https://emplab.la.psu.edu/people/c-daryl-cameron-ph-d/
Culture of Empathy Builder: Daryl Cameron
Daryl Cameron, a psychologist and researcher, defines empathy primarily as a motivated process rather than a fixed trait. His work challenges the traditional view of empathy as an automatic and inevitable response, arguing instead that people regulate their empathy based on costs, benefits, and situational demands.
Daryl Cameron defines empathy as the experience of understanding and sharing the feelings of another person. He emphasizes that empathy involves feeling with someone rather than feeling for them, distinguishing it from compassion or sympathy, which focus on concern for others' suffering13. Cameron also highlights that empathy is not entirely automatic; it often requires conscious effort and can be influenced by individual choices, motivations, and perceptions of its emotional or cognitive costs134.
Daryl Cameron differentiates empathy from compassion by focusing on their distinct emotional and motivational aspects. Empathy involves understanding and sharing another person's feelings, which can include a wide range of emotions, not necessarily tied to suffering. Compassion, on the other hand, is specifically linked to recognizing and responding to the suffering of others, with a motivation to alleviate it. Cameron often uses a definition of compassion as "the emotion that motivates the alleviation of suffering in others," emphasizing its connection to action aimed at reducing distress12.
Cameron also highlights that empathy can exist without leading to action, while compassion typically involves a desire to help. For example, one might empathize with someone's joy or sadness without taking steps to influence their situation, whereas compassion inherently drives prosocial behavior focused on reducing pain or hardship12.
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Daryl Cameron's approach to empathy stands out because he emphasizes its cognitive and motivational aspects, particularly focusing on why people avoid empathy. He argues that empathy is often seen as effortful and cognitively taxing, which leads individuals to avoid it, even when there are no financial or emotional costs involved2. This contrasts with more traditional definitions of empathy, which often highlight its emotional or affective dimensions, such as the ability to share or understand another person's feelings4.
For example, some definitions focus on empathy as a natural emotional response, while Cameron's work suggests that empathy is a choice influenced by perceptions of effort and efficacy. He also explores how empathy can fail in large-scale situations, like mass suffering, and proposes strategies to make empathy more accessible and less overwhelming2.
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C. Daryl Cameron, an Associate Professor of Psychology at Penn State, defines empathy in a nuanced and multifaceted way, reflecting its complexity as a psychological phenomenon. He views empathy as the ability to share and understand the experiences and emotions of others. Specifically, he describes it as a process where one might vicariously feel another's emotions—such as sadness or joy—essentially "catching" or resonating with what the other person is experiencing. For example, he poses questions like, "If you feel sad, do I vicariously feel your sadness? If you feel joy, do I catch your joy?" This highlights empathy as an emotional connection that involves feeling with someone.