On the interaction of social affect and cognition: empathy, compassion and theory of mind
Open accessAbstract
Empathy, compassion and Theory of Mind (ToM) are central topics in social psychology and neuroscience. While empathy enables the sharing of others’ emotions and may result in empathic distress, a maladaptive form of empathic resonance, or compassion, a feeling of warmth and concern for others, ToM provides cognitive understanding of someone else's thoughts or intentions. These socio-affective and socio-cognitive routes to understanding others are subserved by separable, independent brain networks. Nonetheless they are jointly required in many complex social situations. A process that is critical for both, empathy and ToM, is self-other distinction, which is implemented in different temporoparietal brain regions. Thus, adaptive social behavior is a result of dynamic interplay of socio-affective and socio-cognitive processes.
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TL;DR
This narrative review argues that empathy, compassion, and Theory of Mind (ToM) are separable socio-affective and socio-cognitive functions supported by distinct brain networks, yet they interact dynamically in complex social situations. Self-other distinction, implemented in temporoparietal regions, is proposed as a process critical to both empathy and ToM.
Key findings
- Empathy (sharing others' feelings) and ToM (inferring others' mental states) are separable on conceptual, behavioral, and neural levels: "strong empathizers are not necessarily proficient mentalizers," and each domain can be selectively impaired — ToM in autism, empathy propensity in psychopathy/chronic aggression.
- Empathy for pain recruits shared activations in anterior insula (AI) and anterior middle cingulate cortex (aMCC); compassion instead engages reward/affiliation networks (ventral striatum, nucleus accumbens, VTA, mOFC, sgACC); ToM engages ventral TPJ, STS, temporal poles, MPFC, and precuneus/PCC.
- The networks interact: when confronted with others' distress, AI activity inhibits TPJ activity, and this reduction in TPJ activity is related to impaired ToM performance.
- Self-other distinction relies on distinct temporoparietal regions — right TPJ for overcoming cognitive egocentricity and right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) for emotional egocentricity; TMS disruption of rSMG increases emotional egocentricity.
- Empathic distress is described as a maladaptive outcome of empathy, whereas compassion acts as an emotion-regulation strategy that buffers negative affect by up-regulating positive affect via reward- and affiliation-related circuitry.
Methods
- Design: narrative review of social psychology and neuroscience literature on empathy, compassion, and ToM, with no new empirical data reported.
- The review describes the EmpaToM task (Kanske et al.), a 2 (emotionality of video) × 2 (ToM requirements) design in which each actor presented emotional negative/neutral videos and videos with ToM or factual-reasoning demands, followed by valence, compassion, and confidence ratings.
- Cited supporting evidence includes a structural covariance analysis in 270 healthy adults and a charitable donation task linking AI activity to empathy-based giving and TPJ activity to perspective-taking-based giving.
Limitations
- The paper states no limitations; its only declaration is "Conflict: Nothing declared."
- Evident from the text: as a narrative review it reports no systematic search strategy or formal quality appraisal, and the empirical claims (e.g., AI–TPJ inhibition, rSMG causality) are drawn from cited primary studies rather than re-analyzed here.
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Claims the paper makes
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- Interpretationcitation
When activated together in complex social situations, the two networks may directly influence each other.
“When activated together in complex social situations, the two networks may also directly influence each other.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Premisecitation
AI and aMCC are a core network activated whenever we witness the suffering of others.
“Meta-analyses have later identified these regions as a core network that is activated whenever we witness the suffering of others [8,9].”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked - Premisecitation
When confronted with others' distress, the anterior insula inhibits activity in the temporoparietal junction, an important hub of the mentalizing network.
“Indeed, when confronted with others' distress, the AI, which is activated for negative affect sharing, inhibits activity in TPJ, an important hub of the mentalizing network [27 ].”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites [27] source
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- Interpretationreasoning
Self-other distinction is critical for both empathy and Theory of Mind.
“A process that is critical for both, empathy and ToM, is self-other distinction, which is implemented in different temporoparietal brain regions.”
- Also stated in: § Self-other distinction · plain
“The distinction of self and other constitutes an important element of both empathy and ToM, as it enables the differentiation between one's own emotional or mental states and the states shared with others.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked - Also stated in: § Self-other distinction · plain
- Premisecitation
In empathy for pain paradigms, common activations are observed in the typical empathy related core network.
“Common activations were observed in the typical empathy related core network.”
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- Premisecitation
This core empathy network is modulated by individual differences in experienced negative affect and empathy.
“Furthermore, this network is modulated by individual differences in experienced negative affect and empathy [6,10].”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked - Interpretationreasoning
Compassion generates positive affect towards others' suffering.
“Congruently with these activations in reward-associated and affiliation-associated networks, compassion generates positive affect towards others' suffering.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Premisecitation
A meta-analysis on different empathy for pain paradigms suggests that the core region of the Theory of Mind network is coactivated in empathy paradigms when additional inferring from a cue is required to understand the other's state.
“An indirect source of evidence for such co-activation is a meta-analysis on different empathy for pain paradigms, which suggests that the core region of the ToM network is coactivated in empathy paradigms when additional inferring from a cue is required to understand the other's state.[8].”
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- Premisecitation
Empathic distress, an alternative outcome of empathy, may be detrimental to the experiencer as well as to the suffering other.
“In contrast to compassion, empathic distress, which is an alternative outcome of empathy, may be detrimental to the experiencer as well as to the suffering other [15,18].”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked - Premisecitation
The two networks associated with empathy and Theory of Mind are jointly activated for complex evaluations of someone else's feelings such as empathic accuracy.
“The two networks associated with empathy and ToM are also jointly activated for complex evaluations of someone else's feelings such as empathic accuracy, the ability to infer what someone else is feeling [38].”
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- Premisecitation
Crucial brain regions involved in Theory of Mind include the ventral temporoparietal junction (TPJ), superior temporal sulcus (STS), temporal poles (TP), medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and precuneus/posterior cingulate (PCC).
“Crucial brain regions involved in ToM include the ventral temporoparietal junction (TPJ), superior temporal sulcus (STS), temporal poles (TP), medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and precuneus/posterior cingulate (PCC) [23].”
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- Interpretationreasoning
Adaptive social behavior is a result of dynamic interplay of socio-affective and socio-cognitive processes.
“Thus, adaptive social behavior is a result of dynamic interplay of socio-affective and socio-cognitive processes.”
- Also stated in: § Concluding remarks · boosted
“In synthesis, the evidence supports a detailed view of the social mind, not as a monolithic 'social intelligence', but as dynamic interplay between different functions and subserving neuronal networks that enable in different ways to engage in prosocial behavior.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Also stated in: § Concluding remarks · boosted
- Premisecitation
Selective impairments in empathy or Theory of Mind have been observed in different psychopathologies such as autism and psychopathy.
“In line with such independent functions, selective impairments in empathy or ToM have been observed in different psychopathologies such as autism and psychopathy.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked - Interpretationcitation
Dependent on the provided information in a given context, different networks will be co-activated together with the core empathy-related network.
“These findings suggest that, dependent on the provided information in a given context, different networks will be co-activated together with the core empathy-related network.”
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- Premisecitation
Pictorial presentation of someone in a painful situation co-activates the action-observation network to decode the potential affective consequences of a certain action.
“The pictorial presentation of someone in a painful situation, on the other hand, co-activates the action-observation network to decode the potential affective consequences of a certain action.”
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- Premisecitation
Self-other distinction is implemented in different temporoparietal brain regions.
“A process that is critical for both, empathy and ToM, is self-other distinction, which is implemented in different temporoparietal brain regions.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked - Premisecitation
Failure of self-other distinction results in a blending of these states, thereby inducing an egocentricity bias or an altercentric bias.
“Failure of selfother distinction results in a blending of these states, thereby inducing an egocentricity bias, the tendency to project one's own emotional or mental state on someone else [41,42], or an altercentric bias, the influence of others' states on judgments about oneself [43].”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked - Premisecitation
Directly experiencing pain and witnessing another person receiving painful stimuli results in shared neural activations in the anterior insula (AI) and anterior middle cingulate cortex (aMCC).
“The first studies in neuroscience targeting empathy investigated empathy in the domain of pain, showing that directly experiencing pain and witnessing another person receiving painful stimuli results in shared neural activations in the anterior insula (AI) and anterior middle cingulate cortex (aMCC) [6,7].”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked - Premisecitation
Empathy results from neural network activations that resemble those observed when the same emotion is experienced first-hand (shared network hypothesis).
