AUTHOR=Shalev Ido , Eran Alal , Uzefovsky Florina 

TITLE=Fluctuations and individual differences in empathy interact with stress to predict mental health, parenting, and relationship outcomes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1237278

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1237278

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Introduction</title><p>Empathy is a complex, multifaceted ability allowing for the most basic forms of social communication and plays a prominent role in multiple aspects of everyday lives. In this intensive longitudinal study, we assessed how empathy interacts with stress to predict central domains of psychosocial functioning: mental health, romantic relationships, and parenting.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>Fluctuations and individual differences in empathy were assessed across eight time points, where participants from the general population (<italic>N</italic> = 566) self-reported their empathy, stress, depressive symptoms, romantic satisfaction, and parental functioning.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>Both trait and state aspects of empathy were associated with all psychosocial outcomes, with state empathy showing a stronger effect. Additionally, empathy components interacted with stress—emotional empathy better-predicted outcomes under high stress, while cognitive empathy under low stress.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Discussion</title><p>Our findings advance the theoretical understanding of empathy, emphasizing the effects of state-dependent empathy fluctuations on our everyday mental and social lives.</p></sec>