The Evolution of Empathy

Have you ever wondered why you feel empathy for others? Where that innate compassion even comes from? Or how it is expressed?

Photo from welldoing.org

It's actually a pretty fascinating history. There are different reasons that explain why humans and other animals are empathetic. Other than humans, Rhesus monkeys, anthropoid apes, and household pets are some of the most remarkable species that have shown empathy in closely observed testing. Interestingly, these species have also shown empathy for humans, and will rush to comfort humans who appear upset or stressed. One study showed an ape exhibiting empathy for a bird. 

Before the reasons for all of this, let's start with a definition. Empathy is defined as "an affective response that stems from the apprehension or comprehension of another’s emotional state or condition, and that is identical or very similar to what the other person is feeling or would be expected to feel" (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998, p. 702). Empathy is like an emotional mirror. Empaths feel these emotions based off of who they observe, allowing connection and understanding.

Now for reason one. Empathy is a part of human development. It evolved to help drive infant care. Parents who responded to their offsprings' needs and calls for help produced more and raised healthier offspring. The offspring that were more attended to typically reciprocated this as well, as the practice of response and attention could have been modeled and encourage the evolution of empathy.

Photo from Scientific American, showing empathy in a mother ape caring for her child

This shows us that empathy is neurological and psychological, and these ideas are ingrained in empaths. But it doesn't stop there, because empathy is learned in other ways. 

Empathy is also learned through subconscious facial mirroring. This is a theory called inner imitation, and it is well supported by scientific studies of the brain. It essentially says that empaths demonstrate mimicry of facial expressions and bodily mannerisms, with the observer's brains matching the motor and sensory areas in the person they are observing. Studies have shown that this mimicry can be pinpointed to single muscle fibers. This activity has been observed across tests of physical and mental emotions.

Photo from The New York Times

Another interesting way empathy presents itself is within tribes. Higher amounts of empathy exist within groups of individuals that look and behave like they do. There are differing levels of empathy between humans and animals. This is also present within different races or genders within a species. 

Studies on where empathy is in the brain empathy show consistent activations in regions involved in the direct pain experience. These regions are the anterior insula and anterior and midcingulate cortex. This suggests the empathy is activated in degrees, and can explain the varying levels of empathy individuals seem to express. When testing empathy inheritance and its degrees, empathy is broken into two subgroups. Studies have shown that affective empathy, or a person's ability to feel what others are feeling, is between 53-57 percent heritable. Cognitive empathy, a person's ability to understand and feel someone else's feelings, is less heritable, at about 27 percent. While there are limitations to this specific study, it is indicative of the ways empathy is inherited and its forms, quantifying the relevance of genetics allowing it to be compared to learned and modeled behavior.

Photo from NBC News

The evolution of empathy is a pretty lucky thing. The connections it fosters encourage support and growth. Understanding outside of oneself makes the world more accepting and united. Next step, is breaking down the cross-tribe barriers and reaching even further for compassion.