“This socio-affective process results from neural network activations that resemble those activations observed when the same emotion is experienced first-hand (shared network hypothesis) [2][3][4][5].”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 3 sources checked - Premisecitation
This reduction in temporoparietal junction activity is related to impaired Theory of Mind performance.
“This reduction in TPJ activity is related to impaired ToM performance [27 ].”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites [27] source
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- Interpretationreasoning
The evidence supports a detailed view of the social mind, not as a monolithic 'social intelligence', but as dynamic interplay between different functions and subserving neuronal networks that enable in different ways to engage in prosocial behavior.
“In synthesis, the evidence supports a detailed view of the social mind, not as a monolithic 'social intelligence', but as dynamic interplay between different functions and subserving neuronal networks that enable in different ways to engage in prosocial behavior.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Premisecitation
Overcoming emotional egocentricity involves a slightly anterior temporoparietal region in the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG).
“Overcoming emotional egocentricity involves a slightly anterior temporoparietal region in the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG) [41].”
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- Premisecitation
A recent study using donation choices for charity organizations showed that an extensive cortical network is involved in forming prosocial decisions.
“For instance, using donation choices for charity organizations, a recent study [48 ] showed that an extensive cortical network is involved in forming such prosocial decisions.”
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- Premisecitation
Disruption of right supramarginal gyrus activity using transcranial magnetic stimulation leads to increased emotional egocentricity.
“Correspondingly, disruption of rSMG activity using transcranial magnetic stimulation leads to increased emotional egocentricity [41].”
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- Premisecitation
Short-term contemplative training in compassion increases helping, even when it is costly.
“Short-term contemplative training in compassion increases helping, even when it is costly [51].”
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- Premisecitation
The supramarginal gyrus is part of a different functional connectivity network with extensive connections to the anterior insula.
“Interestingly, the SMG (see Figure 2) is also part of a different functional connectivity network with extensive connections to the AI [47].”
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- Premisecitation
Impairments in empathy or Theory of Mind have been associated with antisocial behavior, for instance hyperaggression.
“In contrast, impairments in empathy or ToM have been associated with antisocial behavior, for instance to hyperaggression [18,37,50].”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 3 sources checked - Interpretationnone given
Empathy and Theory of Mind provide us with an understanding of our interaction partners' emotional and cognitive states, thereby forming the basis for flexible interactive behavior and social decision making.
“Empathy and ToM provide us with an understanding of our interaction partners' emotional and cognitive states, thereby forming the basis for flexible interactive behavior and social decision making.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Premisecitation
Reappraisal yielded activity in a fronto-parietal network associated with cognitive control and attention regulation.
“Reappraisal on the other hand yielded activity in a fronto-parietal network associated with cognitive control and attention regulation [54].”
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- Interpretationcitation
The activation of the supramarginal gyrus and temporoparietal junction in complex empathy and Theory of Mind paradigms corresponds with the crucial role of self-other distinction for both capacities.
“The activation of SMG and TPJ in complex empathy and ToM paradigms, respectively [25 ], corresponds with the crucial role of self-other distinction for both capacities.”
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- Premisecitation
The right temporoparietal junction is functionally connected to other parts of the Theory of Mind neural network, such as the medial and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex.
“It is also functionally connected to other parts of the ToM neural network, such as the medial and ventrolateral PFC and the PCC [45 ,46].”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked - Premisecitation
On a neural level, compassion was accompanied by activations in reward and positive emotion related networks.
“On a neural level, compassion was accompanied by activations in reward and positive emotion related networks [14 ].”
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- Interpretationreasoning
Compassion can be viewed as an emotion-regulation strategy that buffers negative affect through the active generation of positive affect relying on reward-related and affiliation-related brain circuitries.
“Compassion can thus be viewed as an emotionregulation strategy that buffers negative affect through the active generation of positive affect relying on rewardrelated and affiliation-related brain circuitries.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked - Premisecitation
Compassion reduces punishment behavior in long-term compassion meditation practitioners even when they were themselves the victim of fairness violations.
“In contrast to empathic distress, compassion reduces punishment behavior in long-term compassion meditation practitioners even when they were themselves the victim of fairness violations [52].”
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- Premisecitation
The right temporoparietal junction is critical to overcome cognitive egocentricity.
“On a neural level, the right TPJ seems to be critical to overcome cognitive egocentricity [45 ].”
