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Friends or Foes: Is Empathy Necessary for Moral Behavior?

Open access
Decety, Jean, Cowell, Jason M.·2014·Perspectives on Psychological Science

Abstract

In the past decade, a flurry of empirical and theoretical research on morality and empathy has taken place, and interest and usage in the media and the public arena have increased. At times, in both popular culture and academia, morality and empathy are used interchangeably, and quite often the latter is considered to play a foundational role for the former. In this article, we argue that although there is a relationship between morality and empathy, it is not as straightforward as apparent at first glance. Moreover, it is critical to distinguish among the different facets of empathy (emotional sharing, empathic concern, and perspective taking), as each uniquely influences moral cognition and predicts differential outcomes in moral behavior. Empirical evidence and theories from evolutionary biology as well as developmental, behavioral, and affective and social neuroscience are comprehensively integrated in support of this argument. The wealth of findings illustrates a complex and equivocal relationship between morality and empathy. The key to understanding such relations is to be more precise on the concepts being used and, perhaps, abandoning the muddy concept of empathy.

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Metadata

Authors
Decety, J., & Cowell, J. M.
Venue
Perspectives on Psychological Science
Published
2014-09
Volume
9
Issue
5
Pages
525-537
ISSN
  • 1745-6916 (ISSN-L)
  • 1745-6924
OpenAlex
W2019449633
Cited by
314
References
112
FWCI
13.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
green

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Friends or Foes: Is Empathy Necessary for Moral Behavior? https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1177/1745691614545130
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Decety, J., & Cowell, J. M. (2014). Friends or Foes: Is Empathy Necessary for Moral Behavior? Perspectives on Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691614545130

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