Strength Training
Empathy is a key component in treatment. So much so that its reduction in practitioners is a predictor of burnout and turnover. Just like any muscle, empathy can be strengthened or weakened depending on its use. In this edition of Know Your Sheet we focus on an incredible study on reducing bias and facilitating empathy.
The Article: How learning shapes the empathic brain (2016)
Authors: Grit Hein, Jan B. Engelmann, Marius C. Vollberg, and Philippe N. Tobler
Publishing Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Research Agency/University: University of Zurich, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, University College London
Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation
In a Nutshell:
Experiences help shape empathy in the brain. Learning fosters empathy. Out-group bias and resulting deficits in empathy towards a perceived out-group increases conflict and contention. The researchers created an information-sharing dynamic that facilitated positive surprise. A member of a perceived out-group taught valuable information to a member of the in-group. Positive surprise occurs when a perceived and predicted threat becomes an unexpected reward. The experience of learning valuable information from a member of the out-group helps foster empathy between the in-group and out-group member. This experience shifted the dopamine signal of the learner from one of predicted reward omission to predicted reward, which reduced bias towards the out-group individual who was sharing the information. Importantly, this increase in empathy generalized to other members of that out-group.
A quote to keep:
“reductions in out-group deficits were predictable after surprisingly few positive experiences with an out-group individual”
Why this Article Matters to you:
Out-group bias creates reduced empathy between groups. In a treatment facility, this can be admin-staff, staff-youth, facility-family, and placement agency-treatment agency dynamics.
Out-group bias can be reduced by facilitating the direction of vital information flow from the perceived out-group to the perceived in-group.
Unexpected reward in a context that traditionally presents as a threat can increase empathy between out-groups.
Opportunities for Immediate Application:
Employ unexpexted reward in contexts that commonly are experienced as threat.
Foster moments of healthy learning between groups in your facility to increase empathy and reduce bias.
Empathy groups can employ unexpected reward and experience-based learning