Empathy: Gender effects in brain and behavior

Christov-Moore, Leonardo; Simpson, Elizabeth A.; Coudé, Gino; Grigaityte, Kristina; Iacoboni, Marco; Ferrari, Pier Francesco

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.09.001

Cited by 1,137Action Observation and SynchronizationNeuroendocrine regulation and behaviorEvolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

Empathy: Gender effects in brain and behavior

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Christov-Moore, Leonardo, Simpson, Elizabeth A., Coudé, Gino, Grigaityte, Kristina, Iacoboni, Marco, Ferrari, Pier Francesco·2014·Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

DOI 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.09.001PMC PMC5110041

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Abstract

Evidence suggests that there are differences in the capacity for empathy between males and females. However, how deep do these differences go? Stereotypically, females are portrayed as more nurturing and empathetic, while males are portrayed as less emotional and more cognitive. Some authors suggest that observed gender differences might be largely due to cultural expectations about gender roles. However, empathy has both evolutionary and developmental precursors, and can be studied using implicit measures, aspects that can help elucidate the respective roles of culture and biology. This article reviews evidence from ethology, social psychology, economics, and neuroscience to show that there are fundamental differences in implicit measures of empathy, with parallels in development and evolution. Studies in nonhuman animals and younger human populations (infants/children) offer converging evidence that sex differences in empathy have phylogenetic and ontogenetic roots in biology and are not merely cultural byproducts driven by socialization. We review how these differences may have arisen in response to males' and females' different roles throughout evolution. Examinations of the neurobiological underpinnings of empathy reveal important quantitative gender differences in the basic networks involved in affective and cognitive forms of empathy, as well as a qualitative divergence between the sexes in how emotional information is integrated to support decision making processes. Finally, the study of gender differences in empathy can be improved by designing studies with greater statistical power and considering variables implicit in gender (e.g., sexual preference, prenatal hormone exposure). These improvements may also help uncover the nature of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in which one sex is more vulnerable to compromised social competence associated with impaired empathy.

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There is some empathy between couples in a stable marriage, and if one of them lacks the desired creative power, they have difficulty understanding each other's experiences.
“There is some empathy between couples in a stable marriage, and if one of them lacks the desired creative power, they have difficulty understanding each other's experiences [12, 13].”
From Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Anxiety, Cognitive Avoidance, and Empathy of Couples Visiting Counseling Centers in Ahvaz City, Iran (2021) · cites this paper as [12]
The Introduction defines empathy as understanding and sharing others’ internal states, but does not address empathy between spouses in a stable marriage or link difficulty understanding a partner to a lack of creative power. Searches for marriage, couples, creativity, and imagination found no passage making that claim. (LLM, conf=0.74)
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“It is possible that this sex difference in imitation control may be mediated by empathy — female individuals have been shown to be more empathetic compared with male individuals (Christov-Moore et al., 2014; Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004).”
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Authors: Christov-Moore, L., Simpson, E. A., Coudé, G., Grigaityte, K., Iacoboni, M., & Ferrari, P. F.
Affiliations: University of Parma (IT)
University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Corresponding author: Ferrari, Pier Francesco
ORCID: Simpson, Elizabeth A.
Iacoboni, Marco
Ferrari, Pier Francesco
Venue: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2014-10
Volume: 46
Pages: 604-627
ISSN: 0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.09.001
PMC: PMC5110041
OpenAlex: W1965401478
Cited by: 1,137
References: 44
Citations by year: 2026: 125 · 2025: 159 · 2024: 119 · 2023: 109 · 2022: 117 · 2021: 109 · 2020: 136 · 2019: 99 · 2018: 62 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 31 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
FWCI: 4.74
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Licence: www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders: NICHD (P01HD064653)
NIH (1R21MH097178)
NSF (DGE-1144087)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Keywords: empathy, sex differences, gender differences, neurobiology of empathy, affective empathy, cognitive empathy, gender roles, prenatal hormone exposure, sexual preference, social competence, mental illness, neurodevelopmental disorders
MeSH terms: Animals, Behavior, Brain, Empathy, Female, Humans, Male, Sex Characteristics

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Empathy: Gender effects in brain and behavior

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