Abstract
Empathy plays a central role in prosocial behavior and human cooperation. Very few twin researchers have investigated innate and environmental effects in adult empathy, and twin research on gender differences in these effects is sparse. The goal of this study was to examine innate and environmental influences on three components of an empathy scale frequently used with adults — the expression of cognitive (CE), emotional (EE), and social skills (SS) empathy — and to explore gender differences in the influences. Study participants were ~1,700 twins (18–65 years) enrolled in the Italian Twin Registry. Empathy was assessed with the Italian version of the Empathy Quotient (EQ), for which the three-factor structure (i.e., CE, EE, and SS) was confirmed. Twin correlations in monozygotic and dizygotic pairs, and males and females were estimated for the total EQ and subscale scores, and univariate genetic model fitting was carried out. Women's empathy (i.e., total EQ as well as CE and EE subdimensions) was predominantly driven by genetic factors and individual experiences, whereas for males, no genetic contribution or important shared and individual environmental effects emerged. Although of large magnitude, the gender differences did not reach statistical significance. Age did not moderate empathy heritability in adulthood. Only for the SS subscale were genetic and environmental proportions of variance similar for men and women. This study suggests possible gender-specific innate and environmental influences on empathy and its cognitive and emotional components that need to be confirmed in future studies.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-13 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Twin Research and Human Genetics |
| DOIs | |
| State | Accepted/In press - Apr 15 2018 |
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Keywords
- empathy
- environmental factors
- gender differences
- heritability
- twin study
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Genetics(clinical)
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
Cite this
Adult Empathy : Possible Gender Differences in Gene-Environment Architecture for Cognitive and Emotional Components in a Large Italian Twin Sample. / Toccaceli, Virgilia; Fagnani, Corrado; Eisenberg, Nancy; Alessandri, Guido; Vitale, Augusto; Stazi, Maria Antonietta.
In: Twin Research and Human Genetics, 15.04.2018, p. 1-13.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Adult Empathy
T2 - Possible Gender Differences in Gene-Environment Architecture for Cognitive and Emotional Components in a Large Italian Twin Sample
AU - Toccaceli, Virgilia
AU - Fagnani, Corrado
AU - Eisenberg, Nancy
AU - Alessandri, Guido
AU - Vitale, Augusto
AU - Stazi, Maria Antonietta
PY - 2018/4/15
Y1 - 2018/4/15
N2 - Empathy plays a central role in prosocial behavior and human cooperation. Very few twin researchers have investigated innate and environmental effects in adult empathy, and twin research on gender differences in these effects is sparse. The goal of this study was to examine innate and environmental influences on three components of an empathy scale frequently used with adults — the expression of cognitive (CE), emotional (EE), and social skills (SS) empathy — and to explore gender differences in the influences. Study participants were ~1,700 twins (18–65 years) enrolled in the Italian Twin Registry. Empathy was assessed with the Italian version of the Empathy Quotient (EQ), for which the three-factor structure (i.e., CE, EE, and SS) was confirmed. Twin correlations in monozygotic and dizygotic pairs, and males and females were estimated for the total EQ and subscale scores, and univariate genetic model fitting was carried out. Women's empathy (i.e., total EQ as well as CE and EE subdimensions) was predominantly driven by genetic factors and individual experiences, whereas for males, no genetic contribution or important shared and individual environmental effects emerged. Although of large magnitude, the gender differences did not reach statistical significance. Age did not moderate empathy heritability in adulthood. Only for the SS subscale were genetic and environmental proportions of variance similar for men and women. This study suggests possible gender-specific innate and environmental influences on empathy and its cognitive and emotional components that need to be confirmed in future studies.
AB - Empathy plays a central role in prosocial behavior and human cooperation. Very few twin researchers have investigated innate and environmental effects in adult empathy, and twin research on gender differences in these effects is sparse. The goal of this study was to examine innate and environmental influences on three components of an empathy scale frequently used with adults — the expression of cognitive (CE), emotional (EE), and social skills (SS) empathy — and to explore gender differences in the influences. Study participants were ~1,700 twins (18–65 years) enrolled in the Italian Twin Registry. Empathy was assessed with the Italian version of the Empathy Quotient (EQ), for which the three-factor structure (i.e., CE, EE, and SS) was confirmed. Twin correlations in monozygotic and dizygotic pairs, and males and females were estimated for the total EQ and subscale scores, and univariate genetic model fitting was carried out. Women's empathy (i.e., total EQ as well as CE and EE subdimensions) was predominantly driven by genetic factors and individual experiences, whereas for males, no genetic contribution or important shared and individual environmental effects emerged. Although of large magnitude, the gender differences did not reach statistical significance. Age did not moderate empathy heritability in adulthood. Only for the SS subscale were genetic and environmental proportions of variance similar for men and women. This study suggests possible gender-specific innate and environmental influences on empathy and its cognitive and emotional components that need to be confirmed in future studies.
KW - empathy
KW - environmental factors
KW - gender differences
KW - heritability
KW - twin study
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045295831&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85045295831&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/thg.2018.19
DO - 10.1017/thg.2018.19
M3 - Article
C2 - 29655398
AN - SCOPUS:85045295831
SP - 1
EP - 13
JO - Bulletin of the Orton Society
JF - Bulletin of the Orton Society
SN - 1744-165X
ER -