My Photo

Oxytocin: The Book

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

« Oxytocin Could Relieve Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder | Main | Understanding the Brain's Wiring »

November 19, 2007

Do You Have Empathy? Quiz


  800.000 votes of confidence... 
  Originally uploaded by carf.

Oxytocin has been shown to increase empathy. Well, what exactly is empathy?

In one study, men who inhaled oxytocin saw photos of faces as less threatening than the control group. In another study, they were better able to infer someone's emotional state based on a photograph showing only the people's eyes after inhaling oxytocin.

Those scientists gave their paper the sexy name, "Oxytocin Improves 'Mind-Reading' in Humans." It's not so easy to measure empathy -- and whether one person has empathy for the other has been the basis of millions of relationship fights. The researchers used a test devised by Simon Baron-Cohen (yes, those Baron-Cohens), a professor of developmental psychopathology at Cambridge University.

For more about the study, read my post, "Insight into Insight." But here's what's fun. You can take the test right now.

Thanks to Adam for the link to the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" test.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451fea369e200e54f8901908833

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Do You Have Empathy? Quiz:

Comments

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment