Lilley, Karli Does Adversity Predict Empathic Emotion Regulation through Empathic Self-Efficacy? Thesis. Radford University Scholars' Repository.
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Abstract
Recent research has linked prior trauma and adversity with virtuous social outcomes, including higher prosocial behavior and empathy (e.g., Lim & DeSteno, 2023). Empathy is considered cognitively effortful, and people generally avoid it when less cognitively taxing alternatives are available (Cameron et al., 2019). The current study used a moderation-of-process design to examine whether more severe life adversity predicts selection into empathic situations. Based on initial research on adversity and compassion (e.g., Lim & DeSteno, 2020), it was expected that empathic self-efficacy would mediate the proposed relationship between severity of adversity and empathy choice. Participants received false feedback regarding their performance on the “Feel” and “Describe” decks of the Empathy Selection Task (EST; Cameron et al., 2019)—a task that allows participants free choice to empathize with or describe demographic characteristics of emotional photographs of people. Participants also completed critical trials of the EST without feedback, a measure of cognitive load, and a questionnaire that asks about the frequency, recency, and severity of their experiences with adversity. Results did not support a significant relationship between adversity severity and empathy choice nor was this relationship mediated by empathic self-efficacy. Instead, higher empathic self-efficacy predicted increased empathy choice and lower task aversion. In addition to adding to the nascent literature linking adversity, empathic self-efficacy, and prosocial outcomes, this study provides valuable knowledge regarding factors that influence empathic emotion regulation.
| Item Type: | Thesis |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
| Divisions: | Radford University > College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences > Department of Psychology |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Jun 2025 12:44 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Jun 2025 12:44 |
| URI: | http://wagner.radford.edu/id/eprint/1176 |
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