EMPATHY AS A COGNITIVE INHIBITOR OF INTERPERSONAL AGGRESSION

The studies presented in this paper examined empathy, especially persp ective taking, as a potential inhibitor of interpersonal aggression. T he theoretical rationale for these investigations derived from Zillman n's [(1988): Aggressive Behavior 14:51-64] cognitive-excitation model. Study 1 revealed that dispositional empathy correlates negatively wit h self-reported aggression and with conflict responses that reflect li ttle concern for the needs of the other party. Empathy also was positi vely related to constructive responses to interpersonal conflict (i.e. , those that do involve concern for the needs of the other party). In Study 2, perspective taking was manipulated with instructions to subje cts prior to participation in a reaction-time task designed to measure aggression. When threat was relatively low, subjects who were instruc ted to take the perspective of the target responded less aggressively than did those who had been instructed to focus on the task. Study 3 e xamined the effect of dispositional perspective taking on verbal aggre ssion. Threat was manipulated in terms of the combination of provocati on and gender of the interactants. As predicted, perspective taking re lated to aggression inhibition under conditions of moderate threat-for males under low provocation and females under high provocation. These effects were predicted and explained in the context of the cognitive- excitation model. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.