Is Empathy in Fact Immoral? (NSQ Ep. 44)
Also: is it better to “go with the wind” or to “be the wind”?
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Relevant Research & References
Here’s where you can learn more about the people and ideas in this episode:
SOURCES
- Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology & Cognitive Science at Yale University.
- C. Daniel Batson, Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Kansas.
- James Andreoni, Professor of Economics at the University of California, San Diego.
- Jerome Kagan, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University.
- Joshua Greene, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University.
- Deborah Small, Professor of Marketing and Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
- George Loewenstein, Professor of Economics and Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University.
- Daniel Gilbert, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University.
- Matt Killingsworth, Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar.
- Gary P. Latham, Professor of Organizational Effectiveness at the University of Toronto.
- Edwin A. Locke, Professor of Leadership and Motivation at the University of Maryland, College Park.
RESOURCES
- “The Default-Mode Network Represents Aesthetic Appeal that Generalizes Across Visual Domains,” by Edward A. Vessel, Ayse Ilkay Isik, Amy M. Belfi, Jonathan L. Stahl, and G. Gabrielle Starr (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019).
- “Empathy and Callous–Unemotional Traits in Different Bullying Roles: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” by Izabela Zych, Maria M. Ttofi, and David P. Farrington (Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 2016).
- Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion, by Paul Bloom (2016).
- “Mind-Wandering With and Without Intention,” by Paul Seli, Evan F. Risko, Daniel Smilek, and Daniel L. Schacter (Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2016).
- “The Brain’s Default Mode Network,” by Marcus E. Raichle (Annual Review of Neuroscience, 2015).
- “The Empathy–Altruism Hypothesis,” by C. Daniel Batson, David A. Lishner, and Eric L. Stocks (The Oxford Handbook of Prosocial Behavior, 2015).
- “How to Close the Gap Between Us and Them: A Q&A with Moral Tribes Author Joshua Greene about Emotion, Reason, and Conflict,” by Jill Suttie (Greater Good Magazine, 2013).
- Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them, by Joshua Greene (2013).
- “A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind,” by Matthew A. Killingsworth and Daniel T. Gilbert (Science, 2010).
- “New Directions in Goal-Setting Theory,” by Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham (Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2006).
- “The Devil You Know: The Effects of Identifiability on Punishment,” by Deborah A. Small and George Loewenstein (Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 2005).
- “Immorality from Empathy-Induced Altruism: When Compassion and Justice Conflict.,” by Batson, C. D., Klein, T. R., Highberger, L., and Shaw, L. L (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1995).
- Unstable Ideas: Temperament, Cognition, and Self, by Jerome Kagan (1992).
- “Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow Giving,” by James Andreoni (The Economic Journal, 1990).
- Type A Behavior and Your Heart, by Meyer Friedman (1974).
EXTRAS