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4 OCTOBER 2010
NO 1636
Empathy
Empathy is the foundation of moral development and prosocial behavior.1 The original word began in the German language as Einfuhlung which is literally translated as feeling into. Empathy taps the ability of mirror neurons to display in our own brain the emotions, thoughts, and motives of another.2 Empathy allows us to share another’s joy and pain and motivates care and concern. Psychologists are newcomers to studying virtue which has long been the domain of philosophers and poets.3 Walt Whitman painted the power of empathy in these words: ”l do not ask whether my wounded brother suffers. I will myself be this wounded brother.’ Researchers have only recently recognized this most central human drive insures our well-being and survival. Empathy gives life a sense of purpose beyond self absorption. It is the foundation of prosocial values and behavior.4
Be fair and care
Humans have moral minds, say researchers in anthropology,
psychology, and neuroscience. First, Nature builds a universal
sense of right or wrong in the human genome. Then, Nurture develops
— or warps — this natural capacity for virtue.5
Be fair and care for others are the brain’s primary moral scripts. Carol Gilligan6 calls these principles justice and caring. Justice demands fairness that all have equal access to liberties. Caring calls for sharing to help those in need.7 At the core of both of these principles is empathy. Humans innately are disposed to treat others the way they want to be treated. This, of course, is the Golden Rule, which is universal across all the world’s cultures:
Buddhism: Hurt not others in ways that you
yourself would find hurtful.
Christianity: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Islam: No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother
that which he desires for himself.
Judaism: What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow men.
Taoism: Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain and your
neighbor’s loss as your own loss.
Social rules and moral values have very different functions. Rules are used for group coordination and order. Moral values deal with meatier issues. Rules may serve to create social stability but only deep moral values enable us to live in communities of respect.
While care and be fair are the core messages of our moral mind, they operate under the radar of consciousness.Yet children acquire this moral grammar before age four and, by school age, they have an inner voice of moral standards. Unless something has gone wrong, they reject aggression and are deeply committed to cooperation and kindness. Unfortunately, research shows that this early morality erodes in the cultures of depersonalized schools and negative peer groups.8
LARRY K. BRENDTRO, MARTIN L. MITCHELL AND HERMAN J. MCCALL
Brendtro, L.K.; Mitchell, M.L. and McCall, H.J. (2009). Deep Brain Learning: Pathways to Potential with Challenging Youth. Albion, Michigan. Circle of Courage Institute and Starr Commonwealth. pp. 91-92.
NOTES
Gibbs, J. (2009). Moral development in reality: Beyond the theories of Kohlberg and Hoffman. (2nd ed.). Boston. Allyn and Bacon.
Sympathy is often used as a synonym for empathy but it usually suggests a somewhat more detached rational concern for the other person's welfare, not direct sharing of feeling (Damon, W.1987. The lifelong transformation of moral goals through social influence. In P.B. Baltes and U.M. Staudinger. 1996. Interactive minds. Cambridge, UK. Cambridge University Press. pp. 198-220.)
Haidt, J. (2003). Elevation and the positive psychology of morality. In C.L. Keyes and J. Haidt (Eds.). Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived. Washington D.C. American Psychological Association. pp. 275-289.
Tangey, J.P. (2001). Constructive and destructive aspects of shame and guilt. In A.C. Bohan and D.J. Stipek (Eds.) Constructive and destructive behavior: Implications for family, school and society. Washington D.C. American Psychological Association. pp. 127-145.
Hauser, M. (2006). Moral minds: How nature designed our universal sense of right and wrong. New York. Harper Collins.
Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice. Psychological theory and women's development. Cambridge, UK. Cambridge University Press.
Rawls, J. (2002). Justice as fairness. Cambridge, MA. Belknap, Harvard University Press.
Tancredi, L. (2005). Hardwired behavior: What neuroscience reveals about reality. New York. Cambridge University Press.
Brendtro, L.K.; Ness, A. and Mitchell, M. (2005). No disposable kids. Bloomington, IN. Solution Tree.
