martin hoffman empathy theory examples

martin hoffman empathy theory examplesisabel refugee conflict

Martin Hoffman's empathy theory is germane to this debate since it gives an essentially emotionoriented account of moral development in general, as well as an explanation of the gradual bonding . Little or no support was found, however, for a direct correlation between warmth per se and child prosocial behavior, suggesting that Hoffman is correct to view nurturance as a mediated or interactional more than main-effect variable in moral socialization. The changes in mean empathy ranged across the 11 studies from a 0.1-point increase in empathy to a 0.5-point decrease, with an average of a 0.2-point decline for the 11 studies (ratings were on 5 . In particular, we shift from a concern with how we grow beyond superficial moral judgment to a concern with how we grow beyond superficial moral feeling, and from cognitive sources of moral motivation such as justice or reciprocity to affective sources such as benevolence or empathy. 3132). Ability to use the language of mental states is normally acquired early in childhood, without special training. Hoffman (2000) suggested that this emotionally steady concept of self entails an appreciation of ones ownand the othersinner experience. Self-aware agents, sense their body as containing, and being guided by, an inner mental self, an I, which thinks, feels, plans, remembers [and understand] that one is somebody separated from others not just physically but also in terms of inner experience; and that ones external image is an aspect of ones inner experience. Hoffmans attention to egoistic motives and empathic processes in moral socialization accounts for the major caveats he invokes as he uses cognitive-developmental themes. The imagination entailed in perspective-taking can be either self-focused (imagining how one would feel in the others situation) or other-focused (imagining how the other person feels or how most people would feel in that situation). Of particular theoretical interest is Hoffmans construal of this moral internalization as a constructive process: Children build up or construct an internalized norm of considering others (p. 144, emphases added). Hoffmans theory is especially impressive in its discussion not only of empathys relation to moral development but also of empathys cognitive complications and limitations as well as its key role in moral socialization. The main concept is empathy - one feels what is appropriate for another person's situation, not one's own. The key claim of Hoffmans moral socialization theory is that empathy mediates the relation between parents use of inductive discipline and childrens prosocial behavior. Like mimicry, conditioning can induce quick and involuntary empathic responses. Damon, 1988) of the parents prosocial cause. Baboons may suddenly increase their vigilance if one among them is injured or incapacitated. This means an attitude of empathy is a must-have. Hoffman, 2008, 2011). The intensity level of empathic distress, in other words, can be post-optimal: if emotions run too high, the perspective-taking may be lost in the process (de Waal, 2009, p. 100). When the newborn cries in reaction to hearing anothers cry, that reactive cry is more than a weak imitation or simple reaction to a noxious stimulus. As he or she becomes less egocentric or more aware of the others psychological experience as distinct from that of the self, the young child begins to experience socially accurate or veridical empathy.

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