The crystal globe: emotional empathy and the transformation of self.

Reading a tragic news story about a needy other tended to increase self-reported mystical experiences. Among men, a history of mystical experience was associated with greater empathy, but this empathy was not connected to the mystical experiences they reported during the study. For women, a history of mystical experience did not predict empathy overall, but their empathy was linked to in-the-moment experiences of oneness, absorption, and space-time distortion with religious significance. The findings suggest emotional empathy may be tied to altered perceptions of self in relation to others and context.

Study at a glance

Abstract

To test whether emotional empathy is linked to altered perceptions of self in relation to other and/or context, participants read one of two tragic news stories and then completed a self-report empathy measure, as well as an abridged version of Hood's (1975) Mysticism scale either before or after the article. Exposure to a needy other in the story tended to result in greater self-reported mystical experience. Men with a history of mystical experience reported more empathy, but the latter was disconnected from on-line reports of mystical experience. Women's history of mystical experience did not predict empathic responding overall, but their reported empathy was linked to on-line experiences of oneness, absorption into something larger, and space-time distortion with imputed religious significance. Directions for future research, including the possible facilitative role of oxytocin, are discussed.