Putting together phylogenetic and ontogenetic perspectives on empathy
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The ontogeny of human empathy is better understood with reference to the evolutionary history of the social brain. Empathy has deep evolutionary, biochemical, and neurological underpinnings. Even the most advanced forms of empathy in humans are built on more basic forms and remain connected to core mechanisms associated with affective communication, social attachment, and parental care. In this paper, we argue that it is essential to consider empathy within a neurodevelopmental framework that recognizes both the continuities and changes in socioemotional understanding from infancy to adulthood. We bring together neuroevolutionary and developmental perspectives on the information processing and neural mechanisms underlying empathy and caring, and show that they are grounded in multiple interacting systems and processes. Moreover, empathy in humans is assisted by other abstract and domain-general high-level cognitive abilities such as executive functions, mentalizing and language, as well as the ability to differentiate another's mental states from one's own, which expand the range of behaviors that can be driven by empathy.
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Manifestation of pro-social behavior in humans requires down-regulation to prevent an individual from becoming overwhelmed by the negative emotion aroused by another's distress.
“The manifestation of pro-social behavior in humans requires down-regulation to prevent an individual from becoming overwhelmed by the negative emotion aroused by another’s distress (22).”
From Empathy and pro-social behavior in rats (2011) · cites this paper as [22]
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An EEG/ERP investigation of the development of empathy in early and middle childhood
Cheng, Y., Chen, C., & Decety, J. (2014) · Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2014.08.012 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Impact of Aging on Empathy: Review of Psychological and Neural Mechanisms
Beadle, J. N., & de la Vega, C. E. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00331 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Empathy in narcissistic personality disorder: From clinical and empirical perspectives.
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Experiencing a Natural Disaster Alters Children’s Altruistic Giving
Li, Y., Li, H., Jean Decety, A., & Lee, K. (2013) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797613479975 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Decety, J., Meidenbauer, K. L., & Cowell, J. M. (2017) · Developmental Science · doi:10.1111/desc.12570 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Links Among Cognitive Empathy, Theory of Mind, and Affective Perspective Taking by Young Children
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Paulus, M. (2014) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00344 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Development of a Japanese version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index
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Emotional contagion in mice: the role of familiarity
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The Role of Affect in the Neurodevelopment of Morality
Decety, J., & Howard, L. H. (2013) · Child Development Perspectives · doi:10.1111/cdep.12020 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Behavioral and mechanistic insight into rodent empathy
Sivaselvachandran, S., Acland, E. L., Abdallah, S., & Martin, L. J. (2018) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.06.007 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
The Moral brain: a multidisciplinary perspective
Decety, J., & Wheatley, T. (2015) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.192126 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
A meta‐analysis of the relationship between empathy and executive function
Yan, Z., Hong, S., Liu, F., & Su, Y. (2019) · PsyCh Journal · doi:10.1002/pchj.311 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
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A social neuroscience perspective on clinical empathy
Jean Decety, A., Smith, K. E., Norman, G. J., & Halpern, J. (2014) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20146 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Paulus, M., Licata, M., Kristen, S., Thoermer, C., Woodward, A. L., & Sodian, B. (2014) · International Journal of Behavioral Development · doi:10.1177/0165025414537923 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
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Aging is associated with changes in the neural circuits underlying empathy
Chen, Y.-C., Chen, C.-C., Decety, J., & Cheng, Y. (2013) · Neurobiology of Aging · doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2013.10.080 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
The Curious Relation between Theory of Mind and Sharing in Preschool Age Children
Cowell, J. M., Samek, A. S., List, J. A., & Jean Decety, A. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0117947 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Gibbs, J. C. (2019) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190878214.001.0001 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Selective impairment of cognitive empathy for moral judgment in adults with high functioning autism
Gleichgerrcht, E. L., Torralva, T., Rattazzi, A., Marenco, V., Roca, M., & Manes, F. F. (2012) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nss067 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
The dark side of empathy: Meta‐analysis evidence of the relationship between empathy and depression
Yan, Z., Zeng, X., Su, J., & Zhang, X. (2021) · PsyCh Journal · doi:10.1002/pchj.482 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
The development of sympathy from 5 to 7 years: increase, decline or stability? A longitudinal study
Kienbaum, J. (2014) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00468 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Challenges in the comparative study of empathy and related phenomena in animals
Adriaense, J. E. C., Koski, S. E., Huber, L., & Lamm, C. (2020) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.01.021 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Oxytocin increases empathy to pain when adopting the other-but not the self-perspective
Abu-Akel, A., Palgi, S., Klein, E., Decety, J., & Shamay-Tsoory, S. (2015) · Social Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/17470919.2014.948637 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
The Neuroscience of Adolescence
Galván, A. (2017) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316106143 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Psychophysiological synchrony during verbal interaction in romantic relationships
Coutinho, J., Oliveira‐Silva, P., Fernandes, E., Gonçalves, O. F., Correia, D., Perrone Mc‐Govern, K., & Tschacher, W. (2019) · Family Process · doi:10.1111/famp.12371 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
White matter structures associated with loneliness in young adults
Nakagawa, S., Takeuchi, H., Taki, Y., Nouchi, R., Sekiguchi, A., Kotozaki, Y., Miyauchi, C., Iizuka, K., Yokoyama, R., Shinada, T., et al. (2015) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep17001 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Coutinho, J. F. P., Oliveira‐Silva, P., & Decety, J. (2014) · Journal of Counseling Psychology · doi:10.1037/cou0000021 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Preschoolers’ generosity increases with understanding of the affective benefits of sharing
Paulus, M., & Moore, C. (2017) · Developmental Science · doi:10.1111/desc.12417 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Hurter, S., Paloyelis, Y., Williams, A. C. D. C., & Fotopoulou, A. (2014) · Journal of Pain · doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2014.06.004 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
The Development of Empathic Concern in Siblings: A Reciprocal Influence Model
Jambon, M. M., Madigan, S. L., Plamondon, A., Daniel, E., & Jenkins, J. M. (2018) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.13015 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
The Journey of the Default Mode Network: Development, Function, and Impact on Mental Health
Azarias, F. R., Almeida, G. H. D. R., de Melo, L. F., Rici, R. E. G., & Maria, D. A. (2025) · Biology · doi:10.3390/biology14040395 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Building blocks of social cognition: Mirror, mentalize, share?
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Increased Moral Sensitivity for Outgroup Perpetrators Harming Ingroup Members
Molenberghs, P., Gapp, J., Wang, B., Louis, W. R., & Decety, J. (2014) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhu195 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
The relationship between alexithymia, empathy and moral judgment in patients with multiple sclerosis
Gleichgerrcht, E. L., Tomashitis, B. M., & Sinay, V. J. (2015) · European Journal of Neurology · doi:10.1111/ene.12745 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
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The strangest of all encounters: racial and ethnic discrimination in US health care
James, S. A. (2017) · Cadernos de Saúde Pública · doi:10.1590/0102-311x00104416 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Kraaijenvanger, E. J., He, Y., Spencer, H., Smith, A. K., Bos, P. A., & Boks, M. P. (2018) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.11.016 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Antecedents and consequences of collective empathy in software development project teams
Akgün, A. E., Keski̇n, H., Cebecioglu, A. Y., & Dogan, D. (2014) · Information & Management · doi:10.1016/j.im.2014.11.004 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
A neural model of mechanisms of empathy deficits in narcissism.
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Endocrine Disruption of Vasopressin Systems and Related Behaviors
Patisaul, H. B. (2017) · Frontiers in Endocrinology · doi:10.3389/fendo.2017.00134 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Empathy alleviates the learning burnout of medical college students through enhancing resilience
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Rudimentary empathy in macaques’ social decision-making
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Gender Differences in Empathy During Adolescence: Does Emotional Self-Awareness Matter?
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The development of social comparisons and sharing behavior across 12 countries
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Preschool Children's Anticipation of Recipients' Emotions Affects Their Resource Allocation
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A neuroendocrine account of facial mimicry and its dynamic modulation
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Parsing the components of forgiveness: Psychological and neural mechanisms
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- Authors
- Decety, J., & Svetlova, M.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Society (DE)
- Venue
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-01
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-24
- ISSN
- 1878-9293 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6987713
- OpenAlex
- W2109917285
- Cited by
- 508
- References
- 303
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 43 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 57 · 2018: 49 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 40 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 4.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DukeSpace (Duke University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (BCS-0718480)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Keywords
- empathy, neuroevolution, social-emotional development, emotional communication, social attachment, parental care, executive function, mentalization, language, theory of mind, caregiving
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Altruism, Brain, Cooperative Behavior, Emotions, Empathy, Biological Evolution, Humans, Human Development, Object Attachment, Oxytocin, Self Concept, Sex Characteristics, Social Perception, Parenting, Theory of Mind
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