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InterpretationreasoningEmpathy and Theory of Mind are jointly required and interact in many complex social situations.
“Nonetheless they are jointly required in many complex social situations.”
- Also stated in: § Concluding remarks · plain
“Despite the separability of socio-affective and socio-cognitive functions, these social capacities are jointly activated and interact in complex social situations.”
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- Also stated in: § Concluding remarks · plain
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PremisecitationThe EmpaToM task activates separable brain networks that can be replicated in resting state functional connectivity and on a brain structural level.
“The EmpaToM clearly activates separable brain networks that can be replicated in resting state functional connectivity [25 ] and on a brain structural level [26 ].”
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PremisecitationEmotional egocentricity occurs when one's own emotional state influences the judgment of someone else's affective state.
“Emotional egocentricity occurs when one's own emotional state influences the judgment of someone else's affective state [41].”
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PremisecitationIn autism, Theory of Mind is deficient, while no empathy deficits are observed when controlling for alexithymia.
“In autism, ToM is deficient [28][29][30][31], while no empathy deficits are observed when controlling for alexithymia [32][33][34][35].”
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InterpretationcitationEmpathy, compassion and Theory of Mind are separable on a conceptual, behavioral and neural level.
“These socio-affective and sociocognitive routes to understanding others are subserved by separable, independent brain networks.”
- Also stated in: § Concluding remarks · plain
“Sharing affective states with another person (empathy), feeling concern for another (compassion) and reasoning about another person's mental state (ToM) are separable on a conceptual, behavioral and neural level; strong empathizers are not necessarily proficient mentalizers and each domain may be selectively impaired in psychopathologies such as autism or psychopathy.”
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InterpretationcitationThe adaptive value of this inhibitory mechanism in salient, emotional situations may be to prepare for immediate action in the external world.
“The adaptive value of this inhibitory mechanism in salient, emotional situations may be to prepare for immediate action in the external world [39].”
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PremisecitationIn psychopathy or chronic aggression, Theory of Mind is intact, but the propensity to empathize with others is reduced.
“In psychopathy or chronic aggression, in contrast, ToM is intact, but the propensity to empathize with others is reduced [36,37].”
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PremisecitationCue-based paradigms require additional inference of the other's affective state from an abstract cue, and the Theory of Mind related network is co-active.
“As the cue-based paradigms require additional inference of the other's affective state from an abstract cue, the ToM related network is co-active [8].”
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PremisecitationCognitive egocentricity occurs when one's own knowledge about a situation influences the reasoning about what someone else thinks about the situation, but can also affect simple decisions about the visual perspective of another.
“Cognitive egocentricity occurs when the own knowledge about a situation influences the reasoning about what someone else thinks about the situation [42], but can also affect simple decisions about the visual perspective of another [44].”
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PremisecitationIndividual differences in empathy and Theory of Mind are unrelated on a behavioral and neural level; strong empathizers are not necessarily proficient mentalizers.
“Crucially, individual differences in empathy and ToM are unrelated on a behavioral and neural level, that is, strong empathizers are not necessarily proficient mentalizers [27 ].”
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InterpretationreasoningAn original adaptive empathic response to the suffering of others can lead to a maladaptive response, that is, empathic distress which can be reversed by learning how to turn empathy into compassion.
“Furthermore, an original adaptive empathic response to the suffering of others can lead to a maladaptive response, that is, empathic distress which can be reversed by learning how to turn empathy into compassion.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimMay combine two claims.
PremisecitationIn well-trained long-term meditators, cognitive reappraisal was most efficient in reducing negative affect, but compassion induction worked through up-regulation of positive affect and associated networks in the brain.
“The direct comparison of compassion to the most widely investigated emotion regulation strategy -reappraisal showed that in well-trained long-term meditators, cognitive reappraisal was most efficient in reducing negative affect, but compassion induction worked through up-regulation of positive affect and associated networks in the brain [14 ].”
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PremisecitationEmpathy and Theory of Mind measurements from an independent task were related to these functions' role in donation decisions, suggesting that stable individual propensities are involved in prosocial behavior.
“Remarkably, empathy and ToM measurements from an independent task, were also related to these functions' role in donation decisions, suggesting that stable individual propensities are involved in prosocial behavior.”
