The Evidence: Empathy is Teachable, Trainable, Learnable
Manage episode 333293002 series 3367543
Tired of people talkin' out of their hats about "lack of evidence" for empathy? Such assertions are incorrect. Here are many peer-reviewed, evidence-based publications. I discuss the details - and the evidence.
This essay is an excerpt from Chapter Four of the book Empathy Lessons. This essay is motivated by the need to debunk the position that the practice of empathy is vague and fuzzy and cannot be taught, that you either have it or you don't. Bunk. I am addressing scientists, researchers, health care professionals, who are properly skeptical or improperly dismiss empathy as not scientific of evidence-based.
Substantial evidence is available that if you practice empathy, you get better at it. A bold statement of the obvious? Indeed. Yet the requirement to marshal the evidence is a significant one, even if it is often a function of resistance to practicing a rigorous and critical empathy. Key term: resistance to empathy. Overcome the resistance to empathy and the practice of empathy spontaneously and naturally comes forth.
This podcast talks about the evidence and, for practical reasons, does not contain all the bibliographical references in detail (since it would be impractical and clutter up the talk), so if you want/need the bibliographical references in detail without buying the book see the original blog post where the references are available without cost: https://louagosta.com/2021/04/24/the-evidence-empathy-is-teachable-trainable-learnable/
[See also Empathy Lessons and other books by Lou Agosta on empathy: https://amzn.to/2S0ISPr - have the university of institute library order a copy.]
The evidence is substantial and needs to be better know - get out the word - and check out the evidence today!
As noted above, this episode is also available as a blog post: http://louagosta.com/2021/04/24/the-evidence-empathy-is-teachable-trainable-learnable/
(c) Lou Agosta, PhD and The Chicago Empathy Project
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