Regulating Empathy: Exploring the Process through Agents and Strategies

Empathy is a complex emotional phenomenon that plays a crucial role in promoting cooperation and social cohesion within human society. However, there is ongoing debate regarding the mechanisms that underlie the generation of empathy. While the importance of biological emotional resonance in empathy is widely recognized, the influence of cognitive regulation on empathetic responses cannot be disregarded. This article seeks to review the agents and strategies involved in regulating empathy to construct a dynamic model depicting the process. The model highlights that the impact of specific goals on empathy regulation is not definitive; rather, it depends on an individual's interpretation and pursuit of goals, which can either enhance or hinder empathy. To effectively regulate empathy, individuals employ various emotion regulation strategies, the effectiveness and frequency of which can vary depending on individual and contextual factors. This context provides a specific pathway for understanding the generation of empathy. Further research should be conducted to systematically investigate the regulatory mechanisms of empathy by integrating contextual factors and individual characteristics. Furthermore, it is incredibly important to enhance the impact of empathy on social interactions by utilizing its ability to be controlled for intervention and prediction purposes.