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PremisecitationEmpathic distress describes the intense sharing of other's emotions and may be detrimental, because it can result in own suffering as well as asocial or even antisocial effects, such as aggressive verbal behavior.
“While empathy may be related to prosociality, a particular outcome of empathy -empathic distress -describes the intense sharing of other's emotions and may be detrimental, because it can result in own suffering as well as in asocial or even antisocial effects, such as aggressive verbal behavior [18].”
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PremisecitationAnterior insula activity predicted generous donations when participants reported empathic feelings for the charity's goal before, while temporoparietal junction activity predicted donations when participants took the perspective of the organization's cause.
“Specifically, AI activity predicted generous donations when participants reported empathic feelings for the charity's goal before, while TPJ activity predicted donations, when participants took the perspective of the organization's cause [48 ].”
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InterpretationcitationThe critical property of compassion may be that it counteracts negative emotion elicited by experiencing others' suffering through positive emotion generation, thereby acting as an emotion regulation strategy.
“The critical property of compassion may be that it counteracts negative emotion elicited by experiencing others' suffering through positive emotion generation, thereby acting as an emotion regulation strategy [14 ,15,53].”
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InterpretationreasoningTemporoparietal regions seem to play a crucial role in overcoming egocentricity, possibly contributing to self-other distinction.
“Thus, temporoparietal regions seem to play a crucial role in overcoming egocentricity, possibly contributing to self-other distinction.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
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Empathy is central to prosocial interactions, understanding the suffering of others, and attenuates the propensity to maladaptive aggressive behavior.
“Empathy is central to prosocial interactions, understanding the suffering of others, and attenuates the propensity to maladaptive aggressive behavior (1).”
From Empathy at the heart of darkness: empathy deficits that bind the dark triad and those that mediate indirect relational aggression. (2019) · cites this paper as [1]
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The Role of Empathy in Health and Social Care Professionals
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Emotion Recognition in Children and Adolescents with ASD and ADHD: a Systematic Review
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Empathy and Theory of Mind in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Meta-analysis
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Convergent Neural Correlates of Empathy and Anxiety During Socioemotional Processing
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A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Emotion Regulation and Social Affect and Cognition
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Gender Differences in Empathy During Adolescence: Does Emotional Self-Awareness Matter?
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Trait Autism is a Better Predictor of Empathy than Alexithymia
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Attentional control both helps and harms empathy
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Egocentric biases and atypical generosity in autistic individuals
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Empathic Neural Responses Predict Group Allegiance
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Development and validation of the Four-Item Mentalising Index.
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Gratitude, Social Cognition, and Well-Being in Emerging Adolescents
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The Use of Common Humanity Scenarios to Promote Compassion in Healthcare Workers
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Could Acting Training Improve Social Cognition and Emotional Control?
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Virtual Empathy : The added value of Virtual Reality in Psychotherapy
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Do you hear what I see? An audio-visual paradigm to assess emotional egocentricity bias
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Older Adults’ Beliefs About their Ability to Understand Others’ Mental States
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Prosocial rule breaking on health information security at healthcare organisations in South Korea
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tDCS effect on prosocial behavior: a meta-analytic review
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The relationship between cognitive failures and empathy
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Trait empathy shapes neural responses toward sad music
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Self-Referential Processing Predicts Social Cognitive Ability
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Empathy and Theory of Mind in Multiple Sclerosis: A Meta-Analysis
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Group membership dictates the neural correlates of social optimism biases
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Don’t look now! Emotion-induced blindness: The interplay between emotion and attention
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The psychological self and advanced theory of mind in adolescence
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Empathy at birth: Mother's cortex synchronizes with that of her newborn in pain
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Nonverbal behaviors perceived as most empathic in a simulated medical context
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Factorial validity of the Theory of Mind Inventory‐2 in children with autism spectrum disorder
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- Authors
- Preckel, K., Kanske, P., & Singer, T.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Preckel, Katrin
- Venue
- Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-02
- Volume
- 19
- Pages
- 1-6
- ISSN
- 2352-1546 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2740027066
- Semantic Scholar
- 79c151866cf07f384ba5d29d8665adff0c22052b
- Cited by
- 348
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 37 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 52 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 17 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 3.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Keywords
- empathy, compassion, theory of mind, social affect, socio-cognitive processes, self-other distinction, temporoparietal cortex, empathic distress, empathic resonance, social cognition, social behavior
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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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