Empathy

The empathic teacher and the empathic student are important topics for consideration by educational psychologists. Contemporary approaches to empathy conceive of empathy as a social interaction between any two individuals with one individual experiencing the feelings of a second individual. Although there is some degree of correspondence between the affect of the observer and the affect of the observed, the affects are not identical. The process of empathy is currently acknowledged to be contingent on both cognitive and affective factors, the particular influence varying with the age and other attributes of the individual and with the situational context. The model proposed by Norma Feshbach emphasizes the cognitive ability to discriminate affective states in others, the more mature cognitive ability to assume the perspective and role of another person, and the affective ability to experience emotions in an appropriate manner. Martin Hoffman's developmental model also has three components—cognitive, affective, and motivational—and focuses on empathic responsiveness to distress in others as the motivation for altruistic behavior.

Definitional concerns, methodological problems, and theoretical controversies have characterized this area of study. Nevertheless, the status of empathy as an important variable meriting consideration and empirical study has dramatically changed during the past 30 years. Its relevance to a number of disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, sociology, political science, education, medicine, and the arts, has no doubt contributed to the burgeoning interest and activity in the study of empathy.