Self-report, personality and autonomic system modulation in response to empathic conflictual versus non conflictual situation

Abstract

The present study integrated three different measures of emotional empathic behaviour in a social context: verbal self-report measures (empathic response, emotional involvement, emotional significance, and valence), autonomic response (skin conductance, SCR, and heart rate, HR), and personal response to empathic scale (BEES). Thirty-five younger adults were presented with different interpersonal scene types (co-operation, non-co-operation, conflict, neutral). Different empathic sensitivity to these interpersonal situations was tested, since we hypothesised self-report on empathy, emotional involvement and valence varied as a function of interpersonal context. As supposed, self-report measures of empathy and autonomic measures were found to be related: SCR and HR increased in response to conflictual and non-co-operative situations. Moreover, high empathic subjects were more responsive (on both self-report and autonomic response) to empathy-related situations than low empathic subjects. The convergence of these multidimensional measures are discussed: emotional components of empathy are elucidated in relation to self-report, autonomic modulation, and personality trait variation.