Instructions - Risky Business

An intervention to correct misperceptions and restore empathy
Risky Business uses empathy as the method to correct misperceptions. The term “empathy” has been bandied around quite a bit in educational circles in recent years, though there has been little uniformity in how it is used. Moreover, there has been even less discussion of how it relates to peer aggression, or how to operationalize it, measure it or monitor its course. In an effort to clarify some of these issues, we offer this brief “crash course” on empathy. It is a backdrop against which to evaluate the outcome data using Risky Business.

Why empathy?
What exactly is “empathy?” It is a psychological structure, like “intelligence,” “self-concept”or other constructs. We cannot “see” psychological structures by direct inspection, but can infer them based on careful, controlled studies that measure their manifestations. For example, we can estimate intelligence using IQ tests, or self-concept using projective tests. We can also measure empathy using objective and projective methods of inquiry. Risky Business employs both approaches.

Empathy is an important psychological structure for two reasons. First, it lies at the root of pro-social behavior. Empathy is a necessary precursor to all positive human interaction. It is the glue that binds human communities. Second, it is nature’s opponent process to aggression. An individual cannot be angry or aggressive towards someone for whom they feel empathy. For this reason, it has become very attractive to program developers as they study bullying, harassment and violence prevention. But looking more broadly, empathy is a prime candidate for social-emotional learning in general because it contributes to the shaping of social norms, the improving of school climate and the building of social competencies in students, while also serving the immediate goal of reducing peer aggression.

Development of empathy
Human beings are “pack animals,” and are genetically wired to live in groups. But unlike other species, we alone have the intellectual capacity to integrate our emotional experiences with our thoughts and intentions to create meaningful social relationships. Empathy is an important component in “emotional intelligence” because of its central place in promoting human interaction. Empathic capacity is innate. We are born with a certain amount of it, like intelligence and it unfolds over the course of normal development. Its transformations are synchronized with advances in cognition and affect, as a person matures. Empathy is first ignited in the mother-infant interaction. Infants whose needs are gratified by attuned caregivers grow into adults who are capable of both emotional self-regulation and self control, and who expect positive outcomes as a result of their efforts to gratify needs through their interactions with others. Empathy is in rapid transition during adolescence because of the dramatic changes underway in cognitive development, brain maturation and identity formation that impact its structure. Not surprisingly, empathy breaches also peak during adolescence, with the rates of bullying, sexual harassment and violence reaching their highest levels over an entire life span. When developmental structures are in rapid transition, there is a greater likelihood that people will make mistakes.

The structure of empathy
Empathy has three component parts. The first, “sensitivity,” refers to what we commonly call “intuition.” It is a “right-brain” manner of perceiving the emotions of others. People often “sense” what is going on with another person, or in a situation, without being consciously aware of it. Some lower mammals have a measure of sensitivity such as the dog who sits by his master’s feet to offer comfort when the master is feeling upset. Not all people are equally intuitive, but all people have intuition.

The second component of empathy is “perception,” which refers to what we commonly call “insight.” It rests on higher cortical functioning, on such capacities as inference, anticipation and foresight. Insight is a distinctly human capacity because it is rooted in the forebrain, the structure that differentiates humans from the lower mammals.

The third component of empathy is “projection” which refers to what we commonly call “identification.” Can we “step into the shoes” of other people and “know them” from within?

The three components of empathy, as we have said, are psychological constructs. While we cannot see them by direct inspection, we can infer their presence through controlled empirical inquiry. We can also trace their roots to neurological activity. Recent studies on the adolescent brain teach us that the structures that underlie sensitivity, perception and projection are also undergoing significant maturational change during adolescence, which helps explain why empathy is such a gossamer thread during this stage of life.

The brain and empathy There is a growth spurt of the brain in adolescence. Three structures change rapidly beginning at about age 12 and continue their development in girls to age 21 and boys through their late 20’s. The first is the amygdala which is the “seat of emotion.” The amygdala is in “hyper-drive” during adolescence, which is why teenagers are so moody, labile and emotionally intense. The pre-frontal cortex is the second organ. It is the “seat of judgment,” the site of higher cortical activity that allows us to interpret information and make good judgments. In the adult, the pre-frontal cortex mediates impulses from the amygdala, but it is “asleep at the wheel” during adolescence. This is why teenagers don’t characteristically “think before they act.” Finally, through the process of myelinization, there is a gradual shift in the brain from gray matter to white matter over the course of adolescence. This process converts the sleepy brain into a “turbo-charger,” able to transmit impulses more quickly and efficiently than before. Simultaneous processing and integrating information from multiple points of reference requires “extra juice.” As a side bar, girls myelinate faster than boys,which may be why they are more socially mature in adolescence.