Restricted accessReview articleFirst published online 2017-12
Towards a More Precise Conceptualization of Empathy: An Integrative Review of Literature on Definitions,Associated Functions,and Developmental Trajectories 1
Empathy entails basic cognitive processes such as the recognition of facial expressions and basic emotional processes such as emotional contagion, but also higher-order cognitive processes such as abstract reasoning about the other person’s emotional states and higher-order emotional processes such as empathic concern. Thus, empathy must be conceptualized as a multidimensional and multifaceted construct. It can be differentiated from related constructs such as theory of mind, emotional contagion, compassion, emotional mimicry, or perspective-taking by its associated processes and functions. To understand the nature of empathy, it is important to combine phylogenetic, ontogenetic, neuroscientific, dynamic-interactionist, and sociological perspectives on this phenomenon.
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