week 4

Question 1

empathy dimensions (the sharing)

Answer 1

(= empathic concern) and
understanding (= perspective taking) of
another’s emotional state (Eisenberg & Strayer,
1987)

Question 2

what is high empathy?

Answer 2

individuals more receptive to
others’ needs and feelings and less likely to
behave aggressively (Eisenberg, Spinrad & Sadovsky,
2006)

Question 3

what is low empathy?

Answer 3

Take that you **. Even in
the dressing room afterwards, I had no
remorse…” (Roy Keane, biography)

Question 4

Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1980, 1983)

Answer 4

Definition: Empathy is defined as one’s response to another person’s experiences.
Scale: 28 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale from “doesn’t describe me” to “describes me very well.”
Subscales (7 items each):
Perspective Taking: Spontaneous adoption of others’ psychological viewpoints.
Empathic Concern: Assessing sympathetic feelings and concern for others.
Personal Distress: Measures self-oriented anxiety in tense social situations.
Fantasy: Evaluates tendencies to imaginatively immerse oneself in fictitious characters’ emotions and actions from media like books, movies, and plays.

Question 5

empathy in sport context

Answer 5

1. Kavussanu & Boardley (2009)
   empathy negatively associated with
   opponent (r = -.35) and teammate(r = -.33)
   antisocial behaviour playing a team sport
2. Kavussanu, Stamp, Slade & Ring (2009)
   empathy accounted for sex differences in
   observed antisocial behaviours in 464
   footballers

Question 6

Kavussanu et al (2009): footballers

Answer 6

sex —> N(2) = .22** –> emphthy –> antisocial behavior n(2) = .23**

Question 7

Social Cognitive Theory of Moral
Thought & Action Bandura (1991)

Answer 7

emotion (guilt) helps regulate moral behaviour
… can empathy enhance guilt?

Question 8

is empathy multidimensional

Answer 8

yes

Question 9

how is empathy measured by

Answer 9

Davis’s
Interpersonal Reactivity Index