Empathy and humanness

The success of every human interaction hinges on empathic processes. Empathy – broadly defined as the ability to share and infer other's affective experiences – enables us to understand other's thoughts and emotions and adapt and regulate our own thoughts, emotions and behaviors as a result. In the current line of research, we study human inferences as a process that lies at the basis of any empathic reaction. More specifically, we aim to show that attributing human qualities to non-human entities (i.e., anthropomorphism) is a necessary condition for empathy to occur, while processes of dehumanization will temper empathic reactions towards humans. The current research project uses both EEG and cognitive behavioral measures.

To know more about this line of research, contact jeroen.vaes@unitn.it or daniela.ruzzante@unitn.it

Some relevant publications:

Meconi, F., Vaes, J., & Sessa, P. (2015). On the neglected role of stereotypes in empathy towards other-race pain. Social Neuroscience, 10, 1-6.

Vaes, J., Meconi, F., Sessa, P., & Olechowski, M. (2016). Minimal humanity cues induce neural empathic reactions towards non-human entities. Neuropsychologia, 89, 132-140.