic constitutes a core value in Japanese schooling, so participants find it impossible to practice CT without teaching empathy. The findings suggest that the curricular power, whether official or implicit, is forceful in Japan. Still, schoolteachers practise indigenous versions of CT teaching and manage to keep away from the power of the etic/global model of CT teaching. This paper concludes with practical implications for educators to reconcile the etic and emic understandings of CT teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a paper on the need for a checklist for artificial intelligence (AI) research in medical education. Topics covered include its importance in ensuring transparency, credibility, and repeatability in research, and the value of the paper's content to readers. Also noted are key points in the paper that would benefit from discussion and clarification.

Empathy in human-robot conversations aims to endow the robot with the ability to comprehend user emotion and experience, and then respond to it appropriately. Generally, empathy is embodied in the aspects of both contextual understanding and affective expression, which occur when there exist content and emotion consistencies between context and response. However, previous studies only focus on either aspect. In this paper, we propose a dual variational generative model (DVG) for empathetic response generation to achieve both. Specifically, we integrate an emotion classifier and a variational autoencoder (VAE) into a dual response and context generative model to learn the emotion and content consistencies efficiently. DVG utilizes VAE to mimic the process of context/response understanding. In addition to the generative model, our model can effectively switch to another retrieval system as a fallback solution. Automatic and human evaluations on Japanese and English EmpatheticDialogue datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our method for empathetic response generation. Furthermore, we evaluate our model's ability in general response generation, which is not specific to empathetic but also chitchatting dialogue system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]