Gender Differences in Empathy Linda Rueckert and Noemi Oyola Northeastern Illinois University

1
Gender Differences in EmpathyLinda Rueckert and
Noemi Oyola Northeastern Illinois University

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Abstract
Materials

• Empathy was measured with the Interpersonal
  Reactivity Index (IRI Davis, 1983), which
  consists of 28 statements to be rated on a
  5-point Likert scale. It can be broken down into
  four 7-item subscales
• Empathic Concern (EC) concern and sympathy for
  other people (emotional empathy).
• Perspective-Taking (PT) understanding the point
  of view of others (cognitive empathy).
• Fantasy (FS) physiological arousal to a filmed
  depiction of fictitious characters in movies,
  plays and books.
• Personal Distress (PD) feelings of personal
  anxiety in reaction to the emotions of .
• Right hemisphere activation was measured using
  the Levy Chimeric Faces Task (LCFT Levy et al.,
  1983). It consists of 36 pairs of chimeric
  faces (see Fig. 1).
• Participants were asked to determine whether the
  top or bottom chimera appeared happier. A
  laterality quotient (LQ) was computed by
  subtracting the number of smile-left choices from
  the number of smile-right choices, and dividing
  by the total (R-L)/36. A negative LQ indicates
  a leftward bias (and thus greater activation of
  the RH), and a positive number indicates a
  rightward bias (left hemisphere activation).
• Numerous previous studies have shown that
  right-handers exhibit a significant leftward bias
  that does not differ between men and women (e.g.
  Levy et al., 1983 Rueckert Naybar, 2008).

The purpose of this study was to examine gender
differences in empathy, and whether they may be
related to differences in brain asymmetry. Women
scored higher than men on all empathy scales, but
especially on the emotional empathy scale. For
men, cognitive empathy correlated with activation
of the left hemisphere.
Figure 2. Empathy subscale scores for men and
women.
Introduction
Discussion
Figure 1. Item from the Levy Chimeric Faces Task
Numerous previous studies have found women score
higher in self-reported empathy than men
(Eisenberg Lennon, 1983). Rueckert and Naybar
(2008) found that empathy correlated with
activation of the right cerebral hemisphere (RH)
for women, but not for men. The purpose of the
present study was to clarify the results reported
by Rueckert Naybar by using a different measure
of empathy which includes separate scales for
Empathic Concern (emotional empathy), Perspective
Taking (cognitive empathy), Fantasy, and Personal
Distress (Davis, 1983).
As expected, based on previous studies, there was
a significant leftward bias on the LCFT, which
did not differ by gender, and women scored higher
than men on the IRI. There was also a gender by
subscale interaction due to a greater gender
difference on the EC subscale. In contrast to
the Rueckert and Naybar (2008) study, we did not
find a negative correlation between empathy and
the LCFT. Instead, we found a significant
positive correlation between the LCFT and the EC
subscale for men only. This suggests that, for
men, activation of the left cerebral hemisphere
is related to greater cognitive empathy, which is
similar to theory of mind.
Results

• As expected, both men and women showed a
  significant leftward bias on the LCFT, indicating
  RH activation (mean LQ -.352, p .000).
• Women scored higher than men on all subscales of
  the empathy test. The gender difference was
  significantly greater for emotional empathy (Fig.
  2).
• Although women showed the expected negative
  correlation between LQ and all empathy subscales,
  none of the correlations were significant.
• Men showed an significant positive correlation
  between LQ and PT (cognitive empathy), indicating
  that men with greater left hemisphere activation
  showed greater cognitive empathy, r .31, p
  .04.

Participants
References Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring
individual differences in empathy Evidence for
a multidimensional approach. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 44,
113-126. Eisenberg, N. Lennon, R. (1983). Sex
differences in empathy and related capacities.
Psychological Bulletin 94, 100-131. Levy, J.,
Heller, W., Banich, M.T., Burton, L.A. (1983).
Asymmetry of perception in free viewing of
chimeric faces. Brain and Cognition, 2,
404-419. Rueckert, L. Naybar, N. (2008).
Gender differences in empathy The role of the
right hemisphere. Brain and Cognition.
Participants were 57 right-handed women and 43
men.