Baron-Cohen (2012) argues that the defining feature of human evil is âzero degrees of empathy.â However, some psychopaths can read other people extremely well and would thus score highly on certain items of the empathy questionnaires Baron-Cohen describes in his book. Furthermore, as Baron-Cohen acknowledges, people on the autism spectrum tend to have less empathyâat least certain forms of itâbut they are not more malevolent than the population average. Therefore, reducing malevolence to âzero degrees of empathyâ could be problematic or at least crucially depends on how we define and operationalize empathy.
Wikipedia notes that âEmpathy is generally divided into two major componentsâ:
âAffective empathy, also called emotional empathy:[28] the capacity to respond with an appropriate emotion to anotherâs mental states.[27] Our ability to empathize emotionally is based on emotional contagion:[28] being affected by anotherâs emotional or arousal state.â
âCognitive empathy: the capacity to understand anotherâs perspective or mental state.â
And that article further notes:
Although science has not yet agreed upon a precise definition of these constructs, there is consensus about this distinction.[36][37] Affective and cognitive empathy are also independent from one another; someone who strongly empathizes emotionally is not necessarily good in understanding anotherâs perspective.
And I remember being told during my psych undergrad that âpsychopathsâ have low levels of affective empathy but roughly average levels of cognitive empathy, while people on the autism spectrum have low levels of cognitive empathy but roughly average levels of affective empathy. (I havenât fact-checked this, though, or at least not for years.)
In the context of this postâs arguments, Iâd guess itâs low affective empathy that is especially concerning, and perhaps especially when paired with high cognitive empathy.
(I assume you already know this stuff, but thought it might be useful for other readers.)
Thank you! I agree that the distinction between affective and cognitive empathy is relevant, and that low affective empathy (especially combined with high cognitive empathy) seems particularly concerning. I should have mentioned this, at least in the footnote you quote.
And I remember being told during my psych undergrad that âpsychopathsâ have low levels of affective empathy but roughly average levels of cognitive empathy, while people on the autism spectrum have low levels of cognitive empathy but roughly average levels of affective empathy. (I havenât fact-checked this, though, or at least not for years.)
That sounds right. According to my cursory reading of the literature, psychopathy and all other Dark Tetrad traits are characterized by low affective empathy. While all Dark Tetrad traits except for narcissism also seem to correlate with low cognitive empathy, the correlation with diminished affective empathy seems substantially more pronounced (Pajevicc et al., 2017, Table 1; Wai & Tiliopoulos, 2012, Table 1).[1] As you write, people on the autism spectrum basically show the opposite pattern (normal affective empathy, lower cognitive empathy (Rogers et al., 2006; Rueda et al., 2015).
We focused on the Dark Tetrad traits because they overall seem to better capture the personality characteristics we find most worrisome. Low affective empathy seems a bit too broad of a category as there are several other psychiatric disorders which donât seem to pose any substantial dangers to others but which apparently involve lower affective empathy: schizophrenia (Bonfils et al., 2016), schizotypal personality disorder (Henry et al., 2007, Table 2), and ADHD (Groen et al., 2018, Table 2).[2]
Of course, the simplicity of a unidimensional construct has its advantages. My tentative conclusion is that the D-factor (Moshagen et al., 2018) captures the most dangerous personalities a bit better than low affective empathyâthough this probably depends on the precise operationalizations of these constructs. In any case, more research on (diminished) affective empathy seems definitely valuable as well.
Though Jonason and Krause (2013) found that narcissism actually correlates with lower cognitive empathy and showed no correlation with affective empathy.
Reading your comment, I realised one statement of mine may have been unclear. I wrote:
In the context of this postâs arguments, Iâd guess itâs low affective empathy that is especially concerning, and perhaps especially when paired with high cognitive empathy
By that I just meant that, in terms of those two components of empathy, that might be the most concerning pattern. I didnât meant to imply that thatâs the key thing we should be concerned about in relation to personality traits more broadlyâthe idea that Dark Tetrad traits are a better focus seems reasonable to me (though I donât bring much independent knowledge to the table on that point).
Great post, thanks for writing it!
Wikipedia notes that âEmpathy is generally divided into two major componentsâ:
âAffective empathy, also called emotional empathy:[28] the capacity to respond with an appropriate emotion to anotherâs mental states.[27] Our ability to empathize emotionally is based on emotional contagion:[28] being affected by anotherâs emotional or arousal state.â
âCognitive empathy: the capacity to understand anotherâs perspective or mental state.â
And that article further notes:
And I remember being told during my psych undergrad that âpsychopathsâ have low levels of affective empathy but roughly average levels of cognitive empathy, while people on the autism spectrum have low levels of cognitive empathy but roughly average levels of affective empathy. (I havenât fact-checked this, though, or at least not for years.)
In the context of this postâs arguments, Iâd guess itâs low affective empathy that is especially concerning, and perhaps especially when paired with high cognitive empathy.
(I assume you already know this stuff, but thought it might be useful for other readers.)
Thank you! I agree that the distinction between affective and cognitive empathy is relevant, and that low affective empathy (especially combined with high cognitive empathy) seems particularly concerning. I should have mentioned this, at least in the footnote you quote.
That sounds right. According to my cursory reading of the literature, psychopathy and all other Dark Tetrad traits are characterized by low affective empathy. While all Dark Tetrad traits except for narcissism also seem to correlate with low cognitive empathy, the correlation with diminished affective empathy seems substantially more pronounced (Pajevicc et al., 2017, Table 1; Wai & Tiliopoulos, 2012, Table 1).[1] As you write, people on the autism spectrum basically show the opposite pattern (normal affective empathy, lower cognitive empathy (Rogers et al., 2006; Rueda et al., 2015).
We focused on the Dark Tetrad traits because they overall seem to better capture the personality characteristics we find most worrisome. Low affective empathy seems a bit too broad of a category as there are several other psychiatric disorders which donât seem to pose any substantial dangers to others but which apparently involve lower affective empathy: schizophrenia (Bonfils et al., 2016), schizotypal personality disorder (Henry et al., 2007, Table 2), and ADHD (Groen et al., 2018, Table 2).[2]
Of course, the simplicity of a unidimensional construct has its advantages. My tentative conclusion is that the D-factor (Moshagen et al., 2018) captures the most dangerous personalities a bit better than low affective empathyâthough this probably depends on the precise operationalizations of these constructs. In any case, more research on (diminished) affective empathy seems definitely valuable as well.
Though Jonason and Krause (2013) found that narcissism actually correlates with lower cognitive empathy and showed no correlation with affective empathy.
This list is not necessarily exhaustive.
Interesting!
Reading your comment, I realised one statement of mine may have been unclear. I wrote:
By that I just meant that, in terms of those two components of empathy, that might be the most concerning pattern. I didnât meant to imply that thatâs the key thing we should be concerned about in relation to personality traits more broadlyâthe idea that Dark Tetrad traits are a better focus seems reasonable to me (though I donât bring much independent knowledge to the table on that point).