What Does Lack of Empathy Do To Your Brain?

Many people think that to be truly successful, you shouldn't be empathetic, since many billionaires aren't. But is that really true? While many believe that empathy isn't essential for basic survival, it does play a significant role in our social connections. So why is empathy important? And what happens when we lack it? Let's explore. What it looks like. A lack of empathy can come about in a few ways. Some people can't help it if they have a cluster B personality like narcissism, or something that overlaps with those personalities like psychopathy. For this video, we're more interested in the people who don't have a genetic reason to lack empathy, but instead either choose to act without empathy, or have learned not to be empathetic. Whether or not it was a conscious decision, or part of their personality, you have most likely encountered someone who lacks empathy. This person could have been a boss, a teacher, a peer, or even a parent. Lacking empathy goes beyond bullying or being mean. It's often characterized by a sense of apathy. A person lacking empathy is dismissive of your struggles, concerns, or feelings. They are immune to emotional reasoning, and are unlikely to side with you if you provide them with a moral or emotional argument for something. Instead, a person who lacks empathy would ask for something in return, or would be more open to something if it benefits them. For example, a wealthy person without empathy might have the means to donate to charities or relief funds, but they're unlikely to do so unless they gain something in return, such as improved public relations or a tax break. It's not that they necessarily despise the people these charities help, but they're apathetic to their struggles because they lack empathy. But most people don't have that kind of wealth, so what are some ways that the average person could display a lack of empathy? A popular shopping cart litmus test helps us gauge empathy. If you leave a cart in the parking lot, there's no punishment or reward. Why do it? The key point here is that your actions impact others. Someone else, who will never know it was you, will have to bring that cart back. This simple choice reflects your level of empathy, even towards strangers. At some point, someone you've never met will have to return the shopping cart you left behind. Furthermore, it can be an obstruction in the parking lot, or someone might not get a shopping cart because you left yours there. This test asks you to empathize with someone you may never meet. Will you return the shopping cart? But aside from personality disorders that disrupt empathy, why would we lack empathy? Why it happens. We don't always choose whether or not to empathize. It's easier to empathize with some people over others, depending on who you are. We tend to empathize more with the people who are of a similar background to us. For example, people of faith tend to show more leniency to others in their religion, and immigrants can empathize with other immigrants. A study published in the Journal of Social Psychology reveals that we tend to empathize with people who are shown to agree with us morally. So perhaps it isn't always that we lack empathy overall, but we lack empathy for certain groups who we either feel opposition towards, or we have little in common with. Physical trauma to the brain can also negatively affect your ability to empathize, but other forms of trauma can take a toll on your empathy too. Childhood trauma, like abuse and neglect, can cause someone to struggle to empathize throughout their lives. Trauma can cause children to struggle to identify, manage, and react to their own emotions and the emotions of others, which is a problem that is difficult to overcome without that early foundational empathy. The most empathetic people can also become completely non-empathetic if they become burnt out, which is extremely easy to do when every person's struggle can receive our attention through our phones. You might find that people with emotionally draining family members or jobs struggle to be empathetic outside of those scenarios because of how draining they are. What it does to someone's brain. When we do lose our empathy, what actually happens to us? Empathy is something that we can and should practice and improve on. When practicing empathy, you are actively engaging with a change in your emotional state and embracing the way you relate to another human being. The amygdala is the part of the brain that is most responsible for A lack of empathy can cause more stress through friction in your relationships and emotions being difficult to process. But by being overly empathetic, you could also burn your amygdala out by constantly making yourself emotionally available. Some people try so hard to practice their empathy that they seek emotionally intense situations. After a breakup or the loss of a loved one, you might find yourself bombarded with people trying to become extremely close to the situation. The over-enthusiastic use of empathy can overstimulate the amygdala. So if we can overstimulate the amygdala, we can also understimulate it. Without emotional connections with other people or sincere concern for anyone, we can become lazy with our empathy. We start to feel it less and less. So the true danger of a lack of empathy is that it becomes harder and harder to access the less you use it. Remember, you don't have to only use your empathy when someone is extremely sad or grieving. You can empathize with someone having a long day or someone feeling annoyed at bad customer service. It also doesn't have to be reserved for negative emotions. The best thing about developing a strong sense of empathy is that you get to share happiness, excitement, and love too. What are some other ways that you think empathy is helpful or necessary? Have you ever struggled to feel empathetic? Let us know in the comments below. Remember to subscribe to Psych2Go and leave a like if you enjoyed this video, and we will see you next time Psych2Goers.